HP LH4r Architecture/Technology Overview - Page 1

ZKLWHýSDSHU +3ý 1HW6HUYHUý /;Uýåèíí $UFKLWHFWXUHî7HFKQRORJ\ý2YHUYLHZ MXQHýìäää Executive Summary The data center, a mission-critical, enterprise facility, is a complex and demanding technology environment, requiring computing equipment that is extraordinarily reliable, scalable and manageable. Data center server equipment must provide the level of high availability that data center customers demand. The server manufacturer also must provide the level of service and support that these customers expect. HP now offers a new server in the HP NetServer product family, which complements the HP PA-RISC products. The new, high level of computing power provided by the HP NetServer LXr 8500 can address the major computing challenges customers face today in enterprise resource planning (ERP), database management systems (DBMS) including on-line transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing and data marts, thin client, consolidated messaging, and many other applications. This white paper will focus on the technical aspects of the HP NetServer LXr 8500. This server is an 8-way capable product, supporting the latest and most powerful Intel processor, the Intel® Pentium® III Xeon™. The product is optimized for the data center; specifically, elements of the architecture, configuration and industrial design were chosen to meet the requirements of this market. Introduction Data Center Needs The data center, as a repository of information assets, is an integral component of the enterprise infrastructure. It generally consists of missioncritical, application-specific data stored in large databases and on file servers. Long-emerging trends and technologies such as network computing, the Internet and massive data growth are dramatically increasing the demands on this environment. Selecting the appropriate server equipment that resides at the center of this information web is critical. Each of the components in a server system must be balanced and scalable for maximum throughput capability under a variety of application loads, whether the workload is CPU, I/O or network intensive. 1