We were impressed with the BL20p. G2 stands for second generation, and this dual Xeon processor blade packs quite a punch: It turned in the highest number of transactions per second in our Spirent Communications WebAvalanche test (see "How We Tested Blade Servers,").
The BL20p blades have two hot-swappable SCSI hard drives and an embedded hardware RAID controller with RAID Levels 0 and 1. Besides fast dual processors, the BL20p also offers three 10/100/1000 network cards. An additional network card is dedicated to HP's iLO (integrated Lights Out), which lets administrators remotely access the server console, power cycle the server and check the health of the system. The iLO boards included on the blade-server line do allow access to the OS' GUI-based console.
You can add Fibre Channel storage to the updated G2 blade server with the FC pass-through interconnect module. Other available modules include a patch panel that provides access to each of the network interfaces and a Gigabit Ethernet switch. Each chassis requires two interconnect modules for network access and FC connections for the blade servers.
One downside of the p-series blade servers is the lack of floppy or CD-ROM drives or USB ports. We needed to use a "virtual" drive, from a computer connected through the iLO management interface. This made installing software from CD more difficult, requiring a second computer or placing the installation files on the network first. Both HP's e series line and Dell's 1655MC have USB ports, where a floppy or CD-ROM drive could be connected.
Using iLO for remote control of a Windows 2000 server also took some practice because we had a hard time keeping the mouse in sync. That is, where the iLO interface thought the mouse should be and where it actually was on the remote session often did not jibe, making it hard to move the mouse near the edges of the remote-controlled server window. Refreshing the browser window usually fixed the problem, but not always, making iLO unusable at times. The RDP software also has a remote-control agent that worked better, but this approach requires the server to be in a working state; iLO does not because it works at the hardware level.
HP's RDP management software really shined, making it a breeze to deploy the OS. RDP let us do scripted installs of both Linux and Windows. Once a blade server was completely configured, RDP captured that image for a faster OS deployment. Because RDP is aware of the blade chassis, we could set it to detect when an unconfigured blade is placed into a slot and deploy a preset image down to the blade. So, in this case, if a blade server fails, just rip it out, put in a new one, and the management software will redeploy the image without administrator intervention. If we also wanted to have our applications redeployed, they had to be installed on the blade before the image was captured. Images are stored on the computer running the RDP management software.
RDP also made it easy to perform simple configuration changes to each node. For example, in the RDP interface, we were able to set the workstation name or the network settings for each NIC with just a few clicks. RDP then contacted the remote blade, set the configuration changes and restarted the blade. RDP also kept a history of all configuration changes done to each node.
One thing we found a little odd about the p-series blade servers is that the chassis needs a separate power unit. There are two different models available: One can house four power supplies, the other six. Each unit can supply power to three p-series chassis. All the other blades we tested, and even HP's e-series, have integrated power supplies. This can make price comparisons a little deceiving because the chassis prices of the HP p series and the Dell seem close, but you'll need to buy a power-supply module for the HP p series, which adds a few thousand dollars to the price.
ProLiant BL20p G2. Hewlett-Packard Co., (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com
HP ProLiant BL20p
The first-generation HP BL20p blade is very similar to the G2 blade. The main differences are a slower processor, only three 10/100 network connections and the lack of Fibre Channel connectivity. The G1 blade is managed by the same RDP management software and has the same iLO capabilities. For applications that don't have as high a network-bandwidth or processor-power demand, the G1 blade is a good option at a lower price.
ProLiant BL20p. Hewlett-Packard Co., (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com
HP BL40p
For shops that require more horsepower for their servers, the BL40p is up to the task. It features a quad processor Xeon MP box with five (yes, five!) 10/100/1000 network adapters. For storage, the BL40p has four hot-swappable hard drives, making RAID
Level 5 an option. It also supports a Fibre Channel connection via the proper interconnect module. For SAN connectivity, the BL40p has two PCI slots available, providing a redundant connection to your SAN hardware. The downside to the BL40p is its size: only two blades per each 6U chassis, a total of 12 blades per 42U rack (two power modules are required per rack, taking up a total of 6U). But these blades do allow more servers per rack when compared with HP's 4U, 5U or 7U rack-mount servers. The BL40p also sports a hefty price tag compared with the BL20p models.
Why would anyone want to invest in the BL40p versus a traditional quad-processor, rack-mount unit? First, with the RDP management software, you get rip-and-replace functionality that you can't get with a stand-alone system. Also, the potential for less cabling in the rack is there. In the end, though, it depends on the interconnect options put into the blade chassis--for example, if the switch module is purchased instead of the patch panel.
ProLiant BL40p. Hewlett-Packard Co., (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com
HP BL10e
On the low-end from HP is the BL10e 900MHz PIII mobile processor blade, with a single laptop-size 40-GB IDE hard drive on each blade. This line of blade servers is meant for applications that don't need a lot of CPU power or for shops that need a large number of servers or workstations. Of the servers tested, the BL10e was the poorest performer, but that's primarily because it uses the slowest CPU. Unlike the p-series blades, the BL10e blades do not have the option of iLO management. Instead, the chassis carries the iLO functionality. The downside is that remote control of each blade is limited. When running Linux, we could get a console session via iLO; for blades running Windows, HP provides a limited text-based interface for a common set of tasks, such as accessing the process list, Windows services and network configuration.
On the positive side, we could add a KVM to each blade via an adapter that plugs on to the front. The adapter also provides two USB ports. Of course, to make use of the keyboard/mouse in Windows, the adapter must be plugged into the blade before it boots into Windows. We also could use terminal services or software like VNC to remotely administrate the boxes.
ProLiant BL10e. Hewlett-Packard Co., (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com
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