HP Offers Customers New Level of Performance with Thin Client and Blade Workstation

By VSM News Staff
published: Thursday, October 23 2008

PALO ALTO, Calif., October 23, 2008 - HP today introduced a high-performance thin client and blade workstation that provide virtualization customers a true workstation experience combined with the security, ease of management and lowered total cost of ownership of thin client computing.

Offering significantly more processing and graphics performance, the new HP gt7725 Thin Client and HP ProLiant xw2x220c Blade Workstation deliver a leading remote experience for 3D mechanical computer-aided (MCAD) applications, rich media, flexibility and performance.

"The maturation of virtualization technologies, in combination with the reality of today's business environment, have made the  security, manageability and flexibility benefits of adopting client virtualization increasingly attractive to business customers," said Roberto Moctezuma, vice president and general manager, Desktop Solutions Organization, HP. "This latest technology from HP removes one of the last remaining barriers to transitioning to a virtual client infrastructure for customers who require the highest levels of processing power or high-quality multimedia capabilities."

HP offers customers the most comprehensive portfolio of remote client solutions - from entry level to high end - so they can build out their IT infrastructure to quickly adapt to changing business needs. The company's portfolio of client virtualization solutions includes thin clients, blade PCs, blade workstations and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solutions. The portfolio helps business customers dramatically reduce security risks and management and support costs by centralizing computing hardware and sensitive data within the data center.

Powerful remote computing with enhanced graphics

The most powerful in the HP thin client portfolio, the high-performance HP gt7725 Thin Client improves worker productivity with enhanced graphics support and faster application run times, while also helping to ensure greater security, reliability and ease of management and lower total cost of ownership compared to traditional desktops.

Customers in financial service organizations or on trading floors can benefit from the thin client's support of up to four monitors - standard, widescreen or touchscreen - allowing real-time visibility to critical market data applications across multiple displays.

Additionally, the gt7725 can be used for viewing multidisplay two- and three-dimensional MCAD designs, engineering simulation results for computational fluid dynamics and rendering images for oil and gas exploration. The thin client's space-saving design and enhanced graphic capabilities are ideal for control and dispatch centers, and also a cost-effective means for multiple output of digital information, media-rich content and streaming video.

Based on the AMD TurionTM Dual Core1 2.3GHz processor, the gt7725 provides users the horsepower to deliver the full blade workstation experience with the footprint of a thin client at the desktop. With AMD RS780G integrated graphics (ATI RadeonTM HD 3200 Graphics) and multi-display support, users can view their work on as many as four displays -standard, wide-screen or touch-screen - to maximize desktop space and collaborate more effectively. The multi-display rotation allows for portrait or landscape orientations on 24- or 30-inch diagonal monitors. The thin client's advanced resolution supports 2,560 x 1,600 pixels per display with two monitors, or 1,920 x 1,200 pixels per display with four monitors.

Advanced system performance is also achieved through configured dual channel memory with optimized data throughput.  Initially available with HP ThinPro based on the Linux operating system, the gt7725 is also expected to support the latest Microsoft® thin client operating systems in the coming year, including Windows® Embedded Standard 2009.

"HP's new gt7725 is an impressive example of how endpoint devices can integrate with client virtualization to offer a high-performance graphics experience to demanding power users, while simultaneously offering the cost benefits of thin clients," said Raj Dhingra, group vice president and general manager, Desktop Delivery Group, Citrix.  "Together with Citrix XenDesktop and our advanced graphics rendering technologies, the gt7725 enables IT to centrally deliver desktops and applications to more types of workers, even those that need a ‘high-definition' user experience with cutting-edge graphics and Web 2.0 technologies."

Data center workstation computing without boundaries

The HP ProLiant xw2x220c Blade Workstation advances data center workstation computing by combining two workstation platforms into a single half-height blade package with mission-critical security and business continuity.

The xw2x220c, which executes user applications and resides in the data center, is designed to deliver maximum performance at a more affordable price for customers in such fields as financial services and MCAD. The blade can be configured with one or two high-speed Intel® Xeon® processors2 and a dedicated NVIDIA FX 770M hardware graphics card that computes and renders the interactive desktop image.

Customers using the gt7725 or xw2x220c can also use preinstalled HP Remote Graphics software, a network utility designed to take full advantage of the compute and graphics resources of the HP thin client and blade workstation. The software enables professional artists, financial analysts, engineers and designers to work closely with remote teams in a more secure, collaborative environment and eliminates the need to upgrade to an expensive 3D graphics card on each user's machine.

HP Remote Graphics software works seamlessly over a standard computer network, with complex applications including 2D design, 3D solid modeling, rendering, simulation full motion video, heavy flash animation, intense Web 2.0 pages and USB peripheral support.

Pricing and availability

The HP gt7725 Thin Client is expected to be available worldwide in January at a starting U.S. list price of $749, while the HP ProLiant xw2x220c Blade Workstation is expected to be available worldwide on Nov. 17 at a starting U.S. list price of $2,850 per user blade. 

More information about HP client virtualization offerings is available at www.hp.com/go/clientvirtualization.

About HP

HP, the world's largest technology company, provides printing and personal computing products and IT services, software and solutions that simplify the technology experience for consumers and businesses. HP completed its acquisition of EDS on Aug. 26, 2008. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com/.