Fujitsu CX1000 Highlights
- It is incorporating Intel’s new Xeon 5600 chips
- The new node has massive capacity allowing the largest possible power per square foot
- Racks can contain up to 38 nodes
- Heat is removed by a chimney attached to the rack, removing the need for ‘hot aisles’ in the data centre
- Fujitsu technology Solutions aims to help customers meet environmental standards
- ITCandor expects strong demand from large enterprises in Japan
- FTS is likely to use the new machines in its own Cloud Computing centre in Augsburg
What Is The CX1000 Server?
Fujitsu launched its new Primergy CX1000 (or eXtension) server yesterday. Like all server suppliers it is taking the opportunity to renew its products with new Intel chips – in this case the Xeon 5600 series (which we’ve know up until now as Westmere-EP).
The CX120 S1 nodes (different in design to blades) are just 1U high, have a memory capacity of up to 64GB per node, a disk capacity of up to 1T with 2 x 500GB ‘hot-plug’ SATA drives and the ability to incorporate up to 5Gbit Ethernet NICs, although there are only 2 onboard). It has certified the servers to run Redhat Enterprise Linux and Microsoft Windows server 2008 R2.
The miniaturisation of the server allows up to 38 of them to be included in a single chassis, designed to deliver as much computing power as possible per square meter. The new machine complements Fujitsu’s existing range of blade (BX), rack (RX) and tower (TX) models and fits with its Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) strategy.
Cooling The Rack By A Chimney Removes The Need For The ‘Hot Aisle’ In Data Centres
Perhaps the most important development for me is the inclusion of its Cool-Central architecture, which removes the need to use hot aisles in the data centre. Instead of blowing air out of the back of the server, Fujitsu has built an internal chimney, which funnels the hot air through the top of the rack. Thereby racks of these servers can be placed back-to-back, allowing more servers to be installed in crowded data centres.
Fujitsu Technology Solutions (FTS) has been a long time adherent of Green technology, signing up to environmental standards for its products long before many other vendors. The Fujitsu group has created a Green ICT initiative, which it calls ‘Green Policy Innovation’ and is designed to help its customers achieve their environmental commitments. While there be less of them in 2010 than we expected, due to the failure of the Copenhagen Summit at the end of last year, there are already many in place in countries such as the UK and Germany and undoubtedly many more to come.
Some Conclusions – How Does Fujitsu’s New Server Compare With The Competition?
Almost all server vendors are addressing the high density requirements of Cloud Computing by producing new product designs, from HP’s Matrix, to IBM’s iDataplex, to Rackable (now SGI) CloudRack – systems, to Dell’s Data Center Solution’s (DCS) customised approach. The requirement to squeeze as much performance as possible into the smallest possible space and jettison unneeded components to reduce electricity usage is a common aim. Fujitsu’s approach is interesting in that it is an early adopter of the new Intel chip, also its chimney approach to removing heat, although not unique, is an interesting approach. In fact Fujitsu is not reducing heat (as IBM is investigating with water cooling), but making it easier to remove. Venting the hot air directly out of the data centre might prove an interesting route to explore.
Large company Cloud Computing is taking off fast in Japan – a country where even the largest enterprises tent to have few IT staff. Therefore Fujitsu could find strong demand for its new products from its home territory from scarce IT managers needing to manage massive resources. It should also find some demand in Germany, where FTS is well position in large companies and eager to help with advanced solutions; it will no doubt also put some of these in its own developing Cloud Computing centre in Augsburg.
I’ll be watching the other vendors to see how quickly they add Intel’s latest chips and AMD’s when available. This is a great year for server sales and the first time Cloud Computing had become a focus of product design.
Do you use Fujitsu servers? Are you a large data centre manager? Would you consider Fujitsu as a supplier? Please let me know your views by commenting on this article.