HP brings together blade and networking products

HP has announced an expansion which will see its ProCurve networking portfolio integrated into its BladeSystem infrastructure.

The company has traditionally kept a clear line between its blade and networking products, but Iain Stephen, vice president of HP's enterprise servers, explained that today's IT environments require greater integration between the two segments.

"IT managers are faced with a major challenge of having to do more with less while still thinking about tomorrow," he said.

"They have to deal with ever greater amounts of application and information complexity in an architectural environment that was probably designed quite some time ago, resulting in a very rigid legacy infrastructure."

The new converged range starts with the HP ProCurve 6120XG and 6120G/XG Blade Switch, which use exactly the same code as other ProCurve products, meaning that trained users should have no problem implementing and managing the systems.

HP has also expanded its ProCurve 8200 and 5400 Ethernet switch portfolio, including high-capacity Power over Ethernet modules which can deliver up to 32W of power over the network connection making it ideal for powering IP security cameras, access points or even thin clients.

"Virtual sprawl has been an ongoing challenge for customers, adding unnecessary complexity and management costs that take valuable resources away from business innovation," said Marius Haas, senior vice president and general manager for ProCurve at HP.

"By delivering a converged solution that is easier to manage, higher performing and reduces costs, HP is eliminating these challenges, allowing customers to focus their efforts on growing the business, today and in the future."

The company has also issued a firmware upgrade to HP Virtual Connect that allows users to change bandwidth on the fly, helping them adapt to fluctuations in application requirements, according to the firm.

Furthermore, HP is enhancing its HP Adaptive Infrastructure Maturity Model for both end-users and channel partners.

The maturity model is designed to create an individual roadmap for customers to better plan the evolution of their datacentre, and includes new tools that help customers improve return on investment by providing the information needed to make informed technology purchase and operational decisions, the firm said.