HP launches new BladeSystem Matrix

HP has announced the release of its BladeSystem Matrix at an event in Berlin yesterday.

The new product brings together software, networking kit, server and storage into a single unit.

A spokesperson from HP said: "Together, these offerings create an integrated pool of resources that operate in both physical and virtual environments, creating the first truly business-ready infrastructure."

HP claimed the BladeSystem Matrix would make infrastructure jobs such as disaster recovery and consolidation easier, with up to 80 per cent savings in operational costs. HP also promised return on investment in fewer than eight months.

Mark Potter, senior vice president for Infrastructure Software and Blades at HP, said in a statement: "Matrix is a game-changing, all-in-one technology that allows the infrastructure to run at the pace of the business."

As well as offering a "push-button approach" for speeding up provision, it directs resources to storage areas as and when they are needed and within a matter of minutes. By removing the manual steps from the process HP believes this removes the margin for error ergo increasing efficiency. It also includes the HP Thermal Logic Technology aimed to lower power usage by up to 50 per cent.

To accompany the Matrix, HP has also announced the HP LeftHand P4000 SAN solutions and the HP StorageWorks SB40c with P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance Software bundle. The LeftHand architecture allows fast data replication whilst spreading the data across over the storage resources available. The software bundle claims to be "the industry's first highly-available shared storage solution within a virtualised blade server infrastructure."

The product is available through HP Factory Express' website and, through expansion, can accommodate up to 1,000 machines.