New HP servers have high-speed Ethernet connections

HP this week introduced the ProLiant G6 servers (not to be confused with the Pontiac G6 sedans), and the servers are shipping with high-speed Ethernet connections built in.

Calling the server introduction the biggest ProLiant rollout ever, HP touted their energy efficiency, virtualization and automation. There are 11 models that include tower, rack and blade servers.

Special attention has been paid to energy efficiency. HP has installed a "sea of sensors," which track thermal activity across the system and then change the use of fans and other components to optimize system cooling. The power to servers can also be capped dynamically to avoid overprovisioning energy to them.

The servers include the company's Virtual Connect Flex-10 Ethernet module, which HP introduced in November to distribute the capacity of a 10 Gigabit Ethernet port over four connections. Users can assign different bandwidth requirements to each of those connections. HP says it reduces overall network costs and power usage, provisioning bandwidth more efficiently.

NetXen says its NIC is integrated into the new ProLiant ML370 G6 servers. The company's chip has two 10 Gigabit Ethernet interfaces and four Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. The idea is to give the servers an upgrade path from multiple Gigabit connections to 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

Broadcom says its Gigabit Ethernet controllers and their accelerated iSCSI storage-networking capabilities will be integrated into the HP ProLiant DL360 G6 and DL 380 G6 servers as a standard feature. The company claims that the controllers enable processing of block-level storage at speeds that are comparable to Fibre Channel.

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.