I guess my VMware dream machine will remain a dream for now, HP launched their next generation G7 Opteron 6100 blades today, and while still very compelling systems, after the 6100 launched I saw the die size had increased somewhat (not surprising), it was enough to remove the ability to have 4 CPU sockets AND 48 memory slots on one full height blade.
- Specifications for HP BL685c G6 (previous generation)
- Specifications for HP BL495c G6 (previous generation)
- Specifications for HP BL685c G7
- Specifications for HP BL485c G7
Still a very good comparison illustrating the elimination of the 4P tax, that is eliminating the premium associated with quad socket servers. If you configure a BL485c G7 with 2×12-core CPUs and 128GB of memory(about $16,000), vs a BL685c G7 with 256GB of memory and the 4×12-core CPUs (about $32,000), the cost is about the same, no premium.
By contrast configuring a BL685c G6 with six core CPUs (e.g. half the number of cores as the G7), same memory, same networking, same fiber channel, the cost is roughly $52,000.
These have new Flex Fabric 2 NICs, which from the specs page seem to indicate they include iSCSI or FCoE support (I assume some sort of software licensing needed to unlock the added functionality? though can’t find evidence of it). Here is a white paper on the Flex Fabric stuff, from what I gather it’s just an evolutionary step of Virtual Connect. Myself of course have never had any real interest in FCoE (search the archives for details), but nice I suppose that HP is giving the option to those that do want to jump on that wagon.