It was a tough day for a major product launch, as Oracle's surprise acquisition of Sun Microsystems sucked much of the oxygen out of the technology news atmosphere. But HP launched a major salvo of its own in the Battle for the Data Center, unveiling the HP BladeSystem Matrix, an integrated data center infrastructure offering that will compete with Cisco's Unified Computing System.
The Matrix solution features new storage offerings based on technology acquired from LeftHand Systems, along with an orchestration environment to tie the offerings together. HP is also touting the energy efficiency gains possible with the new system's use of Thermal Logic energy tools, which include power capping capabilities.
"Matrix is a game-changing, all-in-one technology that allows the infrastructure to run at the pace of the business," said Mark Potter, senior vice president, Infrastructure Software and Blades, HP. "Increasingly, customers are looking for data center solutions with Adaptive Infrastructure properties such as superior economics, application-based cost tracking, and true dynamic capacity management."
HP, which has been known for its "Blade Everything" mantra, has modified its message to "Converge Everything" in marketing the Matrix system. The HP team acknowledged the difficulty of releasing its new system in the wake of Oracle's announcement "We Tweeted Larry to ask him to hold off for a day," HP staff joked on the new BladeNews Twitter account, referring to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
We'll have more on HP's strategy in coming days. In the meantime, check out today's coverage from ZDNet, The Register and SearchDataCenter.com.
