HP unveils new offering for 'scale-out' setting
SINGAPORE--Hewlett-Packard has launched a new data center offering that is targeted at Web 2.0, cloud computing and high-performance computing environments.
The HP Extreme Scale-out portfolio consists of hardware, software, services and support to help businesses cope with rising infrastructure costs and deployment complexities, said Stephen Bovis, vice president and general manager of Industry Standard Servers at HP Asia-Pacific and Japan's Technology Solutions Group, at a media briefing Thursday.
Core to the HP Extreme Scale-out is the HP ProLiant SL6000 family of servers, which joins other ProLiant G6 servers announced recently--the ML150 and DL series.
According to HP, the three "skinless servers" in the SL series are based on industry standards and are designed to be lightweight--the chassis fits into standard HP and third-party racks. Also modular, the multi-node systems help organizations working with thousands of servers to scale up rapidly. Compared to traditional rack servers, SL servers use 28 percent less power, said the company.
Other than the likes of Google and Yahoo, Bovis noted, the Extreme Scale-Out offering would be relevant to businesses such as animation and online game companies.
R&D leads HP's charge
HP understands it needs to operate in an environment of consolidation; at the same time it believes there are still "strong opportunities" for partnerships in the data center market, Bovis, who relocated to Singapore two months ago, told ZDNet Asia.
Commenting on Cisco's entry as a data center player and the impending Oracle-Sun marriage, the executive, said competitors could still form strong partnerships. "Where it's tough is also where there are opportunities."
"Ultimately, it's what you're going to serve the customer," he noted.
HP, he said, will continue to spend "a good amount" of research and development on finding out what works for customers in their environment so they can become more competitive, and then equip them with basic technologies to meet challenges.