HP's Industry-first Linux Notebook, Linux Reference Architectures and Multi-OS Superdome Server

August 4, 2004

Enterprise and public sector customers use HP Linux solutions to gain simplicity and value across their infrastructures

HP today showcased its leading innovation with new customers Versaterm and VentureLink, as well as new services and products, including the world's first pre-installed Linux notebook PC from a major hardware vendor and an expanded Linux services professional team.

HP delivers innovative new Linux products and services for customers

HP is increasing the options for mobile business travelers with the availability of the first pre-installed Linux notebook PC from a major hardware vendor. The HP Compaq nx5000 business notebook PC will give mobile professionals the flexibility of Novell's SUSE Linux and come equipped with OpenOffice, CD-R/RW support, DVD and media player, wireless and Bluetooth™ connectivity and full HP support and services. Offering customers increased workforce productivity and flexibility, the nx5000 starts at an estimated U.S. street price of $1,140.(1)

For enterprise customers seeking lower computing costs, the HP Compaq t5515 thin client is the first of the t5000 series to offer the security and freedom of the Linux operating system, providing businesses with advanced flexibility, manageability and a leading price-to-performance mix to help lower computing costs. It also features a free copy of Altiris Deployment Solution, comprehensive management software for remote deployment, management and updating of HP thin clients. Only HP offers enterprises the ability to manage all of their networked clients - desktops, notebooks, workstations and thin clients - with this industry-leading package from Altiris.

HP now offers Linux on HP Integrity Superdome servers and the midrange HP Integrity rx7620-16 and rx8620-32 servers, providing high availability and symmetric multiprocessing for enterprise customers. The HP Integrity line is optimized for performance, and customers now have full Linux support across the entire HP Integrity family of servers and broad HP StorageWorks portfolio - the preferred platforms for enterprise customers looking for the best price/performance and manageability within mission-critical environments.

HP is nearing completion of the Common Criteria Certification process on EAL 3 + CAPP (Evaluation Assurance Level 3 with Controlled Access Protection Profile) for HP servers and workstations. With completion of the certification process expected this fall, HP is the first to achieve EAL 3 certification for Intel® Itanium®-based systems and the first to certify two distributions simultaneously on three different processor architectures. HP's progress toward EAL 3 certification ensures that government customers will have more choices at a higher level of security for Linux applications on the wide range of HP servers and workstations.

The security targets, being certified by ATSEC Information Security Corporation, include Intel Xeon™- and AMD Opteron-based HP ProLiant servers and Itanium-based HP Integrity servers running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 update 3 and SuSE SLES 8 Service Pack 3.

HP is now offering its Linux Reference Architecture solution stacks packaged with consulting and integration services as well as availability on industry-standard HP ProLiant blade servers. Introduced in January, HP's Linux Reference Architectures were the industry's first software stacks available based on Oracle® Database and Oracle Real Application Clusters and BEA WebLogic Server and an Open Source Middleware reference architecture based on open source software from MySQL, JBoss, Apache and OpenLDAP. The solutions help mitigate business risk for customers, maximize return on investment and improve the support for mission-critical deployments.

The number of HP consulting, support and education service implementations around Linux have been on a steady rise for the last 18 months. HP has responded to customer demand and now has 6,500 Linux services and support professionals across services and pre-sales worldwide, helping customers implement, manage and deploy Linux in their mission-critical environments. HP has broadened its portfolio of consulting services to include Linux-related readiness assessments and the maturation of service offerings for open source software. Additionally, the company plans to complete certification activities with open source partner JBoss for worldwide coverage of JBoss Certified Consultants.

Customers turn to HP for deep expertise in Linux and open source

Versaterm provides software for records-management and computer-aided dispatch systems to law enforcement agencies across North America. Because high availability is crucial, Versaterm needs a resilient, reliable hardware platform on which to deploy its software, so the company turned to a solution from HP that included HP ProLiant servers running Linux and the HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array (MSA) 1000.

This combination enabled Versaterm to match the solution to client budgets and structure the information technology (IT) environment to meet the needs of the law enforcement community.

"We looked at solutions from HP, IBM and Dell, and HP's solution was clearly superior," said Warren Loomis, president and chief executive officer, Versaterm. "We have yet to find a solution that can top the combination of HP ProLiant servers, HP StorageWorks and Linux. HP's innovative technology offers the reliability and performance that law enforcement agencies demand at a price they can afford."

VentureLink International, Inc., a global provider of marketing, research, and consulting services, recently deployed a Linux Reference Architecture from HP. The Linux Reference Architecture, based on BEA and Oracle software, has enabled VentureLink to mitigate business risk, reduce costs and speed the deployment of Linux into its IT infrastructure.

HP can offer customers such as VentureLink an integrated and easy-to-deploy Linux software stack based on industry-leading partner applications at a much lower price than proprietary alternatives.

"The HP Linux Reference Architecture on industry-standard HP ProLiant servers was validated, performance tested and cheaper to purchase and deploy, dramatically reducing our total cost of ownership for the solution," said Satoshi Yoshida, chief information officer, VentureLink. "And HP's consulting and integration consultants provided us with the comprehensive service and support capabilities we needed to maintain the entire stack and run our business effectively."

HP unveils new programs for greater customer and partner confidence

HP's new Sun Solaris ISV Migration Program provides focused engineering and marketing assistance to key independent software vendors that develop applications for the Solaris platform in targeted vertical industries such as financial services and telecommunications.

Designed to foster and speed the development of Linux applications for HP ProLiant and Integrity servers, the program enables customers moving to Linux on HP standards-based servers to simplify their infrastructures and realize the price-to-performance benefits of Linux with essential ISV applications.

Members of HP's leading Linux Elite partner program now have exclusive access to Red Hat and the same knowledge base used by Red Hat support, which provides up-to-date information on the latest problem resolutions available. The program includes online technical training, online sales training, solution guides, free copies of Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS, discounts on Red Hat training, and pre-sales sales support - all at no additional administrative costs or burdens.

Enhancing HP and BEA's strategic alliance, HP is now supporting the Beehive initiative, designed to help customers achieve an Adaptive Enterprise by easing their transition from lower-end application platforms to enterprise-strength application platforms. Beehive is BEA's strategy to open source the underlying framework and runtime from its WebLogic Workshop Java development tool.

HP at LinuxWorld Conference and Expo

Today, HP's Martin Fink will deliver a keynote on the storied past, exciting present and bright future of Linux and open source. HP executives, customers and partners also will be on hand at LinuxWorld in San Francisco, Aug. 2 - 4, in booth 763, where a number of Linux-based products and services from HP's extensive portfolio will be available for demonstration, including the HP Compaq nx5000 notebook PC, the recently announced HP StorageWorks Scalable File Share system (using new Linux clustering technology called Lustre), industry-leading HPTC cluster solutions and HP ProLiant blade servers.

Additional information about the HP Linux portfolio and other offerings for enterprises is available in an online press kit at http://www.hp.com/go/innovation2004.

The original press release can be found here.