Tag Archives: Blizzard

Own a Piece of World of Warcraft

Blizzard Entertainment recently announced they are auctioning off some older HP blade servers that previously hosted the popular World of Warcraft (WoW) game with 100% of the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.  While it is great to own a piece of WoW history, keep in mind, these servers won’t do you any good for use without a minimum of a HP BladeSystem chassis, power supplies and ethernet modules.  Here are the details of the auctions found at http://stores.ebay.com/Blizzard-Blade-Servers:

  • Display is approximately 28” x 10.3” x 1.7” and weighs 18lbs.
  • Each case is exactly the same for all blade servers being auctioned.
  • Plaques will show the Realm Name and Mo/Yr of start and end date.
  • The copy on the plaque varies.  An example of one reads: Blizzard Entertainment has carefully preserved and archived our retired server blades, releasing only a limited number for a noble cause. To us, this server blade is more than just hardware: within the circuits and hard drive, a world of magic, adventure, and friendship thrived. From fishing in quiet lakes to defeating Arthas in Icecrown Citadel, this blade was home to thousands of immersive experiences across the world of Azeroth and beyond. We thank you for the safekeeping of this important part of history.
  • The signatures are printed on the plaque are not original and include the World of Warcraft team.

Current bids range from $107 to $225.  Details of the blade server configuration is not provided, however I would speculate, 2 x Intel 5400 CPUs with 64GB of RAM and 6 Network Interface Cards (NICs.)  UPDATE – one of our readers, Marrtins, commented below that he received a response from the auction that, “I  apologize but these server blades are non-working. All memory has been  wiped and they are non-functioning. They are strictly pieces of art.”

The auction runs through January 30, so go to http://stores.ebay.com/Blizzard-Blade-Servers and place your bids while you can!

 

Kevin Houston is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of BladesMadeSimple.com.  He has over 15 years of experience in the x86 server marketplace.  Since 1997 Kevin has worked at several resellers in the Atlanta area, and has a vast array of competitive x86 server knowledge and certifications as well as an in-depth understanding of VMware and Citrix virtualization.    Kevin works for Dell as a Server Specialist covering the Global 500 East market.