Breakthrough Innovation Scales HP Integrity Servers to 128 Processors
MUNICH, Germany, ENSA@WORK Conference, May 5, 2004
HP today announced significant achievements in its standards-based server portfolio, including breakthrough innovation in system design that dramatically increases the workload capacity and cuts costs for HP Integrity server customers.
This is achieved with a new dual-processor module, called mx2, which features two industry-standard Intel® Itanium® 2 processors on a single module that can plug into existing systems – delivering up to 35 percent lower acquisition costs than similar IBM systems.
HP's standards-based, multi-OS server strategy, built on two foundational architectures – x86 and Itanium, allows the company to invest in value-added innovation on top of standard server and storage components. The announcement of the HP mx2 module was complemented by new Integrity benchmarks, services and partners. In addition, HP announced record-breaking performance benchmarks for x86-based HP ProLiant servers.
"HP's focus on delivering the industry's broadest portfolio of standards-based servers, as part of our Adaptive Enterprise strategy, enables us to innovate, differentiate and add value for our customers," said Mark Hudson, vice president of marketing, Enterprise Storage and Servers, HP. "Today's announcements demonstrate that our strategy is working."
The mx2 dual-processor module enhancement allows increased performance, flexibility and investment protection on HP Integrity servers. Customers can consolidate more workloads onto an HP Integrity server with an in-chassis upgrade to the module. Customers also get additional choices in price as this module doubles the processor counts for the existing HP Integrity server family.
"With the addition of the mx2 dual-processor module, HP Integrity Superdome systems will be able to deliver enhanced flexibility and increased performance density over previous Superdome systems – crucial factors for our data warehousing efforts," said Tim Eitel, chief information officer, Raymond James Financial. "This competitively priced advancement to the Integrity family, and the investment protection it offers Raymond James Financial, reaffirms our decision to go with HP Integrity Superdome servers running Windows Server 2003 to support current and future growth and enhance our services for customers."
Industry-leading benchmarks, expanding ISV support
HP Integrity servers offer the opportunity to consolidate applications from leading operating environments, including HP-UX 11i, Windows®, Linux, and later in the year, OpenVMS. Already demonstrating superior performance characteristics, the HP Integrity rx4640-8 server with the mx2 dual-processor module has outperformed all competing servers in the eight-way two-tier SAP® Sales and Distribution (SD) Standard Application Benchmark as of May 4, 2004. The SAP Standard Application Benchmark tests the hardware and database performance of SAP applications and components.(1) HP also holds the leading SPECweb99 result in the eight-processor category as of April 20, 2004.(2)
In the past 11 months, independent software vendors (ISVs) throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) have benefited from the co-sponsored HP and Intel Developer Forum. As a direct result of IDF workshops, more than 357 new ISVs have been added to the growing list of vendors already porting their applications to HP Integrity servers.
Starting in May and running through September, this collaborative forum is being expanded to North America to help ISVs meet the growing demand for Itanium-based applications across HP Integrity platforms. HP is making the HP Integrity rx2600 server available to select North America and EMEA HP and Intel developers at exclusive prices and loan opportunities.
"The new HP mx2 dual-processor module allows support for twice the number of Itanium 2 processors than in previous servers – which means more performance, workload capacity and performance density for our customers who need it," said Ivan Chong, vice president of product management, Informatica. "HP's Integrity servers, along with the latest performance enhancements built into Informatica's market-leading enterprise data integration software, can offer our joint customers a very powerful and scalable solution for their most demanding data integration workloads."
More information about HP Integrity servers is available at www.hp.com/products1/servers/integrity/index.html.
HP ProLiant with AMD Opteron processors shatters previous x86 4P performance record
HP also announced a TPC-C benchmark result that joins previously published HP ProLiant DL585 world-record results, positioning HP as the top-performing x86 four-way server vendor.
The recently announced ProLiant DL585 server is the first and only four-way AMD Opteron-based server from a tier one vendor, and the system continues to deliver outstanding performance. The DL585 posted a record x86 four-way result on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition operating system with 123,027.42 transactions per minute (tpmC) at a price/performance ratio of $3.50/tpmC.(3)
The ProLiant DL585 was configured with four AMD Opteron Model 850 (2.4 gigahertz) processors with 1 megabyte L2 cache, eight Smart Array controllers, 403 hard disk drives and 97,920 user counts, and it offers best-in-class management and high system uptime features ideal for data center deployment.
More than 20 percent greater than the previous top four-way x86 server benchmark,(4) the TPC-C result demonstrates HP's delivery of the best value to customers with better performance and price/performance, lower total cost of ownership, efficient system management capabilities and a seamless transition toward 64-bit platforms. The HP ProLiant DL585 performed 20 percent faster, or 20,000 more transactions per minute, than the IBM xSeries 365(5) and 45 percent faster, or 38,000 more transactions per minute, than the Dell PowerEdge 6650.(6)
In addition to the superior design of the HP ProLiant DL585 server, the result also showcased HP Smart Array controllers and StorageWorks enclosures, which provided the high input/output subsystem necessary to achieve the breakthrough performance levels.
HP mission-critical services for NonStop servers extends availability, business continuity
Several HP mission-critical service offerings are being expanded, with global availability expected to start this summer, to reinforce the HP NonStop server's role as the de facto industry standard for businesses running fault-tolerant applications requiring the ultimate in high availability. These comprehensive service offerings focus on proactive measures to avoid downtime, complementing the technology with people and process expertise.
New HP NonStop services include:
- HP Mission Critical Partnership – Helps customers achieve their business objectives through continual IT service quality improvements. HP provides a dedicated senior support team and a customized service-level agreement for customers, including proactive IT service management and availability consulting and customizable reactive support to meet availability objectives.
- HP Critical Service – Helps customers achieve their IT availability objectives through proactive onsite assistance integrated with fast reactive support, including standard repair time commitments, immediate access to NonStop experts, and priority escalation processes.
- HP Proactive 24 Service – Helps customers improve IT effectiveness through proactive and reactive support, including access to NonStop experts and rapid response to hardware and software issues.
- HP Support Plus 24 – Provides customers with reactive support that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for problem resolution. HP engineers work with customers during coverage hours to isolate hardware and software problems and work to resolve them as quickly as possible.
Included with all NonStop support agreements is the HP Instant Support Enterprise Edition (ISEE) for NonStop servers. To resolve problems more quickly, HP ISEE enables remote support over a secure Internet connection with robust troubleshooting and repair capabilities via predefined scripts.
In addition, customers may choose one of three service solutions – Critical Service Solution, Proactive Service Solution or Foundation Service Solution – based on their requirements. Each service solution includes a set of services that provides quick installation, customized configuration and rapid startup, as well as the recommended level of proactive and reactive support. HP delivers services across the full IT lifecycle, including planning, design, integration, installation and management.
More information about HP mission-critical services for NonStop platforms is available at www.hp.com/hps/mission/mi_nonstop.html
