Data center wars: HP preps its server sortie

Cisco, Dell, IBM and Sun have all rolled out their plans to cater to the next generation of data centers. Now it's Hewlett-Packard's turn. 

HP on Monday will reportedly launch a new server system designed for corporate data centers. The Wall Street Journal reports:

According to HP documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal and people briefed on the matter, HP plans to announce Monday a blade server, dubbed Matrix, which will be able to automate many data-center processes. The system will come with HP software for monitoring and controlling an array of chores, such as managing email and information storage.

Cisco's entry into the server market and plans for the data center---dubbed the Unified Computing System---has headlined a bevy of announcements from IT giants. Dell has its simplify the data center strategy. Sun has its cloud plan and new servers as does IBM, which offers cloud computing services.

While all the vendors claim to be different there are a few common themes that emerge in the data center wars:

• The data center is going virtual;
• The enterprise data center is increasingly referred to as a private cloud;
• The rallying cry is to make the data center more modular for easy box---server, storage and networking---swaps;
• And vendors need to consolidate and save space, labor and energy costs. 

We'll update with more information on HP's grand plan as we get it.