Name: Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers
Rating: 9.5 (8 reviews)
Author: Lenovo

Customer Success Management Training

Help Desk

Web and Video Conferencing

Customer Support

Augmented Reality Development

Innovation Management

Text Editors

Development

Business Intelligence (BI)

Collaboration

Desktop Publishing

Enterprise Feedback Management

Operational Analytics

Project Portfolio Management

Visitor Management

Enterprise

Accounting

Blockchain Payments

Crypto Asset Management

Investor Relations

Subscription Management

Finance and Accounting

Applicant Tracking

Corporate Learning Management

Employer of Record (EOR)

HR Management

Payroll

Talent Intelligence

Talent Management

Workforce Analytics

Workforce Management

Human Resources

Access Gateways

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM)

Application Performance Management (APM)

Archiving

Cloud Storage

Custom Software Development Services

Database Performance Monitoring

Endpoint Security

Firewall

Fraud Detection

Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS)

Network Operating Systems

Network Performance Monitoring

Release Management

SIP Trunking

Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

Value-Added Resellers (VARs)

Information Technology

A/B Testing

Ad Serving & Retargeting

All-in-One Marketing

Audio Editing

Blogging

Content Management

Creative Collaboration

Email Marketing

Gamification

Marketing Automation

Social Media Management

Survey & Forms Building

Translation

Web Analytics

Marketing

Project Management

Wireframing

Writing and Proofreading Tools

Professional Services

Customer Communication Management

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Sales

Data-Centric Audit Protection (DCAP)

GDPR Compliance

Security

3D Modeling

Architecture

Aviation

Internet of Medical Things

Membership Management

Municipal

Oil and Gas

Roofing

Vertical-Specific

medium

large

HPE BladeSystem is a brand of blade server, from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise. HPE blades include the ProLiant BL series and the ProLiant WS series.

HPE BladeSystem

Blade Servers

HP BladeSystem HP Proliant BladeSystem HPE BladeSystem

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

small

Dell's PowerEdge R is a line of rack servers.

Dell PowerEdge R

Rack Servers

Dell Technologies

Top Rated 2023

The Cisco UCS Series is a modular, high-density, high-availability, dual-node storage- optimized server suited for service providers, enterprises, and industry-specific environments. It provides dense, cost-effective storage to address your ever-growing data needs. Designed for a new class of data-intensive workloads, it is simple to deploy and excellent for applications for big data, data protection, software-defined storage environments, scale-out unstructured data repositories, media streaming, and content distribution.

Cisco UCS Series

Cisco UCS Series cisco ucs b-series cisco ucs c-series cisco ucs e-series cisco ucs mini cisco ucs s-series

Cisco

SuperBlade is a high density x86 Multi-Node Server for Enterprise Cloud, HPC Applications, from Supermicro. They are available in 8U, 6U and 4U enclosures with hot-swap NVMe support, with air or direct liquid cooling.

Supermicro SuperBlade

Supermicro

HPE ProLiant DL is a rack server, from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise.

HPE ProLiant DL

Dell's PowerEdge C6420 is a density optimized server designed to support HPC and scale-out workloads with a flexible platform that offers up to 4 dual-socket servers and high-capacity storage in a 2U rack.

Dell PowerEdge C

Density-Optimized Servers

HPE Integrity NonStop is a line of blade servers, from Hewlett-Packard Enteprise.

HPE Integrity NonStop

HP Integrity Nonstop HPE Integrity NonStop

Bull Blade Servers

Atos

Oracle Sun Blade 6000

Oracle

Fujitsu Primergy BX Series

Fujitsu

HPE Integrity

Hitachi Compute Blade (BladeSymphony)

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NEC Blade Servers

NEC Sigmablade-M

Lenovo now offers and supports the former BladeCenter blade servers and products, since acquiring the product line from IBM. The product line is now offered as the Lenovo Flex System series of blade servers.

Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers

A blade server is a modular, configurable server requiring a blade enclosure or chassis (which performs additional computing functions) structured to increase power and cooling efficiency and take up less physical space without sacrificing computing power.

Likelihood to Recommend

Lenovo

Reviews

TrustRadius is a technology and business research firm based in Austin, Texas. The company is known as a review platform for verified B2B technology and software reviews through a proprietary algorithm and human verification.

TrustRadius

Management module

Updates and changes

Receive emails

Implementation process

Good use

Still using

Web interface

Management feature

Easy to configure

Drop down

Hard drives

Switch back

Remote management

Light weight

Feature that allows

Extremely convenient

One application

Home

Amazon Web Services

Oracle Database

Dell PowerEdge M

Amazon API Gateway

IBM Cloud App ID

All of our servers are Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers. We use Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers for nearly all of our computing needs. Only two non-BladeCenter servers from an earlier era remain active. It prevented the need for costly new server infrastructure. Since the price was so much lower, we didn't have to bother with getting approval from higher-ups to buy as many servers as we required.

Product Usage

Pros and Cons

The Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers warn IT employees of hardware issues. It's helpful to be notified of potential concerns so we can solve them early.
Buying servers is easy. Select the central processing unit, the amount of RAM, and any expansion cards you may need.
The physical BladeCenter can spot problems quickly. Front-panel LEDs show the status of much of the gear.

Things done well

I wish we'd used this BladeCenter more because it simplifies IT.
It could be my browser, IE. I click and wait till the screen updates and changes so I can do specific actions.
If there's an urgent alert at night, I'd rather get an SMS.

Things done poorly

It's possible that a Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers won't be useful in a less substantial setting. It is more cost-effective to buy separate servers if you need only a few. A BladeCenter would be useful if you have a requirement for several servers, require high levels of uptime and redundancy, or must share a SANS. I've dealt with other businesses where I was first instructed on how to use a mouse. Doing so is pointless given that you have been called to report a malfunctioning system. They are quick to respond, and if you require replacement hardware, they will even drive to your location to get and deliver the necessary components.

Costs for BladeCenter servers are roughly 50% lower than those of traditional servers.
Hardware performance.
Integration is really simple.

Most Important Features 3.4.21

Rather than launching multiple Windows or VNC sessions to monitor multiple servers, you can use the application's remote management capability instead.
Our IT department was able to more quickly and easily acquire buy-in for necessary expenditures and accomplish other goals.
True cost savings require figuring in the price of the BladeCenter itself, which may seem exorbitant at first glance.

Return on Investment

I find that IBM/Lenovo servers are more robustly constructed and provide more comprehensive online technical specifications, which are useful for troubleshooting and budgeting purposes. Their gear is strong, solid, and trustworthy. Hardware problems are extremely rare for us. IBM/customer Lenovo's service is top-notch; it's always quick to respond and really helpful. Support doesn't have you answer a lot of questions before helping you. Since they recognize you as a server administrator with some amount of expertise, they can converse with you at that level.

Alternatives

Amazon Web Services, Oracle Database, Dell PowerEdge M, Amazon API Gateway, IBM Cloud App ID

Other Software Used

Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers 2022-07-02 17:37:43

Microsoft SQL Server

PowerProtect DD Series

The Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers were used to organize my entire IT server park in Brazil. With Lenovo, we were able to reduce the number of physical servers, migrating all to a VM and with much more power of processing and availability across the Brazilian company and integrating with our headquarter in Italy.

Physical disks management
Integration with VM
Ethernet scalability without any lost compression.

More parts for prompt delivery
More courses with certification
IA for implementation process

I recommend Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers for those who really wanna be upfront in scalability and availability across the company. They process better the cross-systems and database. It's not a cheap solution, of course, we have to invest in more infrastructure and team training, but the performance and the happiness of our stockholders [makes the cost worth it].

Hardware performance
The easy integration with AS/400 system
The brand trust

Positive: The improvement
Negative: The Price
Negative: Don't have prompt delivery for disks

Data Domain is one of the most impressive things in the world. The possibility to reduce our backup size, and deliver without any losses back it's just impressive. I understand and it's easy for everyone to understand how it works, but looking in front of you, following the process, and seeing an entire VM return after a disaster recovery in 10 minutes is a dream come true.

PowerProtect DD (formerly Dell EMC Data Domain)

Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, DB2

IT Manager

Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers (formerly IBM BladeCenter) 2021-08-18 16:01:10

VNC Connect

Lenovo BladeCenter Blade Servers are being used across our organization. Almost all of our servers are BladeCenter servers. There are only two older servers that have not been decommissioned that are not BladeCenter servers. It kept the cost of purchasing new servers low. We were able to purchase as many servers as we needed to accommodate our needs without having to negotiate the purchase with upper management because of the lower cost.

The Lenovo BladeCenter has a management feature that notifies the IT staff when there are any hardware problems. It is extremely convenient to receive notifications for potential problems that we can address before they become problems. It also allows us to log into one place and see the status of all BladeCenter servers. That is very helpful.
It is very easy to configure servers for purchase. You only need to choose the processor and memory, and maybe an additional card if you have special requirements. If you want the server to boot using it's own hard drives, then you would need to add that. If it will boot from a SANS, then that is not even needed. The rest is handled by the BladeCenter.
The physical BladeCenter is designed to see if there are any issues at a glance. There are a led's on the front of the unit that allow you to see the status of much of the hardware.
There is a remote management feature that allows you to see the servers from one application without having to open several remote sessions from Windows of some other VNC service. You can just open a web browser and easily click a drop down to switch back and forth to see your server screens. This is very convenient if you are doing mass server maintenance and restarting several servers at once.
Hardware maintenance is very easy. Instead of dismounting a heavy server from a rack, or lifting a large server tower, these are light-weight blades that slide out of the BladeCenter. They are very easy to take out, add memory or change processors, or do whatever maintenance is needed, and then just slide back into the BladeCenter.

We purchased the BladeCenter with the expectation of using it for many years, and only replacing the servers when they got older. IBM/Lenovo technology has changed and we can no longer purchase servers that are compatible with our BladeCenter. We got a lot of good use from it, and are still using it. However, our future purchases will not be blade center servers because we will either have to buy another BladeCenter or regular rack mounted servers. I wish we could have gotten more use out of this BladeCenter because it makes IT live much simpler.
Sometimes the BladeCenter's web interface for the management module has trouble switching between areas. I use IE and it could just be a browser issue. I just have to click and wait sometimes before the screen updates and changes so I can perform certain tasks.
It would be nice to have a text option for alerts. You can configure email and "IBM Director" alerts, and tell it which types of alerts you want and if you just want information, warnings, or critical alerts. We don't use IBM Director so I'm not familiar with the features. That may have more options. With just purchasing the management modules I can only receive emails. If there is a critical alert at night, email is not going to get my attention; a text would.

Smaller environments may not get the benefit of a BladeCenter. If you only have a few servers, it would be cost effective to just purchase individual servers. If you need to share a SANS, need high-level uptime and redundancy, or just have a need for lots of servers, then a BladeCenter would be beneficial.

BladeCenter servers are about half the cost of standard servers. To get true cost savings you must calculate the cost of the actual BladeCenter which may appear to be cost prohibitive, but it does have other benefits. We received ROI after purchasing 7 servers in a BladeCenter that could hold 14.
Our budget allowed us to purchase twice as many servers as planned because the cost of each server went down after investing in a BladeCenter. It was easer to get approval for purchases and do what we needed as an IT department.

In my opinion IBM/Lenovo servers are built better and have more detailed, on-line technical specifications that helps with trouble-shooting or even planning purchases. Their hardware is sturdy, stable, and reliable. We hardly ever have any hardware issues. IBM/Lenovo support is excellent; always friendly and helpful. Support doesn't ask a ton of questions before actually assisting. They understand that you are a server administrator and have a clue, and talk to you on that level. I've worked with several other companies that start by explaining simple computer tasks like clicking. That wastes time when obviously you are calling about a system that is down. They respond quickly, and will even drive to pickup and deliver parts if you need new hardware parts.

Lenovo BladeCenter Blade Servers 2016-11-18 07:32:59

Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers
Formerly IBM BladeCenter

Overview

What is Lenovo Flex System Blade Servers?

They are superior processors of information between systems and databases

Fast ROI back

Lenovo BladeCenter - Worth the investment

Product Details