HP storage blade coming soon

Hewlett-Packard is adding a storage module to its blade chassis, letting as much as 876GB of extra capacity be attached to a single blade server.

The StorageWorks SB40c blade, available Nov. 14 for a starting price of $1,599, plugs directly into HP's new BladeSystem C-class chassis. It houses up to six SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) or SATA (Serial ATA) drives in a half-height blade; a system with the maximum capacity of six 146GB drives costs $4,233.

Blade systems typically house several independent servers within a chassis that supplies shared power and networking infrastructure. Adding storage opens a new chapter in the blade server story of modular design.

But HP's approach isn't a complete replacement for the ways servers use storage today. Each storage blade can connect directly to one server blade, HP spokesman Jason Treu said. That means it doesn't connect over the server's communications backplane, which links all the servers.

It also can't be used as network-attached storage or connect with storage area network technology, though Treu didn't rule out such directions in the future.

[TekCoach]

HMM Seems a little costly to do this in a blade system. This is why they make 2U servers right! And at 5$/GB thats a little steep. Doesnt make sence.

Pay More+lose density=wrong form factor for the solution!