HP buys RLX, targets Linux management

HP is bolstering its management tools for blade servers with a plan to acquire RLX Technologies and its Linux -based server-management software.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 days, were not released. The expected buy is the latest move by HP to fill out its software management portfolio through acquisition. Last month, it acquired Peregrine Systems, which makes asset management software, and AppIQ , a storage resource management company.

RLX was a pioneer in the blade server market, but exited the hardware business late last year, saying pressure from the major systems vendors, such as IBM, HP and Dell, was making it hard to compete. Instead, RLX opted to focus on Control Tower, its Linux-based server management software.

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HP is bolstering its management tools for blade servers with a plan to acquire RLX Technologies and its Linux -based server-management software.

Terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the next 30 days, were not released. The expected buy is the latest move by HP to fill out its software management portfolio through acquisition. Last month, it acquired Peregrine Systems, which makes asset management software, and AppIQ , a storage resource management company.

RLX was a pioneer in the blade server market, but exited the hardware business late last year, saying pressure from the major systems vendors, such as IBM, HP and Dell, was making it hard to compete. Instead, RLX opted to focus on Control Tower, its Linux-based server management software.

Analysts have lauded Control Tower for providing advanced provisioning and workload management capabilities for blade servers, designed to be clustered to support applications as a single pool of compute resources. Control Tower can be used to manage rack-dense servers.

For HP, Control Tower fills a gap in its management offerings by providing native Linux-based control, says Rick Becker, vice president and general manager, HP BladeSystem.

Analysts say the move is a good one for HP, which has focused on integrating management tools across the data center.

"For the last year . . . HP had gotten into a reactive position with some of their product development, and the problem they're running into is they've become so reactive that they were looking seriously at being left behind," says Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT Research.

He says integrating Control Tower into its BladeSystem offering will help HP compete with IBM. HP and IBM each control about 40% of the blade market, though IBM holds a slight lead, according to the latest figures from IDC.

"Certainly, infrastructure management is such a critical piece of blade offerings that you need a strong set of tools," King says. "It's not just a matter of having a smaller footprint; it's that you've got this highly integrated environment that can be managed in a seamless way."

RLX will become part of HP's BladeSystem group. The management software will be optimized for BladeSystem servers and is expected to be available on BladeSystem and ProLiant servers in the first half of next year, Becker says.

The management technology will be integrated into HP's Systems Insight Manager, ProLiant Essentials and OpenView management packages in the second half of next year, Becker says.

"Over time you'll see us take tools [that] Control Tower delivers today on Linux, and we'll integrate that into tools we deliver on Windows and Unix," Becker says. The idea is to provide integrated management capabilities as end users deploy more important business applications on blade servers, he says.

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