HP introduced a new version of the HP-UX 11i operating system and new HP Integrity servers to help make mission-critical virtualization practical for businesses of all sizes.

The latest release of HP’s UNIX operating environment, HP-UX 11i v3, makes virtualization easier to deploy and delivers mission-critical virtualization by combining virtualization and mainframe-class availability. Also, with HP-UX 11i v3, important applications, including business intelligence and data warehousing, are now simpler to secure and manage.

Additionally, HP strengthened its HP Integrity server lineup with a model for BladeSystem c-Class environments and a new rack-optimized unit, the Integrity rx2660 entry-class server. The HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade is the first Integrity model designed for the HP BladeSystem c-Class portfolio, HP’s breakthrough blade architecture.

Along with HP-UX 11i v3, the two new servers deliver mission-critical virtualization on a standards-based platform to help create an Adaptive Infrastructure in any enterprise.

Virtualization, which allows IT resources to be pooled and shared so that supply of resources can meet business demands, is transforming IT in data centers worldwide. The HP Virtual Server Environment (VSE) allows HP-UX 11i to go a step further and has integrated virtualization and mainframe-class availability to deliver mission-critical virtualization for customers with the most demanding workloads. HP has broadened the functionality and simplified the deployment of its mission-critical virtualization capabilities for HP-UX 11i.

The new HP-UX 11i v3 UNIX operating system is architected to address up to 100 million zettabytes of highly available, secure storage (1 zettabyte = 1 billion terabytes). In addition, it has new hot-swap and online patching capabilities that reduce planned and unplanned downtime, and its automation features help minimize operational costs.

Existing customers’ investments in the HP-UX 11i operating system are protected through binary compatibility. This means applications that ran on the previous release will run unchanged on HP-UX 11i v3 but have the added benefit of running an average of 30 percent faster.