Reality Check: Server Insights : cloud computing

“Skinless” servers designed for extreme scale, built on standards

Kristie Popp — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:08:00 GMT

By John Gromala, director, product marketing, Industry Standard Servers, HP

Today, HP introduced our first addition to the HP ProLiant line since the 2001 introduction of blade servers with the new extreme scale ProLiant SL-family.

This addition marks a very important inflection point in the industry as more companies adopt very large scale data centers to support their businesses. We're talking about datacenters with thousands --to tens of thousands of nodes here --a segment of data center customer we're calling Extreme Scale-out (ExSO). These customers are the Web giants (search, Web 2.0, etc.) or more traditional businesses in the high-performance computing and enterprise realm. For both, IT is a key enabler of their business and is directly linked to the product or service they deliver to customers (whether it be delivering online applications or digital crash simulations).

Traditionally, these customers have been limited to one-off custom designs or proprietary offerings to meet their needs. Metrics like performance per watt per square foot are the name of the game for these guys. Every dollar spent for power, operations or server acquisition impacts business profitability.

Enter the new HP ProLiant SL6000 Scalable System, which uses a "skinless" systems architecture that replaces the traditional chassis with an extremely lightweight rail and tray design – all based on industry standards.

SL customers use 2U a z6000 chassis that leverages shared power and fans to maximize energy efficiencies and can mix-and-match between 3 new SL servers optimized for very specific ExSO workloads:

1. · HP ProLiant SL2x170z G6 delivers high-density compute with two servers in each 1U tray for highly dense applications such as high-performance computing and web front-end applications.

2. · HP ProLiant SL160z G6 delivers increased memory with 18 dual, in-line memory module (DIMM) slots and up to two peripheral component interconnect (PCI) slots, making it ideal for large memory-cache apps.

3. · HP ProLiant SL170z G6 delivers the greatest storage capacity with up to six large form-factor Serial ATA (SATA) or serial-attached SCSI (SAS) hard drives. The server is ideal for large storage applications such as web search and database applications.

These new ProLiant SL servers join HP’s existing ProLiant DL (rack), ML (tower) and BL (blade) servers. Learn more about ProLiant Servers here.

Jump right to information on the HP’s new Extreme Scale-out (ExSO) portfolio here.

Read more about HP's ExSO portfolio in today's press release here.

Doubling Down

s_mathur — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 20:44:00 GMT

In blackjack, if you have a great hand versus the house, you can double your bet or “double down” to show the confidence that you have in winning it all. HP’s commitment to our new Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processor is a clear signal that our technology partnership is strong, and the products are even stronger.

In today’s economic environment, customers can’t afford to make anything other than a safe bet. They are concerned about energy efficiency, performance and manageability – these are the keys to getting the most out of IT investments. With the new HP ProLiant G6 servers, based on Six-Core AMD Opteron processors, HP is increasing the capabilities of their award-winning ProLiant product line. Seven new models feature an uncompromising six-core processor that is designed for outstanding performance while still working within the same power and thermal ranges of existing HP servers based on our quad-core family.

We’ve written over and over again that consistency is critical for our customers. In large data centers, having consistency of platforms provides a huge benefit for customers, helping to turn the complexity of managing thousands of devices into a much easier task. From managing to servicing, if you can reduce the complexity and variance of the platforms, you can reduce the costs. And who wants to spend more in management costs? Especially with the business constraints of today’s market bearing down on you.

While we strive for consistency in our processors, we also offer a no-compromise approach to the products. Some in the industry may artificially limit the capabilities of the processors for marketing reasons, but we believe that keeping a consistent set of features from the top of the line down to the lowest option helps customers better manage their platforms. And, when it comes to planning, you know exactly what you are getting, from I/O to memory to cache – making it far easier to plan for your deployment needs.

HP takes the consistency concept a step further. The G6 servers have a common set of features, regardless of the processor, that allow us to cleanly integrate our technology into their platforms and bring the customer a unified product offering that makes it easier to make HP the clear choice for the data center.

From the “Sea of Sensors” to help manage the systems, to the commonality across power supplies and even the HP ProLiant Onboard Administrator, managing an HP server becomes a simple, and most importantly, repeatable activity. This helps drive more consistency in the data center and allows you to maximize your critical IT resources.

We’re also very excited about the new levels of performance that customers will see with a Six-Core AMD Opteron processor, and a great compliment to that is the new 6GB/second SAS drives that, when combined with the HP Smart Array controllers, allow the I/O subsystem to keep pace with all of those cores. Combining that with our new HT Assist feature is expected to bring an unprecedented level of I/O and memory throughput for AMD-based ProLiant servers.

With all of this new performance, we haven’t pushed the power consumption up, allowing the new six-core processors to work in the same power and thermal ranges as their four-core counterparts. If your goal is to get the most out of your data center while keeping a “green IT” focus, this is the product for you.

There is no greater compliment than being chosen as the cornerstone of a great platform, and with the new G6 servers, there are seven new reasons for customers to choose HP ProLiant G6 servers featuring AMD Opteron processors, each a winning hand for solving today’s IT challenges without breaking the bank.

In Vegas you “double down” when you have a great hand against the house, and it is clear that, with all of these new platforms coming to market, HP saw the great hand that we were dealing with the new six-core processors and doubled down as well.

John Fruehe is the Director of Business Development for Server/Workstation products at AMD. His postings are his own opinions and may not represent AMD’s positions, strategies or opinions. Links to third party sites are provided for convenience and unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such linked sites and no endorsement is implied.

Views of the HP POD

aimeeschoaf — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:35:00 GMT

The HP POD had a very busy week indeed... and we had some great photos taken while it was in the Silicon Valley. Here are a few of those pics - thank you for participating! For more information on the HP POD, go to: www.hp.com/go/pod.

Look for the HP POD this Fall at an industry event near you!

The HP POD finds Yahoo... Photo by Ryan Knight

The HP POD introduces itself to Google -- photo by Holly Benson

Photo by Cheryl Edwards

Will Hayes says, "Wait, come back! You forgot to drop off my TV!

Photo by Carlos Mangandy

Congratulations to the winner of our "Spot the POD" Drawing!

aimeeschoaf — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:18:00 GMT

Congratulations to Kenn Durrence, who was drawn as the winner of our "Spot the POD" Drawing. Kenn captured the HP POD in San Jose.

Congratulations, Kenn! Please email aimee.schoaf@hp.com with your contact information!

Thank you all for participating in this promotion - watch for the HP POD coming your way again this Fall.

“Spot the POD” Drawing

aimeeschoaf — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:22:00 GMT

The "Spot the POD" Drawing is now closed. We will be randomly choosing one winner from the eligible entries on Friday, July 18, 2008. Here are some of the photos posted as the POD made its journey through Silicon Valley! Thank you all for participating! For more information on the HP POD, go to www.hp.com/go/pod.

Nascent

aimeeschoaf — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:13:00 GMT

By Christian Post

"Nascent: coming or recently having come into existence."

It would be a short argument to suggest that containerized datacenters are nascent. They have been developed and deployed for years to serve mobile, military, and disaster response needs. Yet we are seeing a ground-swell of containerized offerings at the convergence of unprecedented energy costs, a resurgence of compute demand, and the growth of business dependence on IT. One could claim the interest in containerized datacenter solutions has now emerged beyond background noise and appears to be forming a "nascent" marketplace.

Who is paying attention? Certainly enterprise scaleout, Web 2.0 and HPC customers. Containers offer shorter time to provision and noticeable capex and opex savings. More than clamoring for provider briefings, some users are developing their own concepts. Further, mid-level managers see savings beyond the 20% barrier that normally hinders proposing new approaches to executives. The datacenter construction industry is certainly taking notice: Here is a diversification opportunity in which to invest, a competitive threat to take notice, and a potential fad to counter. Container integrators, also, note the opportunity and are seeking partnerships to extend their reach beyond non-IT applications. Finally, IT providers are staking claims. To them, containers extend the sales and solution opportunity beyond the box, enclosure, and rack to a sales opportunity valued at 2000+ nodes per order and solution opportunity in which to differentiate. How long will it last? That's the problem with "nascent." The early adopter era nears and likely precedes the pause. In the pause, investors and watchers will reflect on whether the return merits the convergence of facilities and IT and the new processes in deployment and operations.

So who will be the preferred provider(s)? Consider the following criteria: First, containers bring together technology at the MEP&IT spheres. Certainly design leadership that offers density, cost, and deployment prowess are mandatory. Second, IT configuration flexibility will be imperative, especially to those seeking best-in-class performance per watt or heterogeneous flexibility. Third, unique services for deployment, break/fix, and management of containers must be included. Few customers would leave any of these three out. But one is still missing. As varied as there are datacenter strategies and building designs, few customers express exactly the same container design expectations.

Thus there is a fourth criteria. In a new market, the provider that can 1) offer sound advice on whether to and how to deploy containerized datacenters and 2) respond to container design modifications quickly with skill and reputation, will likely emerge most trusted for such a "nascent" investment. What do you think? What is "nascent" about the containerized datacenter market? How long will it last? What kind of provider best serves the customer need?