HP Unveils e3000 Server Upgrades
Migration tools and incentives help e3000 customers transition to HP-UX.
Hewlett-Packard Co. announced a series of upgrades for its HP e3000 a- and n- class servers.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computing giant unveiled a more powerful processor upgrade—the PA-8700 PA-RISC microprocessor—and a new version 7.5 release of MPE/iX, the e3000’s standard operating environment.
According to HP, the new PA-8700 processor upgrade more than doubles the performance of entry-level HP e3000 systems. On midrange e3000 systems, HP says, the PA-8700 upgrade can increase performance by 60 to 100 percent. On high-end e3000 systems, the new processor upgrade can increase performance by more than 35 percent.
In tandem with its release of the PA-8700 processor upgrade, HP plans to offer an initial purchase savings of up to 17 percent on per-processor licensing. The company also indicated that it would provide low-cost upgrades to PA-8700 from PA-8500 and PA-8600 processors.
HP unveiled a bevy of storage-related upgrades for e3000 customers as well. For starters, MPE/iX 7.5 now supports native Fibre Channel connectivity. New e3000 servers can also be outfitted with a variety of storage options, including HP’s Surestore Disk Array XP128/XP1024 and HP Virtual Array 7100—which are supported by means of MPE/iX 7.5’s new native Fibre Channel connectivity.
HP positioned the announcements in the context of its five-year plan to discontinue support for existing e3000 users. In this regard, the company reiterated its promise to sell new HP e3000 servers until Oct. 31, 2003, and also pledged to provide support for customers through Dec. 31, 2006.
As part of an effort to convince existing e3000 customers to transition to newer platforms—namely, its HP-UX Unix operating environment—HP disclosed the availability of several e3000 transition tools and services. Foremost among these: a no-charge hardware conversion kit for use when migrating a- and n-class e3000 servers to HP-UX. HP also announced plans to make available rebates so that customers can trade in their e3000 systems toward the purchase of new HP-UX hardware.
"Today's announcement is solid proof of HP's strong commitment to our loyal e3000 customer base and our plans to deliver on our previously announced product roadmaps," David Wilde, business manager for e3000 servers with HP’s Enterprise Systems Group, said in a prepared release.
About the Author
Stephen Swoyer is a Nashville, TN-based freelance journalist who writes about technology.