HP Intros Blade Virtualization

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- On the heels of taking the No. 1 position in factory revenues and units shipped for blade servers,(1) HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) today introduced virtualization technologies that simplify the connectivity and management of its HP BladeSystem c-Class architecture, the company's core solution for the next-generation data center.

HP also announced the launch of its first workstation blade for the c-Class blade portfolio, the HP ProLiant xw460c Blade Workstation, to provide users with increased performance and scalability.

Dramatically simplifying network connectivity and common server management tasks across the data center, the HP Virtual Connect (http://www.hp.com/go/bladesystem/virtualconnect) Ethernet and Fibre Channel virtualization modules enable administrators for the first time to wire just once and then add, replace or recover servers on the fly. In addition to lowering capital and operating costs, the modules deliver simplified management capabilities that reduce the time it takes to execute these actions from hours or days to a matter of minutes.

"HP is creating systems that dramatically reduce installation time, cut costs for administration and reduce barriers to change within an IT organization," said Ann Livermore, executive vice president, Technology Solutions Group, HP. "With HP Virtual Connect, CIOs and IT administrators are set to overcome two of the biggest problems of today's data center: administrative productivity and the need to drive rapid change."

Hewlett-Packard Co.