HP is taking some time this week to patch up some loose
ends with its organically built hardware and software lineups.
Famous for its relationships with Microsoft and Linux distribution
vendors like Red Hat and SUSE Linux
,
HP is revamping its Integrity and HP 9000 high-end servers with new
virtualization software based on its HP-UX 11i operating system.
In a slew of announcements Monday, HP unveiled a multi-OS support system of
its HP Virtual Server Environment, new HP-UX 11i v2 software for its HP 9000
servers and enhancements to its AlphaServer systems. The changes help
optimize server utilization by letting multiple HP-UX 11i and 2.6 kernel
Linux operating system instances share a single CPU, as well as I/O
resources.
“We’re getting excellent uptake on our Integrity servers, but HP at the same
time is a very multi-OS company,” Nick van der Zweep, HP director of
virtualization and utility computing, told internetnews.com.
The revamp comes at a critical time. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer
and printer maker is still reeling from last week’s financial
news. CEO Carly Fiorina fired three executives and informed Wall Street
that it would offer lower revenue expectations for its third quarter. The
company is expected to file its quarterly financial statement Wednesday.
Despite the shakeup, HP said its server virtualization and provisioning
strategy, also known as Adaptive Enterprise, will now include HP-UX 11i version 2.
The software scales up to 128-way systems and includes data center
enhancements, such as virtualization, high availability and disaster
tolerance.
At its HP World 2004 tradeshow
in Chicago, the company announced that its new Global Workload Manager is on tap for
this year with support for HP-UX 11i and Linux operating systems.
HP said it would now let customers use its HP Integrity servers as a
pay-per-use system for Windows on Integrity servers. In addition, Instant
Capacity capabilities for Windows and Linux will be made available through
the integration with HP Integrity Virtual Machines.
The company said its Virtual Server Environment for HP-UX 11i is also
getting spruced up with a Serviceguard extension for RAC (SGeRAC); Secure
Resource Partitions to secure processes and files via compartments; and
HP-UX Virtual Partitions (vPars) for HP Integrity servers.
The company said HP-UX 11i paves an even smoother path for HP 9000
customers to evolve to Integrity systems by providing common administrative
functions. HP-UX 11i maintains source and data compatibility when moving
from HP 9000 to Integrity servers. In addition, the company said its HP
Serviceguard now allows support for both HP 9000 and Integrity servers
within a single cluster.
HP also has added performance enhancements to the AlphaServer product
line with higher speed EV7 processors for the midrange and the new higher
speed EV7z processor for the high end, providing Tru64 Unix and OpenVMS
customers a cost-competitive platform.
“HP was one of the first companies to recognize the importance of
virtualization,” said Vernon Turner, IDC group vice president and general
manager, Enterprise Computing. “The power of HP’s virtualization strategy
lies with its integrated approach, including hardware, management software
and services, to offer a complete and flexible solution.”
In storage news, HP announced
the general availability of its Fibre Attached Technology Adapted SATA
two-gigabit, dual-ported fibre channel
allow customers to shift less frequently accessed data around.
Kyle Fitze, director of marketing for HP’s online storage division, also
unveiled the StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array (EVA) 3000 Starter Kit, a
2-gigabit fibre channel SAN array bundle that integrates hardware,
management software and specialized services.
With the product, customers can deploy an EVA at a 25 percent savings of
the sum of the individually listed products. Available Sept. 1, the HP
StorageWorks EVA 3000 Starter Kit is priced just less than $42,000.
HP also announced customer momentum Monday with a partnership targeted at
the telecommunications industry. The company said it will supply wireless
giant Motorola with some customized Itanium-based servers
running a carrier-grade version of the Debian Linux distribution to power
its OpenCall carrier software.
The goal is to provide all major carriers with a path to upgrade to its
partnered 64-bit systems to run next-generation systems.
