HP Revamps Integrity Servers

The new additions to the HP lineup, which are based on quad-core Intel Itanium 9300 series processors, include the Superdome 2, which interconnects blades using a new faster Crossbar Fabric architecture developed by HP; new eight-socket BladeSystem Matrix servers; a family of Integrity Server Blades that can conjoined using Intel QuickPath interconnect (QPI) technology; and an eight-core rack server offering.

Optimized for HP-UX environments, the servers represent another step forward in HP’s overall effort to create a common converged set of infrastructure and management software across its entire server line.

According to Kirk Bresniker, vice president and chief technologist for HP Business Critical Systems, the Superdome 2 has undergone the biggest transformation in terms of system design that makes it easier to fit the system into existing data centers that support traditional eight or 16-socket systems. The BladeSystem Matrix provides an alternative approach to scaling performance, while the new Integrity Server Blades represent an opportunity to improve performance using standard Intel technologies, but not at the levels attainable on the BladeSystem Matrix or the Superdome 2.

Although Microsoft recently said it has plans to eventually eliminate support for Itanium-class servers running Windows Server, Lorraine Bartlett, vice president of marketing, strategy and operations for HP Business Critical Systems, pointed out that Microsoft is committed to supporting Windows on Itanium systems through 2018. In the meantime, HP via its converged architecture strategy is endeavoring to lower the total cost of managing disparate server environments.

Other key new features being released by HP include tools for analyzing workloads that help customers optimize system performance on the Superdome 2, added Bresniker.