I wonder if some geeks get excited about the prospect of a new chassis for their hardware. In the case of the blade server redesign for 2006, I could actually picture balloons and crazy hats. OK, maybe that is a little bit of a stretch.

IBM will introduce a new chassis for its blade servers in 2006, boosting its networking features and flexibility, said the new leader of the company’s blade group on Thursday.

Blade servers are thin systems that plug into a chassis that supplies shared networking and power infrastructure. The new chassis will be forward and backward compatible with IBM’s current blade product, which was introduced three years ago, said Doug Balog, vice president of the BladeCenter business. That means current blades will plug into the new chassis and new blades will plug into the old chassis, which IBM plans to continue selling.

“We will have an expanded chassis offering next year. It’s not a replacement,” Balog said in an interview. Balog previously led BladeCenter product development but took over management of the full group in May. [Read the rest]

[tags]ibm,blade server,bladecenter[/tags]