What is a primary characteristic of blade servers?

Blade servers are designed to be modular and efficient, often used in data centers where space and power efficiency are crucial. A primary characteristic of blade servers is that they require a blade enclosure for power and cooling. The blade enclosure serves as a chassis that houses multiple blade server modules, providing shared power, cooling, and management resources. This design allows for improved space utilization and energy efficiency since a single enclosure can hold several blade servers, each capable of functioning as an independent server but without needing their own dedicated power supplies and cooling systems.

This configuration is distinct from traditional servers, which operate independently and require their own cooling and power solutions. Because blade servers share these resources within an enclosure, they can be more streamlined and cost-effective for large-scale deployments. This characteristic is what primarily differentiates blade servers from other types of server deployments.