HP Blades Day 2

Day 2 was great, it had some great topics, discussion and a chance to be shown around their factory, to see a blade being built, very, very cool.  The day started with an overview of desktop virtualization, something we have covered many a time at Bladewatch. We saw a demonstration of the work is doing in this area, including in their lab, and some interesting conversations about desktop virtualization admittedly I commented on this quite a bit. There is still a degree of perception for and against, to some up, against it is the cost, is the fact that our desktop infrastructure might actually work ok. The benefits though, of abstracting the user from their individual desktop, of breaking down the end user requirements to the core applications and services that they actually need, rather than providing a one size fits all approach, combined with the savings and distractions around the desktop support, not always about direct or indirect cost, but more to a disposable reliable desktop solution that meets user requirements. Is it a desktop I actually need or just the ability to check the online phonebook, check my email and book meeting rooms, is it therefore a pc I need, or a thin client with a web browser and everything stored online.

We then got a tour of the HP Factory Express and HP POD facilities. I’ve published pictures, apologies they were all taken with my iPhone, but nonetheless you’ll get the idea. On the POD it was great to see the two demo units that they had and discuss the opportunities and uses for the different form factor (sizes) of POD, there is the smaller more portable and the standard larger one, both could have specific benefits dependent on their size and scale. I remain a fan of the POD concept and remember writing about it being a perfect solution for those data center virtualization projects, deliver one, virtualize on to it, then once you’ve decommissioned and removed the legacy estate, P2V migrate back into your existing data center – virtualization in a can if you like.

Back to the HP Factory Express center which was great, walking around seeing how the servers were built to customers specifications, then tested, verified and packaged ready for shipment was very cool. Check out the pictures on flickr.

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