HP Advances Scale-Out Computing With DC Solution

HP has launched the HP Extreme Scale-Out (ExSO) portfolio designed to deliver cost and resource savings for businesses involved in Web 2.0, cloud and high-performance computing.

Companies with ‘scale-out’ business models such as these, which operate with thousands of servers, are pushing the limits of current technology solutions. The HP ExSO portfolio, which includes a new modular systems architecture and spans data centre solutions, services and support, can help these customers improve facility efficiency and accelerate time to market on a massive scale.

At the core of the HP ExSO portfolio is the HP ProLiant SL server family, which uses a ‘skinless’ systems architecture that replaces the traditional chassis and rack form factors with a lightweight rail and tray design.

Purpose-built server infrastructure for extreme scale

The HP ProLiant SL server family offers customers the following benefits as per company claims:

* Energy savings – consolidated power and cooling infrastructure and unique air flow design uses 28 percent less power per server than traditional rack-based servers.

* Lightweight design – reductions in the metal used in the ProLiant SL servers decrease weight by 31 percent.

* Modular configurations – provide rapid installation and deployment through swappable ‘compute trays’.

Delivering the intelligent ExSO data centre

To further optimise costs for scale-out environments, customers need tools that provide a higher level of visibility into and control of facilities operations. The HP Datacenter Environmental Edge solution offers a complete visual mapping of environmental variables so customers can quickly identify and take action on data centre inefficiencies.

HP Datacenter Environmental Edge uses a system of wireless sensors placed throughout a data centre to monitor a variety of variables, such as temperature, humidity, air pressure and power utilisation. The system provides real-time visualisation of environmental variables so administrators can perform root cause analysis to eliminate excess operational costs.

Specialised engagement, delivery model and services

Additional new services for ExSO environments provide customers with a customised engagement experience through their entire technology lifecycle. ExSO services include scheduled on-site repair options, on-site seed inventory of parts and installation services specifically designed for environments that support thousands of servers.

In addition, the company’s leasing and lifecycle asset management services subsidiary, HP Financial Services, helps customers expand or renew their IT infrastructures with the entire line of ExSO offerings through flexible leasing and financing solutions.