PALO ALTO and SAN JOSE, Calif., January 31, 2005 - HP and Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced that they will integrate Cisco's industry-leading network switch technology into the HP BladeSystem architecture, enabling customers to optimize network and blade system performance, reliability and ease of ownership.
The enhanced HP BladeSystem with the new Cisco Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module can reduce overall costs by increasing efficiencies across customers' data center infrastructures.
With the integrated Cisco Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module, and alignment with the Cisco Business Ready Data Center network architecture, the HP BladeSystem delivers increased value through consistent network services including high availability, security, quality of service and manageability.
"By incorporating Cisco advanced switching technology into our blade offerings, HP continues to offer the industry-leading standards-based solution our blade customers demand, simplifying network and management integration while reducing complexity and cost," said Rick Becker, vice president and general manager, BladeSystem Organization, HP. "Today's announcement with Cisco is another important step from HP to help accelerate BladeSystem adoption and allow enterprise customers to achieve the performance, scalability and security they demand."
Expected to be available in February, only through HP and its reseller channels, the Cisco Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module integrated with the HP BladeSystem enclosure enables customers to extend the Cisco network from the server through the data center infrastructure to gain the benefits of advanced network services and features. The new Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module has been designed by Cisco to be fully compatible with existing HP BladeSystem p-Class enclosures.
"Cisco is pleased to extend our long-standing strategic alliance with HP through this latest innovation," said Pierre-Paul Allard, vice president of enterprise marketing, Cisco. "Customers require a standard approach to connect data center resources to the network with the same network features and functionality that are part of their current infrastructure. The integration of Cisco network switch technology into the HP BladeSystem platform reinforces our commitment with HP to deliver advanced solutions for the data center market and extend the benefits of the Cisco Business Ready Data Center network infrastructure."
The new Cisco switch for the HP BladeSystem will provide a wire-once, virtualized solution that can dynamically scale and re-provision resources without re-wiring individual components. The switch fits seamlessly into a customer's current Cisco network infrastructure without incurring additional operating expenses or the need to learn a new network operating system.
The integrated HP BladeSystem approach based on industry-standards delivers lower infrastructure costs - often 16 percent less expensive upfront than the company's traditional rack-mount infrastructures with automated control, and lower annual support costs.
"One of the hurdles facing large scale growth in the blade market is the lack of standards around blade design," said Kelly Quinn, Senior Research Analyst, IDC Research. "HP and Cisco's joint efforts to incorporate network switch standards into blade design should help lay the groundwork for further standardization, which, in turn, will help promote market adoption."
More information about the solutions and services described in this announcement is available at www.hp.com/go/bladesystem.
