When you need a lot, really a lot of servers

In 1993, the HP ProLiant servers developed on the basis of the x86 architecture first appeared on the market. The ProLiant family has replenished with new lines as the scope of application of such devices has grown. Until recently, you could choose: the ML line - tower servers, which you usually buy individually; DL - rackmount machines for serious tasks, some of which you buy with a great deal of groundwork for the future; and BL - filling the rack with dozens of such blades, you can always add to it even if the requests have increased.

But in recent years, BL and their analogues have been used in the case when queries increase tens and hundreds of times - in web search engines, large DBMSs and scientific supercomputers. And although various technologies are used in the design of these servers, which reduce energy consumption and compact arrangement of internal components, nevertheless, when operating complexes of several thousand computing nodes, even a small power saving and reduction in size at the level of one server would give a significant economic effect.

Therefore, HP has specifically developed the HP ProLiant SL6000 line , which uses a new form factor instead of the standard rack cabinet. Our new system uses the z6000 dual-unit chassis, in which several servers servegeneral power supplies and fans . Compared to conventional single-unit servers, power consumption is reduced by 28%, and the total weight of the server rack is reduced by 31%. A similar solution is used in the BladeSystem chassis for the BL line, but the z6000 does not have a common backplane, which improves air cooling inside the chassis.

As with other sixth-generation HP ProLiant systems, depending on the hardware configuration in the z6000, you can use three power supply models: 460, 750, and 1200 watts. To simplify the deployment of large configurations, five SL6000s can be installed in a single 10-unit bulk rail kit.

The z6000 installs three types of single-unit dual-processor server modules ProLiant SL based on the Xeon 5500:

• The HP ProLiant SL170z is designed for storage applications. For example, for search engines and DBMS. It holds 6 full-size SAS / SATA drives and 16 DDR3 SIM memory modules.
• HP ProLiant SL 2x 170z is designed for supercomputer calculations and maintenance of front-end web applications. It is half the width of a 19-inch rack, so four SL2x170z modules are installed in the z6000 dual-chassis chassis, which doubles the processor density compared to conventional single-server servers. This model also supports the installation of 16 DDR3 SIM memory modules, but it can only accommodate one 3.5-inch hard drive.
• HP ProLiant SL160z , designed to work with applications related to the intensive use of RAM (for example, caching web pages), is equipped with 18 slots for memory modules and two PCI slots. It can install two 3.5-inch drive.

And soon, HP ProLiant SL165z modules based on the AMD Opteron 2400 Series will be available soon .

All four models are equipped with a dual-port Gigabit Ethernet adapter and support DCMI and IPMI control with the shutdown of individual server chassis modules.

It remains only to sincerely wish everyone that your tasks grow to such proportions that expanding the server fleet will mean purchasing several more HP ProLiant SL6000 cabinets! :)