HP Eases Deployment of UNIX Virtualization with Newest HP-UX Operating System, HP Integrity Servers

Dubai, United Arab Emirates, February 15, 2007- HP today introduced a new version of the HP-UX 11i operating system and entry-class servers to help make mission-critical virtualization practical for businesses of all sizes.

The latest release of HP's strategic UNIX operating environment, HP-UX 11i v3, makes virtualization easier to deploy and delivers mission-critical virtualization by combining virtualization and mainframe-class availability. Also, with HP-UX 11i v3, important applications, including business intelligent and data warehousing, are now simpler to secure and manage.

Additionally, HP strengthened its HP Integrity server lineup with a model for BladeSystem c-Class environments and a new rack-optimized unit, the Integrity rx2660 entry-class server. The HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade is the first Integrity model designed for the HP BladeSystem c-Class portfolio, HP's breakthrough blade architecture. The HP Integrity rx2660 is the lowest-priced Integrity rack-mount server and the most flexible and versatile unit in its UNIX server class.

Along with HP-UX 11i v3, the two new servers deliver mission-critical virtualization on a standards-based platform to help create an Adaptive Infrastructure in any enterprise.

Going beyond virtualization

Virtualization, which allows IT resources to be pooled and shared so that supply of resources can meet business demands, is transforming IT in data centers worldwide. The HP Virtual Server Environment (VSE) allows HP-UX 11i to go a step further and has integrated virtualization and mainframe-class availability to deliver mission-critical virtualization for customers with the most demanding workloads. HP has broadened the functionality and simplified the deployment of its mission-critical virtualization capabilities for HP-UX 11i.

Deployments of virtualized environments are simpler due to the addition of four new VSE Reference Architectures, including ones for Oracle, SAP software and shared services based on HP's own application server and database implementations. These reference architectures can help cut a customer's deployment time in half.

Mainframe-class availability has been enhanced via HP Serviceguard clustering enhancements, including faster user transparent failover for SAP and the introduction of new levels of disaster tolerance via cascading failover across three data centers.

The new HP-UX 11i v3 UNIX operating system is designed to meet growing needs of business applications to address today and tomorrow's most demanding workloads and is enhanced in a host of other critical areas. For instance, it is architected to address up to 100 million zettabytes of highly available, secure storage (1 zettabyte = 1 billion terabytes). In addition, it has new hot-swap and online patching capabilities that reduce planned and unplanned downtime and its automation features help minimize operational costs.

As with every new HP-UX release, existing customers' investments in the HP-UX 11i operating system are protected through binary compatibility. This means applications that ran on the previous release will run unchanged on HP-UX 11i v3 but have the added benefit of running an average of 30 percent faster.

Bringing blade flexibility and power efficiency to Integrity customers

Extending HP's "blade everything" strategy, the new HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade is a versatile, multi-operating system server. It brings the blade advantages of power efficiency, consolidation and flexibility to Integrity server customers, while expanding the workload capabilities and choices for HP blade customers.

Leveraging the innovative HP BladeSystem c-Class design, the BL860c is ideal for demanding database-intensive applications and scientific computing environments.

The server blade also offers a powerful virtualization engine for application consolidation, which can help drive down total cost of ownership. In addition, the Integrity BL860c shares the same BladeSystem c7000 enclosure with other HP ProLiant and HP StorageWorks blades.

The new HP Integrity rx2660 entry-class server handles robust application tier workloads and is versatile enough for porting, application serving, testing and development. Cost-effective for small deployments, it offers business-critical computing and HP-UX strengths, such as VSE, HP Serviceguard and HP Systems Insight Manager, to customers of all sizes. The rx2660 also beats Sun servers on their home turf: Java performance. As demonstrated by the recent SPECjAppServer2004⁽¹⁾ and SPECjbb2005⁽²⁾ benchmarks, the rx2660 delivers leadership performance for Java 2 Enterprise Edition applications and Java business workloads.

Channel partner focus

HP continues to expand and equip expert channel partners with technical expertise and resources to broaden the market reach of virtualization to enterprises of all sizes. HP VSE for HP-UX for HP-UX 11i, together with Serviceguard and the new entry-class servers with HP-UX 11i provide important growth engines for HP channel partners.

"The offerings introduced today help HP to deliver greater value and benefits in areas that customers care most about, such as virtualization," said Yasser Ragaei, Business Manager, Enterprise Servers, HP Middle East. "Our latest HP-UX release, server offerings and channel programs bring mission-critical virtualization to a broader range of customers moving toward a 24x7 lights-out, next-generation data center."

Pricing and availability

A base configuration of the HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade has a starting U.S. list price of $3,677 and is expected to begin shipping in March. A base configuration of the HP Integrity rx2660 entry-class server has a starting U.S. list price of $4,931 and is shipping now.⁽³⁾ The HP-UX 11i v3 operating system is shipping now.

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About HP
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers - from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world's largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $91.7 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Oct. 31, 2006. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

About HP Middle East
HP is the largest technology and solutions provider in the Middle East with 670 employees and subsidiaries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar, Cairo, Ramallah, Oman and 2 service Joint Ventures in Kuwait and Bahrain servicing the GCC, Egypt and the Levant. HP has been present in the Middle East since 1968 and opened its first regional office in 1994. HP Middle East is the market leader for enterprise, small and medium business and consumer technology products and offers a large portfolio of solutions and services in various business domains.

More information about HP in the Middle East is available at www.hp.com/me

⁽¹⁾ SPECjAppServer2004 results: Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 and HP-UX 11i v3 on HP Integrity rx2660 (2p/4c), 803 JOPs and two HP Integrity rx2660 (4p/8c), 1,578 JOPs. All results and comparisons as of Feb. 15, 2007. See www.spec.org for details.

⁽²⁾ SPECjbb2005 results: Java HotSpot 1.5 Server JVM and HP-UX 11i v3 on HP rx2660 (2p/4c), 80,884 BOPs; All results and comparisons as of Feb. 15, 2007. See www.spec.org for details.

⁽³⁾ Estimated U.S. list prices. Actual prices may vary.

© Press Release 2007