HP has announced a range of networking, storage and server technologies that reduce costs, increase bandwidth flexibility and improve overall performance of virtual server environments.
The HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module, a direct connect storage bundle for HP BladeSystem, and the HP ProLiant DL385 G5p server are among the new products. HP's new Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module is an interconnect technology that can allocate the bandwidth of a 10Gb Ethernet network port across four network interface card (NIC) connections. This increase in bandwidth flexibility eliminates the need for additional network hardware equipment. As a result, customers deploying virtual machines and utilising Virtual Connect Flex-10 can realise savings of up to 55 per cent in network equipment costs.
Virtual Connect Flex-10 can save 240W of power per HP BladeSystem enclosure – or 3,150kW hours per year – compared to existing networking technologies.
The HP ProLiant BL495c virtualisation blade includes built-in Virtual Connect Flex-10 functionality that enables it to support up to 24 NIC connections. With increased network bandwidth and memory capacity, the BL495c can accommodate more virtual servers than other competitive blade server offerings on the market. HP's new direct connect storage bundle for HP BladeSystem includes two HP StorageWorks 3Gb serial attached SCSI (SAS) BL switches and an MSA2000sa storage array.
