World’s First Two-in-one Server Blade Joins HP Portfolio for Powering 'Scale-out' Computing Environments

HP today announced the world’s first two-in-one server blade, which offers customers with scale-out environments improved data center performance, reduced floor space and lower power usage.

Businesses with cloud computing, Web 2.0 and high-performance computing (HPC) deployments have data centers with hundreds to thousands of servers, multi-petabyte levels of storage capacity and massive performance needs. These “scale-out” environments require increased performance, lower energy consumption, improved cooling techniques and a need to maximize existing data center floor space.

To address these needs, the HP ProLiant BL2x220c G5 combines two independent servers in a single blade, enabling customers to double compute power and significantly reduce data center space requirements. It delivers 60 percent better performance per watt than similar configurations on the market and minimizes cooling and power costs.

HP has created a dedicated set of resources, expertise and development efforts called the “Scalable Computing and Infrastructure” business unit to build solutions designed for scale-out customers. The BL2x220c joins the recently announced HP StorageWorks 9100 Extreme Data Storage System (ExDS9100) in addressing the scale-out market. The ExDS91000 is a highly scalable storage system designed to simplify the management of multiple petabytes of data at an affordable cost, making it ideal for online and digital media businesses.

“HP continues to be the best at helping customers of all sizes manage and transform their technology environments to deliver better business outcomes,” said Ann Livermore, executive vice president, Technology Solutions Group, HP. “Customers in Web 2.0, HPC and emerging cloud deployments across many business segments are looking for the competitive advantages that scale-out computing can provide. Through innovations in server density, power efficiency, storage management and data center services, we are committed to being the company that powers scale-out infrastructures.”

HP offers scale-out customers the domain expertise that results from designing and retrofitting more than 30 million square feet of data center floor space and powering 166 of the top 500 supercomputer installations. The new BL2x220c extends HP’s proven portfolio of hardware, software and services for the scale-out market.

“Home to the world’s leading Internet sites for social networking, games, sports photos and more, Fox Interactive Media helps millions of people around the globe stay informed and connected through online media accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Ian Hurlock-Jones, chief information officer, Fox Interactive Media.

“Each month, billions of pages are viewed, hundreds of millions of photos and videos are uploaded and watched and those numbers just keep growing, constantly pushing the boundaries of our infrastructure. For us to meet these growing demands we need high-performance platforms that minimize energy consumption and have high density and capacity. HP’s computing team understands our unique requirements and offers us end-to-end cloud computing and storage solutions that allow us to more easily scale as we grow.”

The BL2x220c is the industry’s first server blade to offer more than three times the density of traditional 1U rack-mount servers. Its innovative design specifically addresses the exponential data growth facing companies with cloud computing, Web 2.0 and HPC deployments. Additionally, the new server blade uses HP’s award-winning management and configuration tools, which help drive down costs and mitigate risk.

“The IT industry is at an inflection point with companies demanding more efficient, highly-utilized scale-out technologies that can improve the economic model for their data centers,” said Michelle Bailey, research vice president, Datacenter Trends program, IDC.

“The growth in digital information is changing the course of the data center, forcing organizations to quickly scale their infrastructures to keep pace with user demands. To meet this challenge, customers are taking a far more holistic approach to data center management – rethinking everything from hardware, services and management software to physical facilities including power and cooling requirements. This fundamental shift represents a huge opportunity for technology companies, like HP, to offer a set of solutions that manage the data center as a whole.”

Source: HP

Related stories:

California Scientists Demonstrate How to Use Advanced Fiber-Optic Backbone for Research
(PhysOrg.com) -- How can super-fast networking among research institutions in California help scientists make new discoveries? Researchers, campus administrators and networking infrastructure officials converged on the University of California, San Diego in September to find out.
Visualizing election polls
Do you want to know the percentage of white women who support vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin? What about college-educated versus high school-educated white women? Or those who also hunt?
World's biggest computing grid launched
(PhysOrg.com) -- The world’s largest computing grid is ready to tackle mankind’s biggest data challenge from the earth’s most powerful accelerator. Today, three weeks after the first particle beams were injected into the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid combines the power of more than 140 computer centers from 33 countries to analyze and manage more than 15 million gigabytes of LHC data every year.
Researchers develop new self-training gene prediction program for fungi
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a computer program that trains itself to predict genes in the DNA sequences of fungi.
IU sends innovative technology to Antarctica to speed polar research
Environmental scientists studying the world's shrinking polar ice sheets will soon get a substantial boost in computing power thanks to IU's Polar Grid Project.
IBM Develops Computational Scaling Solution for Next Generation '22nm' Semiconductors
In response to ever increasing demands for smaller, more powerful and energy-efficient devices for cloud computing and high-performance servers, IBM today announced the semiconductor industry's first computationally based process for production of next generation 22nm semiconductors. Known as Computational Scaling (CS) -- a process that enables the production of complex, powerful and energy-efficient semiconductors at 22nms and beyond -- this new initiative will feature support from several of IBM's key partners initially including Mentor Graphics and Toppan Printing.
HP Labs award will lay groundwork for next generation computers
While most personal computers today can process a few hundred thousand calculations per second, computer scientists are laying the groundwork for exascale machines that will process more than a million trillion – or 10^18 – calculations per second. Just a few months ago, scientists reached the long-sought-after high-performance computing milestone of one petaflop by processing more than a thousand trillion – or 10^15 – calculations per second.
Evidence of evolutionary selection found in 544 genes
(PhysOrg.com) -- By comparing the genomes of humans and five other mammals, Cornell researchers have identified 544 genes that have been shaped by positive selection over millions of years of evolution.

News discussion:

Electronic Devices news