HP held their Business Technology @ Work press briefing this October 21, 2008, and while it had no large number of hardware products that we in HWM loves so much, it had the most interesting combination of products and services to meet the increasing acceptance and utilization of virtualization in business computing. Join us as we work our way through an amazing collection of HP innovations.

HP has one of the most advanced server systems available on the market in their blade servers. What’s generally less mentioned is the number of services HP has to offer to further complement their hardware products and increase their effectiveness, not to mention the software products and programs that are part and parcel for any company intending to make use of virtualization.

                                            Jim Wagstaff, VP and GM of HP's StorageWorks Division, Enterprise Storage and Servers and Technology Solutions Group.

Virtual environments, servers and associated hardware are not the usual topic of discussion for HWM and its readers, yet these topics’ potential impact on businesses and their inevitable connection to the customer makes it a worthwhile subject to explore. At the very least, more efficient, more flexible data centers and servers, running virtualization software that further cuts cost, manpower requirements, power requirements and the like will likely impact the cost of the final products for the customer, and better service for corporate clients. In fact, it is not only because virtualization has such far-reaching benefits for most businesses that rely on any type of computing power, but also the fact that HP is at the right position at the right time, with the proper tools, services, experience and hardware for assisting any company that’s on its way towards virtualization.

                                             Jim Wagstaff on this last leg of a 15 country marathon of Business Technology @ Work Virtualization presentations.

First of all, a primer on virtualization – a technology that enables many “virtual machines” – think a common desktop – to run on a single machine and act like a single, independent, physical computer. This is a gross simplification, but is a workable explanation for the technology. With it, disparate software, say, for inventory management on one hand, corporate spending accountancy software on the other, both running on its own type of OS, can now work on the same machine, instead of requiring the company to maintain specialized hardware and software for each type of application that is not compatible with each other.

Continuing with the simplified explanation, a hundred virtual machines can be equated to a hundred users having their own keyboard and mouse and inputting commands into their own machines, while in fact one server with virtualization capabilities can easily replace a hundred actual machines, given the correct combination of processing power, memory, throughput and storage.

                                             A typical "Blade", the hardware side of HP's virtualization expertise.

A most amazing thing to consider is that a single blade server which has four CPU sockets, combined with the newest Xeon 7400 six-core processors, will already have 24 physical cores to work with, and in fact these cores can handle more than a single virtual environment per core – as many as 4 virtual machines per core given a moderate workload and modest processing requirements. That would equate to 96 virtual machines on a single blade – in HP’s All-in-One solution for servers, as many as 4 blades can be housed in a single server housing! That’s 384 virtual machines in a box not much larger than two 20” old-style CRTs put side-by-side, including the requisite cooling, power and connectivity modules.

                                             This being HWM, we were naturally attracted to the hardware - we couldn't stop staring at all of the potential power inside this super-thin blade.

One of the main purposes for virtualization besides providing these “virtual machines” is as a more efficient method of using computing power. Now instead of having individual desktops for each and every purpose, and having a server / data center system running (typically) at 10% load in anticipation of spikes in server utilization requirements, a whole strata of machines can be eliminated, and all the work handled by a single server or cluster of servers able to load-balance all of the possible tasks that can be encountered in a computer-centric environment. Virtualization once implemented, in any and all kinds of environments, will result in enormous savings both in the outlay and in the maintenance of the machines.

                                             Inside the Blade. Note the quad sockets and the super-thin format of the chassis.

One of the best examples of HP’s software chops in its virtualization product line is its UNIX operating system, used in products such as the HP-UX 11iv3 with HP Virtual Server Environment. This combination is the perfect solution for customers looking to implement virtualization into their mission-critical computing (think always-up game servers for example) – providing features such as Integrity Virtual Machine with Accelerated I/O for fast consolidation and deployment of their new virtualized machines. As a quick side-note, the VSE (Virtual Server Environment) enables the client to quickly test an existing server environment on a virtual machine without the need for transferring, backup, re-installation and the like. This helps the client immensely when it comes to mission critical (the “always-up” computing requirement) applications when they move towards virtualized environments.

                                             HP has extensively studied virtualization and its application - this slide represents a small part of HP's studies.

Not only does HP have the hardware and software side of the equation covered, they also take into account some of the biggest barriers to a business’ adoption of virtualization – staff-training/experience and infrastructure planning. With HP’s acquisition of EMC, they are in a unique position to address the infrastructure planning hurdle, using EMC’s expertise in long-term planning and long years of experience in the build-up of a brand-new data center or the improvement of an existing one. While HP is not in the business of schooling IT and management people in the finer points of virtual environments, they still make it as easy as possible to asopt this technology through easy-to-use software and accompanying hardware that works seamlessly together, turning what should be an arduous process of moving from a physical management and IT system to virtual ones, “virtually” easy.

                                              The Business Technology @ Work event also had a section for potential clients, clients such as Globe Telecom and other data center - using industries.

The key point of all of the technologies and products listed above is not their individual prowess, but rather their combined usability in this age of increasing use of virtualization. With their Blade servers giving excellent efficiency in space, power and scalability, combined with software and services that ease the application of virtualization in business fields, HP is able to bring out a whole, complete package for the business ready to transition their computing needs into a more efficient, forward-looking virtualized system. As it stands, HP offers the most complete portfolio of products, services and solutions with its unique combination of hardware already optimized for frugal operation and a new technology in virtualization that promotes the same thing – frugal operation through efficiency and smart application of resources.

                                              A turbine-based cooling fan for HP's all-in-one server solution.

                                              The cooling fan slots into the back of the machine to the right. The machine on the left is a rack server that was being compared to a single blade - the machine to the right can handle 4 blades.