Entry-level Unix servers on tap from HP

Hewlett-Packard this week will launch a new line of entry-level Unix servers as part of a broad effort to earn the vendor a bigger slice of the estimated $10.8 billion worldwide market for such systems, company officials say.

HP will also unveil a program called Servers on Demand, which will let customers install the new servers at their premises and not pay for them until they actually switch them on. The firm will further announce that 20 additional software vendors, including Infoseek, Intershop Communications and ChiliSoft, have ported software applications to HP-UX.

The new servers are designed to help HP gain market share from Sun, which led the entry-level server market last year in terms of units shipped, according to John Miller, a worldwide product line marketing manager at HP.

"The growth of the Internet is primarily being driven by these one- to four-processor servers. A lot of growth is coming at the entry level," Miller says. "Unit numbers motivate applications developers, and HP is very keen to maintain its broad portfolio of applications."

Sun has managed to position itself as a dot-com provider, a niche that has helped it secure new business among application service providers and ISPs, two rapidly growing areas of the market, says Jean Bozman, a research director with IDC's server group.

"HP has realized they have to be more aggressive about the Internet," she says.

Dubbed the HP9000 A400 and A500, the servers will be available worldwide June 1 and are aimed at service providers, Internet start-ups and large companies. The A400 includes a single PA Reduced Instruction Set Computing processor, 2G bytes of RAM and two I/O slots. The price starts at $4,600. The A500 starts at $9,200 and includes two processors, 8G bytes of RAM and four I/O slots, Miller says.

The servers are available with the HP-UX 11 or Linux operating system, according to Miller. They are rack-mountable and come bundled with a handful of key Internet software applications, including Nokia's Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) server software, Infoseek's search engine and load-balancing software from Resonate.

"We're focusing on four key areas: wireless, e-commerce, Internet infrastructure and content distribution," Miller says. The inclusion of Nokia's WAP software makes HP's new servers "the first out-of-the-box wireless Web Unix servers in the marketplace," Miller claims.

The company is also committed to a six-hour repair window and providing Linux support directly, Miller says.

The vendor's Server on Demand program aims to help companies deal with the unpredictable demand for server capacity created by the Internet. Businesses don't want to be caught off guard by the need for additional computing capacity, but they also don't want to pay for computers they aren't using yet, Miller says. The new program allows businesses to have HP's servers in place but not pay for them until they are put into use, he says.

HP also introduced a new financing option aimed at start-ups that expect rapid growth. Called Pay Per Forecast, the scheme lets companies calculate their expected revenue for the coming months and then pay HP for its servers in lease payments that grow along with the company, Miller says.

Niccolai is a correspondent with the IDG News Service.