RLX Introduces Intel-Based Server Blades

RLX Technologies

The move to design its new line on Intel processors marks a significant change in strategy for the company, which until now has focused on the low-power Transmeta Crusoe-based processor for the server blades.

The company is also moving forward on its plan to set up a sales agent program and is actively courting solution providers, said John Schmitz, director of software marketing for the company. "We're getting lots of interest from the [Sun Cobalt channel," Schmitz said.

The new server blades from RLX are built around 800MHz Pentium III processors and support up to 1.0 Gbytes of RAM and up to two 40-Gbyte hard drives. They can be preinstalled with Windows 2000 for Web Servers or Red Hat Linux 7.1 or 7.2. Management software from RLX allows server images to be deployed across multiple blades and changed dynamically, said Schmitz.

Up to 24 blades can be connected into a 3U rack-mount enclosure.

Schmitz said the move to incorporate Intel processors in the product line should not be interpreted as RLX dropping support for Transmeta's Crusoe processors. The company plans to keep both processors in its products as long as customers demand them, he said.

"This is just a transition," Schmitz said. "We introduced the Intel processors because customers said they need them. We want to be a strategic player, and want to give Intel a chance. Also, we are looking for performance beyond what Transmeta can offer. Intel processors offer stronger performance in clustered environments, while Transmeta is great for serving up Web pages."

RLX this month will start shipping a new management blade for its blade servers, said Schmitz. The RLX Control Tower Blade 2 manages the new Intel-based blades and existing Transmeta-based models. New in the management blade is a comprehensive system alert feature that generates alerts when the system event status changes, as well as automatic system chassis discovery and identification.

The RLX Control Tower Blade 2 costs $1,399 per unit, not including a $50 charge per user license. Each server blade with 512 Mbytes RAM costs $1,599.