In the field, the U.S. military's most valuable weapon may be its data center. The immense quantity of data obtained from flyovers must be analyzed by high-performance computers to spot locations where improvised bombs may have been planted or to recognize changes that could indicate the presence of enemy combatants. Much of that work is done by computers called IBM BladeCenters, which are housed at fixed regional headquarters. A blade system is a single chassis containing multiple server circuit boards, or blades, with individual blades often dedicated to specific applications. Plugging multiple blades into a single chassis provides a unified source of power, cooling and connectivity for the blades. When a new or updated capability is required, instead of adding a new server and rack unit, users can simply install another blade in the enclosure or "hot swap" a new blade. This capability saves the time and cost of replacing an entire server chassis, rewiring and configuring the server, ensuring compatibility and avoiding unanticipated differences and logistics problems that contribute to risk.
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