HP Expands BladeSystem Portfolio with Integrity Blade for Large Data Center Workloads

HP (NYSE:HPQ) has expanded the HP BladeSystem portfolio with an Integrity blade designed to handle memory-intensive data center workloads while helping businesses lower cost, save energy and space, and decrease deployment time. As the company’s first four-socket Integrity server blade, the HP Integrity BL870c combines the modular infrastructure and energy efficiency of HP BladeSystem with the business-critical capabilities of Integrity servers. The new server can help businesses of all sizes realize power savings of up to 25 percent. Space requirements also are reduced because 2.5 times as many BL870c server blades fit into the same space as a comparable rackmount configuration.(1) To help take the guesswork out of building an Integrity blade solution, HP also has created Solution Blocks for its Integrity servers. These HP-tested configurations allow customers and resellers to quickly deploy business-critical applications on the HP BladeSystem. "The BL870c expands the BladeSystem portfolio into the heart of the business-critical market, combining the benefits of blades around cost, time, change and energy, with the proven scalability and availability of Integrity systems,” said Mark Potter, vice president, BladeSystem, HP. "With this server, we now address the broadest spectrum of workloads with a blade infrastructure in the industry. Our commitment to innovation is unmatched and we’ll continue our ’blade everything’ strategy where it helps customers align their technology with the needs of their business.” Business-critical computing advantages The HP Integrity BL870c addresses more application workload demands by expanding the Integrity server blade portfolio for the HP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000 enclosures. The addition of the BL870c to the HP BladeSystem family will allow businesses to deploy and manage Integrity or ProLiant servers in a single blade enclosure with a set of common management tools. The BL870c builds on the strength of HP’s first c-Class Integrity blade, the BL860c, by offering twice the processing power and twice the memory capacity. It provides the choice of Microsoft Windows®, HP-UX 11i v2, HP-UX 11i v3, OpenVMS, RedHat or SuSE operating systems. Its large memory capacity makes the BL870c well-suited for high-performance computing applications. With the BL870c, businesses requiring the highest levels of availability and greater scalability can better streamline operational expenses to drive business growth. Open Systems Technologies, an HP Platinum Certified solutions provider and systems integrator based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has successfully helped many organizations move business-critical applications to an HP bladed environment. "Many of our customers are looking for a high-performing UNIX server that also offers space and energy efficiency, as well as ease of management. Integrity blades are an ideal solution,” said Jim VanderMey, vice president, Technical Operations, Open Systems Technologies. "As products become denser and blade enclosures become pervasive, I foresee that a majority of the entry to the mid-tier UNIX servers will be based on blade technology. Organizations with certain business-critical applications will be able to take advantage of a bladed infrastructure with the new BL870c.” HP Solution Blocks simplify deployment HP Solution Blocks for Integrity server blades simplify the deployment of enterprise applications and optimize the use of the HP BladeSystem enclosure to save time and money. Each Solution Block includes combinations of Integrity blades, application software, HP storage and interconnect technology – all HP-approved based on best practices or testing. Initial Solution Blocks available for Integrity blades include enterprise resource planning (ERP), service-oriented architecture (SOA), application integration and product data management. The Oracle® PeopleSoft Solution Block for PeopleSoft Enterprise 9.0 is one example. With this Solution Block, businesses have the option of configurations for basic, medium and high availability. They include combinations of Integrity BL860c, BL870c and ProLiant BL460c server blades, and a range of storage options. Using a high-performance, highly reliable and modular infrastructure, HP helps Oracle customers build long-term IT strategies that can dynamically change as the business environment evolves. "The Oracle PeopleSoft Solution Block makes it easy for our customers to get their IT systems up and running quickly so they can focus on the most important aspect of their business – driving growth,” said Doris Wong, group vice president, PeopleSoft Enterprise at Oracle. "This is the latest way in which HP and Oracle are teaming to address today’s business challenges by enabling the synchronization of infrastructure, applications, services and business processes to help companies be successful.” Availability and pricing The HP Integrity BL870c server blade and Solution Blocks for Integrity server blades are currently available. Pricing for the BL870c starts at just under $8,000.(2) Pricing for the Solution Blocks for Integrity server blades is available through HP and its channel partners, and varies based on the configuration. More information about HP Solution Blocks for Integrity blades is available at www.hp.com/go/solutionblocks, while more information about the HP Integrity blade portfolio is available at www.hp.com/go/integrityblade. About HP HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $104.3 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Oct. 31, 2007. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com. Note to editors: More news from HP, including links to RSS feeds, is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/. (1) Based on internal HP testing compared to standard rack servers. (2) Estimated U.S. street prices. Actual prices may vary. Windows is a U.S. registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. 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