HP, IBM cross blades

Once again, two server blade rivals are locked in fiery debate again over who has the better enclosure design: IBM or Hewlett-Packard.

Last week, HP's blade business head Rick Becker criticized IBM's BladeCenter chassis. "I think they're going to have to throw out their whole enclosure," Becker said. "I don't see how they'll be able to service the memory that's coming, the processors that are coming, and cool that. In next several months, (they'll need) a new chassis, because their design just won't work."

Note that IBM hasn't released any details of its next enclosure. In fact, it hasn't even officially announced an update. It's just that IBM has been expected to introduce a new BladeCenter chassis with dual power supplies for some time--and the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco next week would make a great venue for blade server news.

In another swipe at IBM, Becker said that filling up all of the available slots in the BladeCenter could result in some serious heat problems.

But Tim Dougherty, head of IBM's blade group, countered the suggestion that customers wouldn't be able to pack out a chassis: "The answer is no. We can fully populate BladeCenter with blades, and a rack with BladeCenters."