The emerging market for so-called "blade" computer servers picked up steam this week, as Dell Computer became the latest company to introduce products for the sector. But what exactly are blade servers--and are the changes and improvements they promise worthy of the hype?

In a word, yes. Every major computer company has either already begun selling blade servers or has plans to do so. A few promising startups have appeared that are focusing exclusively on this market: RLX Technologies of Woodlands, Texas, and eGenera, to name two. Gartner Group Dataquest says the market will grow to $1.6 billion by 2006. International Data Corp., which gushed in a report last year that server blades will "rock the market," is even more bullish--predicting that worldwide sales will hit $3 billion by 2005, from $18 million last year.

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