Enterprise Server Solutions: A Quick Guide
Businesses across the country are looking at various ways to reduce costs, while maintaining a robust, reliable, and fast network infrastructure. Quite often, the key to success can be the research required to choose the right brand of data center server solution. There are so many different solutions out there, how does a small business decide on one? From Cisco to Dell to EMC to Juniper, each brand offers a unique value proposition. The following is a guide to help you decide on your enterprise server provider:
cisco
Cisco’s new one-size-fits-all ‘Unified Computing System’ enters the blade server market through a new compatible data center Ethernet environment. This cutting-edge technology gives businesses a way to scale their network while dramatically reducing costs and seamlessly using a single product. Although this technology is cutting edge, it is still quite new to the market and might need a bit more time to fully evolve.
From Cisco.com: “The Cisco Unified Computing System represents a radical simplification of traditional architectures, drastically reducing the number of devices that must be purchased, cabled, configured, powered, cooled, and protected. The solution offers optimization for virtualized environments while retains the ability to support traditional application stacks and operating systems in physical environments”
Dell
Dell offers a data center solution that takes the best parts from various partners, including competitors like Cisco and EMC. The solution converges network components, switches, servers, and storage to give enterprise customers flexibility in their choices. This solution focuses on the remarkably reliable Dell Blade Server offering.
From Dell.com: “You want your business to keep growing. But without a plan to manage that growth, you could face skyrocketing costs and complexity. Dell can provide that plan. We’ll listen to your needs and provide a practical answer—one that you won’t. Limit yourself with proprietary technologies but free you to focus on growing your business.
Dell also partners with several network hardware resellers where a small business can purchase a used Dell server for a fraction of the retail price. This offers an even greater degree of flexibility in terms of cost-effective network deployment.
EMC
EMC offers the ‘Connectrix Director’ solution for enterprise network storage with perfect customization options. The goal of this product is to act as your company’s chief information officer, moving data across your network quickly and with a steady hand. Although primarily for storage and not quite on the same level as Cisco and Juniper’s data center offerings, Connectrix Director provides speed and security for your company’s network infrastructure storage.
From EMC.com: “EMC Connectrix Directors ensure highly available, scalable network storage. Choose the connectivity you need and maximize availability with redundancy built into the architecture.”
More solutions for the future:
juniper nets
Juniper has begun commercialization of the futuristic cloud computing data center titled ‘Stratus’. Stratus is said to integrate various server components from partners such as IBM, while maintaining its core focus on Juniper’s powerful networking products. Juniper currently offers high-performance routers and switches, including the high-end EX39 Ethernet switch and the Juniper EX2500 switch.
From Juniper.Net: “The program, code-named the Stratus Project, represents an initiative to create a single data center fabric that will deliver a quantum leap in scale, performance, and simplicity, with the flexibility to support a single data center fully converged and virtualized Project Stratus is being developed by the newly announced Data Center Business Group, under the leadership of Executive Vice President David Yen, Ph.D.