Blade hardware

Blade systems are an acceptable choice for separated virtualization systems, but they provide something of a mixed bag. The primary issue is that they tend to not have many physical network adapters. Another is that they have a lower upper limit on the amount of installable RAM and on the speed and power of their CPUs. This presents a problem for virtual machine density. The cost of an individual blade is lower than an individual rack-mount or free-standing system, but the blade chassis and the cumulative effects of higher licensing to make up for reduced guest density may cause the costs to tilt your planning away from a blade system.