HP Debuts Virtualization Server Embedded With Citrix XenServer

iVirtualization technologies are embedded directly into the ProLiant server, so when powered on, it is automatically and immediately configured into a fully-capable virtualization environment. HP ProLiant iVirtualization is designed for small-to-medium-size businesses as well as enterprise customers. The iVirtualization portfolio includes the new HP ProLiant Virtual Console that provides manageability of a virtualized server from a local console or remotely via the HP Integrated Lights Out (iLO) console.

HP teamed with Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Citrix Systems. to develop and distribute an enhanced version of Citrix XenServer into 64-bit HP servers called The Citrix XenServer HP Select Edition. The product will be available at the end of March. By tightly integrating Citrix XenServer into ProLiant platforms, the offering provides a simpler deployment and management environment that speeds adoption of flexible, cost-saving server virtualization technology, according to the companies.

"HP and its partners are helping customers to deploy virtualization technologies faster and with more ease to increase virtualization adoption and customer confidence," said Jeff Carlat, HP's director of marketing, ISS Software." HP is simplifying virtualization deployments by making the integration between hypervisor and server seamless, so that businesses of all sizes, with varied levels of expertise, can implement a virtualized server environment."

HP's other partners in its iVirtualization line include behemoth VMware, of Palo Alto, Calif. Initially announced in February, the HP ProLiant iVirtualization powered by VMware ESX Server 3i, is an integrated solution that enables customers to quickly deploy a server into a VMware environment, whether it is the customer's first server or a new server in an infrastructure already virtualized by VMware. HP will make this available on ProLiant servers beginning March 31.

Francis Poeta, president and chief technical architect at P & M Computers, a Cliffside Park, N.J.-based Citrix and VMware partner thinks HP is on the right track with its virtualization initiatives.

"There's a huge gap in server virtualization adoption, a large body of users who haven't experienced virtualization and are too timid to try," he said. "The HP news validates what we've been saying, that virtualization is an intricate design based on today's standards. There's a brand new world from an architecture standpoint, and this is an opportunity from a channel standpoint that lends credibility that for the middle market virtualization is a very strong play and offers customers a lot of advantages."

HP is also working with Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, which is still fleshing out an integrated hypervisor product now in beta. The HP ProLiant iVirtualization powered by Microsoft Hyper-V Server will run on HP ProLiant and BladeSystem servers, allowing customers to consolidate multiple server roles running as separate virtual machines to a single physical server.

Products in HP's ProLiant iVirtualization portfolio can be integrated with a server at HP's factory before being shipped to a customer or it can be integrated with a server by an HP reseller partner.

Don Richie, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Sequel Data Systems, an exclusive HP partner, thinks the newly introduced HP iVirtualization line is "an obvious natural." He has been working with VMware for a while and said their products have "certainly" helped his business. Echoing P & M Computers' Francis Poeta, Richie said that the news "shows a major player embracing this discipline -- it's good for the channel and brings more credibility to the table."