HP boosts power efficiency features for latest ProLiant blade server

As promised, I'm back this morning from the airport with a couple more thoughts about Hewlett-Packard's green tech introductions this week, specifically some notes on its latest blade server, the HP ProLiant BL460c G5 Server Blade.

Here are the energy-related vitals on the product: - Uses 44 watts per blade less than its predecessor model, which translates into a potential savings of 704 watts in a fully loaded rack configuration. - HP estimates the utility cost savings at about $2,200 per enclosure over the course of three years, which is roughly a 25 percent savings compared with the previous edition of this server line.

And, some more traditional measures for the blade: - Can handle up to 64 gigabytes of memory (8 DIMM slots). - Integrated Smart Array P400i controller with a 256-megabyte cache and RAID 0/1 support. - Two PCIe I/O expansion slots. - Runs Windows Server, Red Hat or Novell versions of enterprise Linux, VMware, Netware and Sun Solaris operating systems. - Can be used within eithyer the c3000 and c7000 enclosures. (The latter is more energy-efficient.)

The new HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure has been configured with a number of power-management and energy-savings features, as well. They include a new HP 24000W High Efficiency Hot-Plug Power Supply, increased capacity for running more blades per power supply, the ability to shut down power supplies so that less electricity is used in server standby mode, and an automatic shut-off feature that kicks in when appropriate.