HP launches first two in one server blade

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13049_div/13049_div.html

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 28, 2008 – HP today announced the world’s first two-in-one server blade, which offers customers with scale-out environments improved data centre performance, reduced floor space and lower power usage.

Businesses with cloud computing, Web 2.0 and high-performance computing (HPC) deployments have data centres with hundreds to thousands of servers, multi-petabyte(1) 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 maximise existing data centre floor space.

To address these needs, the HP ProLiant BL2×220c G5 combines two independent servers in a single blade, enabling customers to double compute power and significantly reduce data centre space requirements. It delivers 60 percent better performance per watt than similar configurations on the market(2) and minimises 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 BL2×220c 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.

Very cool, deploying these servers could be ideal for those HPC/grid solutions not to mention a web or Citrix farm, the kind of situation where you need volume capacity. I’ll need to read up more about them, I’ve linked to the quickspec guides for reference. If I read the details correctly it works in the C-Class enclosure and has an impressive array of specifications, do check it out.