HP will begin offering super-thin "blade" servers with considerably more computing power in coming months, drastically changing the types of jobs the new systems can tackle.
HP's blades, inherited through its acquisition of Compaq Computer, thus far have been single-processor models good for lower-end jobs such as dishing up Web pages. Soon, though, the company will sell a new two-processor model that will be useful for hosting e-mail server software and four-processor systems good for lower-end databases.
It's a big step up for blade servers, entrusting them with more important jobs. And it's a big step for HP, whose competitors Dell Computer, Sun Microsystems and IBM have yet to release first-generation blade products.
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