Themis' CoolShell™ bladed server technology combines commercial motherboards with novel packaging techniques, to achieve a new level of performance, reliability and maintainability. The resulting open-architecture computing platform is ideally suited for challenging environments. CoolShell blades consist of sealed, conduction cooled "shells" that include their own impeller assemblies, drawing cooling air over integrated heat exchangers. The resultant Field Replaceable Units (FRU's) are in turn integrated into a robust, totally passive rack-mounting enclosure with front panel only accessibility. The complete system optimizes Space, Weight and Power (SWAP), as well as Reliability, Availability and Service (RAS), while reducing Total Cost of Ownership.

Lifecycle Management

Lifecycle management goes hand in hand with rapid technology refresh; both benefits accrue to CoolShell's modular maintenance paradigm. Independent cooling systems, integral to the blade, facilitate intermixing of low and high power blades, without compromising cooling efficiency. Two and four socket processor blades can be interchanged and high-density storage blades can be interchanged with high power Graphics Processor (GPU) IO blades or with other processor blades. Up to three PCI-e based, high performance GPU's can be combined in one IO blade, for unprecedented GPGPU based Digital Signal Processing performance or for very high performance graphics systems.

CoolShell Systems Features and Benefits

Themis' CoolShell blade servers are now available in 3RU and 5RU systems. A CoolShell CS-3U system consists of one (1) CS-3U Processor Blade, one (1) CS-3U I/O Module, one (1) CS-3U Media Module and dual hot-swappable power supplies in a 3RU high subrack. The CoolShell CS-5U system includes four switched blade slots, with four associated switching fabrics per blade and dual redundant, port aggregating switches, as well as dual redundant maintenance processors. The CS-5U can be configured with four CS-5U Processor Module Blades or a mixture of Processor, I/O and Storage Blades.

High Compute Density

The principle barrier to higher compute density, in modular electronic packaging, is cooling of high dissipation devices, most notably, the new breed of multi-core microprocessors. CoolShell technology provides a very efficient way to remove heat from processors and other high dissipation devices. CoolShell is a thermal and kinetic management system that provides a stable, stiff, sealed and conduction cooled environment, complete with external air flow path, heat exchangers and impeller assembly - combined in a single, field replaceable unit (FRU).

Industry Standard Commercial Components

CoolShell Technology leverages industry standard motherboard's rapid technology refresh rate (early time to market) and economies of scale.

Rapid Migration to New Processor Technology

The design and validation cycle for new blade server processors slows the rate of adoption for new processor, memory and switching technology. Industry standard server motherboards provide access to the newest processor technology. Themis has pioneered a methodology to quickly design CoolShell blades for new motherboards. As a result, CoolShell based blades can be fielded shortly after commercial servers are brought to market.

Lower Total Cost-of-Ownership

A CoolShell blade system combines the cost-of-ownership benefits inherent in blade-server architectures, including cable management, maintainability and scalability with the value proposition of standard motherboards and I/O controllers. Once a system is deployed, investment in future technology upgrades is a simple change out of the pluggable components. The system chassis, as well as functional modules that don't need to be changed, are preserved.

Standard-Form Factor

CoolShell Technology blades are 1RU high and the CoolShell Subrack design conforms with 19" RETMA rack standards. The CoolShell Subrack is entirely passive, containing only high performance connector systems, backplanes and CoolShell FRU slots. CoolShell blades based on new processors are backward compatible with earlier Subracks and CoolShell blades.

Shallow-Depth and Reduced Acoustic and Electromagnetic Noise

CoolShell blade's integrated impeller assembly enables a 17" inch deep blade and a shallow, 17.75" chassis depth, with significantly lower noise than comparable rackmount chassis and blade servers. Front access for all Field Replaceable Units (FRUs) and cables reduces installation space requirements, creating location options not available to typical blade systems requiring two-sided access. Reduced electro-magnetic emissions, lower noise and compact size enable CoolShell-based systems to be used in office environments as well as more challenging environments.

Themis System Management

Themis' new CoolShell server integrates a full management suite on CoolShell CS-5U systems. The management infrastructure is formulated on two levels, one that supports the interface to the outside network and the one that is exclusive to the internal system. Each of the plug-in blades has its own management controller. The management controller monitors and controls the local environment on the blade. Information about each Field Replaceable Unit (FRU) is contained in flash memory, on each of the blades. Whenever a blade is swapped out for another type, whether it is for a configuration change or for upgrade, the system automatically integrates the replacement FRU information into the system database pool. The Chassis Management and Communication Module contains the Chassis Monitor and provides the routing of outside messages to each of the internal blade management controllers. The system management interface is SNMP based and can also be accessed via a web browser interface. A Management Information Base (MIB) is supplied with the system. Physical access is through a 10/100Mb Ethernet interface on each Chassis Management and Communication Module.

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