HP ProLiant BL40p server -
overview

The ProLiant BL p-Class system is part of the ProLiant BL servers and infrastructure portfolio developed for adaptive computing and optimized for rapid deployment and automated provisioning. The ProLiant BL p Class system provides high performance, high availability server blades for multi-tiered data center architectures.

The ProLiant BL p-class system enables dynamic scaling and protects your investment with an intelligent, modular infrastructure that can accommodate future server blades. The first 4-way server blade in the ProLiant BL p-Class family is the BL40p, engineered for the back-end enterprise space. This server blade features up to four Xeon MP 2.0GHz/1M, 2.2GHz/2M, 2.8GHz/2M and 3.0GHz/4M processors, PC2100 ECC SDRAM (12GB max memory w/ online spare), Integrated Smart Array 5i Plus (with optional BBWC) and four hot-plug SCSI drives.

Using the ProLiant BL40p in conjunction with other BL servers, expenses can be reduced by managing remotely from anywhere in the world with the advanced version of Integrated Lights Out (iLO). In addition, an integrated management system and full compatibility with the Insight ManagerT Suite gives you maximum virtual presence and control, management and health monitoring with blade visualization of all your applications.

What's new

• Features up to four Xeon MP 2.2GHz/2M and 3.0GHz/4M processors, PC2100 ECC SDRAM (12GB max memory w/ online spare), Integrated Smart Array 5i Plus (with optional BBWC) and four hot-plug SCSI drives
• New I/O cable with two USB ports, one video port, one iLO port and kernel debug port. The I/O cable attaches to the front of the server blade on the 3.0GHz and 2.2GHz models of the BL40p. The cable was specifically designed to aid in initial server image deployment

Ideal environment

Large corporate datacenters

• Corporate enterprise and service provider data center environments with back-end server needs which require rapid scalability
• Customers requiring an enterprise-class 4-way server that complements their 2P blade server deployment and that delivers maximum performance and availability for business critical applications

Typical Use

The ProLiant BL40p server blade would typically be used for:

• Medium to large enterprise databases
• Messaging and collaboration
• IPC Clustering / Failover Clustering
• Environment that requires significant computational power in a dense form factor
• Application servers
• Database Servers
• Internet business (e-commerce) Server consolidation
• "e-business" (eCommerce, web hosting)
• Server consolidation
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Data Warehousing
• Large file/print or domain controllers

Customer Problem

1. Environments are changing rapidly - need to be able to scale quickly with customer base
2. Rack space is limited - need to do more with less space
3. Scarce IT resources and increased cost pressures require solutions that are simple to install and manage
4. As servers get smaller, cabling problems increase. Need a way to reduce the number of cables in the data center
5. Scarce IT resources require solutions that are simple to install and manage
6. Require remote management tools to control servers around the world
7. Require redundant solution Require highly available and serviceable solution

Solving the Customer Problem

1. Customers implementing enterprise clusters using Oracle 9i and Real Application Clusters on Microsoft Windows and Linux can utilize the BL40p in conjunction with NSPoF SAN as a reliable and cost effective, highly available and scalable solution for mission critical database applications. Fully redundant and optimized BL40p blades and other highly reliable, industry standard hardware provides significantly improved uptime and lower operating costs than multiple single-server or proprietary database implementations. In the event of a failure anywhere in the cluster, the remaining nodes can continue to access the database, ensuring high availability for the most critical applications.
   
   The use of the ProLiant BL40p also provides:
   • Ease of Management and better utilization of hardware resources with the ability to add or reduce nodes to the cluster in a quicker manner as the workload requirements change
   • With multiple database applications resident on multiple servers, customers can achieve economies by physically consolidating their database and applications in a single location
   • Better overall management of the database server environment to reduce demand on expensive Database Administrator resources



2. With introduction of the ProLiant BL40p and BL20p G2 blade servers, large SAP customers are now able to implement a fully functional SAP environment including database and application servers within a single rack. The ProLiant BL40p has the CPU Power and memory required to serve as a fully functional database server and drive a rack full of ProLiant BL20p G2 application servers. The PCI slots available in the ProLiant BL40p allow a wide range of adapters to be used to connect needed storage to the blades. This solution offers customers both a cost effective and space saving solution for full deployment of their SAP application landscape.
   
   The BL40p provides SAP customers:
   • enhanced resource management
   • the capability to dynamically reconfigure system resources as needs
   • improved efficiency and performance
   • ability to support an increased number of users within a single rack configuration



3. Increased cost pressures and scarce skilled IT resources are causing more and more IT departments to implement enterprise wide terminal server solutions utilizing Citrix MetaFrame XP. A cost effective enterprise wide solution requires SAN connectivity with back-end servers, which are highly available, can rapidly scale horizontally and are simple to manage. The ProLiant BL40p server blades are ideal for this infrastructure providing a cost-effective solution that is highly available and rapidly scales with ease of manageability.
   
   The ProLiant BL40p utilized in terminal server farms provides:
   • Horizontal scalability, distributing the risk and load to impact the least amount of users at any one time
   • The performance necessary to support more compute intensive line-of-business custom and legacy applications in a multi-tiered terminal server environment
   • Rapid and dynamic deployments provide faster time-to-solution and quicker time to respond to changing business needs
   • Integrated Lights-Out (iLO) remote connectivity provides anywhere, anytime access to management of terminal server farm



4. A powerful Internet Business solution built on flexible, high-performance and highly scalable Internet architecture is what is demanded in today's e-commerce environment.
   
   As part of this flexible architecture the ProLiant BL p-Class blades:
   • Deliver outstanding performance, manageability, scalability in a compact rack design, while reducing cabling issues
   • Provide an optimum platform for the web application layer in a Microsoft multi-tired e-commerce environment
   • Provide the flexibility to make it easy to rapidly scale out Microsoft Commerce Server or Microsoft Content Management Server applications as your demand grows



5. Enterprise messaging environments built around Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino are leveraging multi-tiered architectures and greater SMP scaling efficiencies of today's more powerful servers that facilitate the consolidation of mail accounts, simplifying management and reducing licensing and administrative costs. Additionally, they are undergoing rapid change with the embracing of native internet client and integration of mobile device support. These new access points require additional edge-of-the network servers which may support several physically distributed sites dictating redundancy, rapid scalability, and manageability requirements.
   
   The ProLiant BL p-Class servers fit well into this environment enabling the messaging environment to scale quickly and easily, as the user population access needs changes. The ProLiant BL40p servers can be utilized in the following messaging roles:
   • Exchange 2000 back-end messaging servers, connected to SANs, supporting several thousand active users, or multi-roled Exchange servers (consolidating both front-end and back-end roles on the same server)
   • Exchange front-end servers for OWA (Outlook Web Access) for the largest of web-user populations and for SSL-enabled users
   • Domino servers supporting multiple Domino partitions of several thousand POP3, IMAP4, iNotes, or HTTP users each Domino clustering to provide
   • Domino clustering provides data replication to support high-availability
   • Complete wireless application gateway infrastructures which enable mobile workers using PDA's to access their e-mail in real-time and synchronize email and PIM data for offline access
   • Mobile enterprise print servers which enable printing from mobile e-mail devices



6. Customers are implementing multiple data marts to support the business units by utilizing the cost-effective business intelligence features of Microsoft SQL Server such as included data mining algorithms, Online Analytical Processing (OLAP), and Data Transformation Services. These data marts may pull data from production systems (stand-alone) or from a data warehouse (federated data marts). Data marts proliferate as business units need unique access to different combinations of production data.
   
   The use of BL40p for data mart usage provides:
   • Cost-effective hardware platforms for data marts
   • Ease of Management
   • Performance to build cubes and support queries
   • Better utilization of hardware resources through the deployment of new data marts in a quicker manner



7. Customers with multiple Microsoft SQL Server database applications resident on multiple servers can achieve economies by physically consolidating their database applications in a single location. The use of BL40p for physical database consolidation allows for the following:
   1. Better sharing of storage resources by moving from a direct attached environment to a SAN environment can result in a reduction of overall storage costs.
   2. For smaller database applications a movement to SQL Server Enterprise Edition with support for multiple instances on the same server can result in a reduction of server headcount with a resulting reduction of software licensing fees. Note that the combination of multiple database and application on a server requires an analysis of workload better overall management of the database server environment to reduce demand on expensive Database Administrator resources.