HP announced on Tuesday two new products to their blade server portfolio, however blade server fanatics, don’t get too excited.

 

32GB Dual Rank DIMM
First of the two announcements was the availability of a 32GB DIMM. Listed as “HP 32GB (1x32GB) Dual QUAD Rank x4 PC3L-10600 (DDR3-1333) Registered CAS-9 Low Power Memory Kit” under HP Part number 627814-B21 this new addition doubles the maximum capacity of blade servers. The BL460 G7 now boasts a maximum memory capacity of 384GB of RAM. As a side note, from my research, it appears this new 32GB DIMM is also available for the Proliant DL360 and DL380 G7 models. U.S. list price is $8,039.

(UPDATED 1/12/11) 32GB RAM is Quad Rank Memory. Native speed is 1066Mhz, which it will run at with 1 DIMM per channel. Once you hit 2 DIMMs per channel, the memory speed will be reduced to 800Mhz. Information on this DIMM was taken from HP’s BL460 G7 QuickSpecs at:(http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13706_div/13706_div.PDF)

HP StorageWorks D2200sb Storage Blade
The other announcement that HP made was the addition of a new storage blade to their blade portfolio. This new storage blade offers up to 12 hot-plug SAS drives all inside of a half-height form factor. The blade uses a revolutionary drawer technology that allows the user to open the system and slide out a drawer that holds all 12 drives WHILE the drives are running giving the user the ability to replace a hot-plug drive without impacting the other running drives. The D2200sb provides high-performance direct storage connectivity to the adjacent blade server without the need for any cables. The D2200sb Storage Blade also features an onboard Smart Array P410i controller with 1 GB flash-backed write cache, for increased performance and data protection.

(UPDATED 1/13/11) Daniel Bowers, from HP, posted a YouTube video that demonstrates how the D2200sb slides out to reveal all 12 drives:

Direct link to YouTube:
HP’s website (and you can get a free 60-day trial here

(thanks, Dan!)

While the D2200sb provide direct connectivity to a single blade, there are a couple of ways to use for shared storage:
1) Use HP P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance (VSA) software to turn the D2200sb into an iSCSI SAN for use by all severs in the enclosure and any server on the network. You can find out more about this offering from

2) Combine the HP StorageWorks X1800sb Network Storage Blade with the D2200sb Storage Blade to enable file serving and iSCSI shared storage inside the BladeSystem enclosure. You can find out more about this storage blade from HP’s website.

The D2200sb Storage Blade is being offered in 4 “flavors”:

HP StorageWorks D2200sb Storage Blade – part #AP880A (U.S. List price: $1,999)
HP StorageWorks D2200sb Storage Blade Bundle with SAAP (Smart Array Advanced Pack) License – part # BK781A (U.S. List price: $2,111)
HP D2200sb PCIe and P4000 VSA Bundle with SAAP License – part # AP881A (U.S. List price: $5,726)
NOTE: Includes the D2200sb Storage Blade, a (SAAP) License and a single P4000 VSA license. VSA software is installed in a virtual machine on a VMware host server adjacent to the D2200sb.
HP StorageWorks D2200sb PCIe Storage Blade with (12) 600GB 6G SAS HDD bundle – part # AP882A (U.S. List price: $11,320)

HP announced a while ago a new product they call the HP BladeSystem Matrix.  Okay, well, it’s not really a “product” as much as it is a solution.  HP calls the BladeSystem Matrix “a cloud infrastructure in a box” – which is a good way to look at it.  The infrastructure that is “the Matrix” is simply HP’s BladeSystem chassis, loaded with blade servers and attached to an HP storage SAN.  Add to the mix some automation, via templates, and you have the BladeSystem Matrix.  The secret behind this unique solution is the “Matrix Orchestration Environment“, which combines automated provisioning, capacity planning, and disaster recovery, with a self-service portal into one “command center.”  However, this is not a single software, but a combination of HP Insight Dynamics – VSE and Insight Orchestration .

What’s In a BladeSystem Matrix?

There are two options for the HP BladeSystem Matrix bundle – a Starter Kit and an Expansion Kit.  The Starter Kit is designed to include all of the infrastructure necessary to manage up to 16 blade servers, with the option of adding a HP StorageWorks EVA4400 SAN.   The HP BladeSystem Matrix Starter Kit (hardware components) contains:

• HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure, single-phase, single-phase with 6 power supplies, 10 fans
• HP BladeSystem c7000 Onboard Administrator with KVM option, redundant pair
  HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet modules, redundant pair
  NOTE: No transceivers/SFPs included so that you can choose these options – need to add to order.
• HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port FC Module for BladeSystem c-Class, redundant pair
  NOTE: Two [2] Fibre Channel SFP+ transceivers included with each module; therefore, 4 total transceivers per redundant pair.
• BladeSystem Matrix documentation CD
• BladeSystem Matrix label attached to 10000 series rack door handle

The part number for HP BladeSystem Matrix Starter Kit (hardware components) is 535888-B21. It is important to note, the starter kit does not contain any blade servers or storage.  Those must be ordered separately.

The HP BladeSystem Matrix Starter Kit (software components) provides HP Insight software licenses for 1 enclosure / 16-server with standard 1 year 24×7 Technical Support and Update Service unless 3-, 4-, or 5-year Support Plus 24 Care Pack uplifts are purchased to increase support and update period. These licenses include:

• Insight Dynamics – VSE suite for ProLiant with Insight Control suite
• Insight Orchestration software
• Insight Recovery software
• Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager software
• HP Insight Remote Support Advanced (formerly Remote Support Pack)

The part number for HP BladeSystem Matrix Starter Kit (software components) is TB462A.

Once you have the Hardware and Software Starter kits, then you’ll need to purchase the HP Professional Services – for installation; the Central Management Server (CMS) – a BL460 with 2 CPUs, 12GB RAM; additional blade servers and the storage that you need.

The HP BladeSystem Matrix Expansion Kit (HP part #507021-B21 ) is very similar to the Starter Kit:

• HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure, single-phase, single-phase with 6 power supplies, 10 fans
• HP BladeSystem c7000 Onboard Administrator with KVM option, redundant pair
  HP Virtual Connect Flex-10 10Gb Ethernet modules, redundant pair
  NOTE: No transceivers/SFPs included so that you can choose these options – need to add to order.
• HP Virtual Connect 8Gb 24-Port FC Module for BladeSystem c-Class, redundant pair
  NOTE: Two [2] Fibre Channel SFP+ transceivers included with each module; therefore, 4 total transceivers per redundant pair.
• BladeSystem Matrix documentation CD
• BladeSystem Matrix label attached to 10000 series rack door handle

However, it also includes software licenses for:

• Insight Dynamics – VSE suite for ProLiant with Insight Control suite
• Insight Orchestration software
• Insight Recovery software
• Virtual Connect Enterprise Manager software
• HP Insight Remote Support Advanced (formerly Remote Support Pack)

Once again, you’ll need to purchase the HP Professional Services – for installation; then your blade servers and the storage that you need.

As you can see, the HP BladeSystem Matrix is not a new product – it is an easy way to order HP BladeSystem products and use HP services and software to easily get your server infrastructure in place.  Let me know your thoughts – feel free to leave comments.  For more on the HP BladeSystem Matrix, visit HP’s web site at http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/blades/components/matrix/main.html