HP unveils AMD-based servers for SMBs

Wednesday, 04 April 2007, 17:30 IST
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Bangalore: Hewlett Packard Inc., (HP), the world's largest IT firm, has rolled out a new version of servers with 64-bit Opteron and Athlon processors of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) for the small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) in the Asia-Pacific region. Designed in Taiwan and manufactured at HP India's facility in Bangalore, the HP ProLiant ML 115 servers are meant to replace desktop servers, with provision for networking, file-and-print, shared Internet access, small team e-mail and LAN infrastructure. "The ProLiant servers are powered by second generation AMD Opteron processor based on DDR2 memory and dual-core technology or single-core AMD Athlon 64 processor. They enable data-intensive server applications without expensive graphics or sound cards (as in desktop PCs). The servers are priced sub- 35,000 in the Indian market and designed to meet the growing IT and budgetary demands of SMBs," HP Asia Pacific Vice-President Tony Parkinson told reporters at a preview of the product here. With India and China spearheading the growth in the APAC market, server shipments in 2007 are projected to generate $500 million in calendar year 2007, with SMBs accounting for 55-60 percent of the total sales revenue. In 2006, about 100,000 servers were shipped in the region, with SMBs buying 60 percent of them. Growing at 25-30 percent annually, APJ (Asia-Pacific and Japan) region has emerged as the third largest market for servers worldwide. India is one of the fastest growing markets for x86 servers in the APAC region year-on-year (YoY), with significant increase in demand for entry and mid-range servers. As per the IDC survey, we have maintained the top position in the APJ region, with 26 percent market share in terms of unit shipment during the fourth quarter of 2006. As an entry-level computing solution built with the needs of Indian SMBs, the ProLiant servers are made available at a desktop price to improve networking, business efficiency and protect company email and files. Besides robust data protection, reliable software solutions, the servers offer solid power protection and are ensured of support services. "Servers have become as critical to SMBs as they have been in the enterprise segment. In a growing market, the need to give reliable, scalable products has become imperative to lower the cost of driving business and mitigating risks," Parkinson pointed out. With 2000 channel partners in 300 cities across the country, the Indian subsidiary of the $94-billion HP will be targeting retail, banking and insurance, government and education sectors for hard selling the ProLiant servers with variants customized to each vertical. AMD India Managing Director Alok Ohrie said HP had been shipping about 30 products using AMD chips and technology to about 170 countries worldwide, thanks to the brand, reliability and performance factors making a huge difference at the operational level. "Incorporating our processors in HP servers will help us in addressing the SMB market in the subcontinent, where IT spending has seen an upshot to drive business and lower cost of operations in a competitive environment," Ohrie said. About 90 percent of the top 100 firms in the Forbes 2000 are using AMD's Opetron platform-based solutions in their enterprise.
Source: IANS