HP targets fault-tolerant servers for midmarket

HP Monday introduced a version of its NonStop fault-tolerant servers for midsize businesses.

NonStop servers, developed by Tandem and acquired by HP through its 2002 Compaq acquisition, are fault-tolerant systems designed to run mission-critical transaction-processing workloads. While the servers traditionally have been targeted at and priced for the high-end market, HP is hoping to drive new growth in midsize businesses, particularly in healthcare and the financial and telecommunications industries, which can have high-availability needs similar to larger companies' but lack the same budgets.

HP's Integrity NonStop NS1000 Server is based on and supports two to eight Intel Itanium 2 processors. The servers currently run on Intel's Madison chip, but soon also will support Intel's dual-core Montecito chip, which is expected to be released Tuesday.

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HP Monday introduced a version of its NonStop fault-tolerant servers for midsize businesses.

NonStop servers, developed by Tandem and acquired by HP through its 2002 Compaq acquisition, are fault-tolerant systems designed to run mission-critical transaction-processing workloads. While the servers traditionally have been targeted at and priced for the high-end market, HP is hoping to drive new growth in midsize businesses, particularly in healthcare and the financial and telecommunications industries, which can have high-availability needs similar to larger companies' but lack the same budgets.

HP's Integrity NonStop NS1000 Server is based on and supports two to eight Intel Itanium 2 processors. The servers currently run on Intel's Madison chip, but soon also will support Intel's dual-core Montecito chip, which is expected to be released Tuesday.

HP says it saved costs building the new system by using hardware components from its existing Unix-based servers. The move was spurred by HP CEO Mark Hurd's push to drive more joint development across business units, said HP spokesman Craig Wagner.

Pricing for the Integrity NonStop NS1000 Server starts at $85,000 per processor. This compares to HP's higher-end NonStop servers, which have more processor speed and configurability, start in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and scale into the millions.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.