In addition to blade servers, rack servers are often used. They are in similar in that they feature a space-saving design for high computing power but differ in some essential aspects. Rack servers are usually mounted vertically in structures that resemble shelves. Like blade servers, the number of stacked rack servers can be expanded or reduced. Here, the server performance adapts to the CPU requirements, available space and individual projects. In other words, they are modularly designed and configurable systems, but their design is more static than that of blade servers.
Blade servers tend to be used in projects with high power requirements and dedicated applications. That’s where the differences between blade servers and rack servers become obvious. Blade servers usually consist of servers that are reserved for specific applications. The server blades in the chassis are usually stacked horizontally and used for one dedicated task per blade. In addition, unlike rack servers, individual blade servers usually do not act as main servers but are active as combined blade server stacks.
A major pro of blade servers over the somewhat larger rack servers is their ease of maintenance and repair. Server blades are easy to replace and maintained on a modular basis. The con is that companies can be dependent on the components of a particular manufacturer and thus suffer from a vendor lock-in. Nevertheless, with blade servers you save on complex cabling and benefit from a space-saving, flexible and efficient server technology.