HP Launches Telecom Chassis and Server Enhancements

May 29, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Communications hardware developer HP (HP.com) announced on Tuesday that it has introduced a new blade server chassis and enhanced servers, enhancing its family of products for the telecommunications industry.

Specifically designed for network equipment and service providers, says HP, the new offerings are optimized to enable voice and data convergence, rounding out the company’s suite of telecommunications industry offerings with solutions for both voice switching and Internet infrastructure environments, as well as support for Windows, Linux and HP-UX operating systems.

The new HP Carrier Grade Blade Server Chassis bh3700, says HP, is a 6U blade chassis, incorporating functions for network switching, storage and management, as well as server blades, into an accessible enclosure. Support for PCI and H.110 bus technology make the equipment well suited to voice and converged data/voice applications. Based on the CompactPCI standard, the chassis is NEBS 3-compliant and able to run on AC or DC power.

HP also announced product enhancements for its HP Carrier Grade Blade Server Chassis bh3700 and the 13U HP Blade Server Chassis bh7800 first introduced in December of 2001.

The enhancements, optimized for Internet infrastructure applications, include a fiber channel blade for enhanced disk capacity and performance; a fiber channel SAN blade enabling connections to external storage; Windows 2000 and Advanced Server operating system support for the HP Blade Server bc1100, based on Intel’s Pentium III processor; and the HP Blade Server bp2200, based on the HP PA-RISC processor with support for HP-UX 11i and HP MC/Serviceguard.

In addition, the company also announced new features and functions for its Linux-based HP Carrier Grade Servers cc2300 and cc3300, introduced in January of this year.

Scheduled to be available later this year, the enhancements include support for Windows 2000 and Windows NT, so network and service providers will be able to deploy Windows-based applications in a carrier grade environment; and certification of GoAhead SelfReliant service availability middleware on Linux- and Windows-based versions of the servers.

HP says the Carrier Grade Blade Server Chassis bh3700 is expected to be available for order in August, and will begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2002. The bp2200 and fiber channel storage blades are also expected to be available in August. Windows 2000 and Advanced Server support for the HP Blade Server bc1100 is planned for July.