HP Debuts Two 'Lights-Out' Servers

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HP Monday introduced the ProLiant
DL320 and DL360 servers designed specifically for data centers.

To power these dense environments, the firm included what it calls
“lights-out” technology in its overarching Adaptive Infrastructure
initiative to help customers grasp greater control of the operations of
their machines. The new servers provide reduced reactive support time, fault
resilient technologies for reduced downtime, and performance architectures
to handle greater transaction workloads.

What kind of software do the servers work with and what are the benefits of
the lights-out approach? HP’s remote technology integrates with the ProLiant
brand’s Essentials software, such as the HP Rapid Deployment Pack. These
help reduce support time by more than 50 percent, with a comparable
reduction in server down time; eliminate travel expenses to and from sites;
and better manage staff resources through automated server provisioning and
proactive server maintenance.

The DL360 server offers concentrated 1U compute power for space-constrained
data centers. Powered by 2.4- and 2.8-GHz Intel Xeon processors, 533-MHz
system bus, 266-MHz DDR memory and PCI-X technology, the DL360 lets
customers handle such transaction workloads as Web hosting, infrastructure
applications and terminal services.

The lower-end DL320 server is a 1U, one-way server that can support
single-function and front-end applications, and can be managed in a variety of racking environments. The DL320 includes features such as a PCI expansion slot, redundant ROM
and increased manageability capabilities with an optional RILOE II
management card. The ProLiant DL320 server supports the Intel 2.26-GHz
Pentium 4 processor.

The DL360 and newly upgraded DL580 include HP’s Advanced Memory Protection
technology, while the DL360 offers online spare memory. Fitted with the
latest Intel Xeon MP chip, the DL580 supports hot pluggable mirrored memory,
which lets customers replace memory without downtime. Customers have a
choice to purchase lights-out technologies either integrated into the
ProLiant DL360 and DL580 or as an optional upgrade to the ProLiant DL320
with the Remote Lights-out (RILOE) PCI expansion card.

The servers are part of the industry-wide strategy for offering powerful
machines at attractive price points to hook IT managers facing budget
constraints in a stingy economic environment.

“As budgetary pressures continue to force increased scrutiny of capital
expenditures, customers need reliable and efficient solutions that provide
tangible returns on their IT investments,” said James Mouton, vice
president, Platforms, HP Industry Standard Servers.

HP’s news comes at a comfortable time for the company in terms of its market
share for servers, according to market research firm, which recently
proclaimed the venerable Palo Alto, Calif. system vendor the market leader
in UNIX servers. HP wrested the No. 1 spot from Sun Microsystems with a 32.9 percent market share,
while Sun fell to the No. 2 position this quarter with 30.4 percent.

IBM regained sole lead of the server market with a 29.8 percent share, after
tying with Hewlett-Packard for market share leadership following HP’s May
2002 merger with Compaq.

The HP ProLiant DL580 server is available now for $7,199. The HP ProLiant
DL360 and DL320 servers are expected to be available in mid-December
starting at $2,599 and $1,449, respectively.