HP bringing key feature to Itanium servers

Hewlett-Packard plans to catch up to IBM this year in a crucial Unix server efficiency feature--an improved ability to run multiple operating systems on the same machine--executives said this week.

HP servers that use Intel's Itanium processor can be partitioned to run multiple tasks using a hardware-based method, but the line lacks the software-based capability of a top competitor. By the end of the year, HP plans to put both partitioning methods into the servers, promising more flexibility. That dual capacity also is found in the HP 9000 Unix server line the company is phasing out in favor of the Itanium-based Integrity line. Partitioning technology--letting customers run multiple jobs on the same server--takes advantage of the fact that some processes are idle while others are busy. Partitioning initially was popularized on mainframe computers decades ago, but now has arrived in Unix servers and is making its way to lower-end machines.

HP's hardware-based partitioning technology for Unix servers, nPar, divides hardware into independent sections, and software-based vPar creates higher-level software partitions that can share the same hardware. While the old server line had both capabilities, the Itanium-based line lacks the vPar technology.