HPE releases new ProLiant series hybrid server for SMBs

Hewlett Packard Enterprise on Wednesday announced the first addition to its Easy Connect server portfolio for small businesses. The offering is a new hybrid compute platform with an on-premise server managed and updated through the cloud.

HPE's Easy Connect portfolio features integrated compute, storage, and networking, together with virtualization and cloud management software from Zynstra.

As for the new hardware, the HPE ProLiant EC200a Managed Hybrid Server is similar in appearance to a compact desktop PC, and can be either be wall mounted or affixed to a desktop stand.

The server is ready to integrate with public cloud services such as Office 365 and Microsoft Azure. As the "hybrid" terms suggests, businesses can choose which data and applications to put in the cloud and which to keep on site.

The server is designed to handle the IT needs of a company with roughly five to 50 users. That said, the server is geared toward businesses that want the benefits of public cloud consumption but with fewer technical challenges or application barriers.

"This new solution is part of a broad HPE initiative, inspired by the unique needs of small and mid-sized businesses, to deliver innovative solutions that are easy for our channel partners to sell and easy for our customers to use," said McLeod Glass, VP and GM of SMB solutions and tower servers for HPE.

The EC200a is available with full support for a monthly or annual fee. HPE resellers who install the server on site will typically handle monitoring and maintenance through a management console.