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To answer this question, I went to a great source, Anne Skamarock, co-author of Blade Servers and Virtualization: Transforming Enterprise Computing While Cutting Costs. She says: "The person who asks this question doesn't discuss what the distances are for the SAN or what protocols are being used but, again, this has little to do with the blades and everything to do with implementing network and SAN security. Depending on what their bladed architecture is, the blade chassis can actually add to the security because the first set of network switches are often housed within the blade chassis, adding to physical security.
"If the blades are completely diskless, that means they are booting via Preboot Execution Environment (PXE). This is probably the area where the concern lies due to the http-like nature of PXE. This environment, at least today, does not provide a way for detecting and disallowing unknown servers from performing remote installations. Because of this, one would follow the same best practices to secure the PXE as they would to secure their overall network such as:
- Physical security
- Firewalls
- Auditing and monitoring for intrusions
- Strong password protocols/procedures"
Don't forget to check out SearchSystemsChannel's new Blade Server Reseller Guide.
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