What's Changed in the DL380p Gen8?

New Features in the HP Proliant DL380p Gen8

The HP Proliant DL380p G8 servers are schedule to ship starting in April. At Storage Networks, we have not yet been able to perform any hands on tests with the Gen8 product family yet. Based on our discussions with HP distributors, the following good (and not-so-good!) changes have been made.

Disk Drive Changes in the DL380p Gen8

Pro: The HP DL380p Gen8 uses new HP "Smart Carrier" drive trays. The trays are thinner than previous generation trays used in DL380 G7 and earlier servers. This allows for up to (8) Large Form Factor (LFF) trays to be installed in LFF servers as opposed to (6) from earlier generations. You can still only install (16) Small Form Factor drives in SFF servers, though, but this leaves room for more internal components (see below.) The drives have more status LEDs for determining drive location, removal status, and activity.

There is also a new P420i SmartArray that ships standard on DL380p servers. On paper, the performance of the new RAID controller is twice as fast the previous generation P410i embedded controllers.

 

Con: The HP Smart Carriers are not backward compatible with older SFF or LFF HP trays. Your existing drive spares may not work with the new DL380p Gen 8 servers (though you may be able to swap the actual disk drives from old trays to new trays in some cases.)

 

Memory Changes in the DL380p Gen8

Pro: The HP DL380p Gen8 now has (24) DIMM slots as opposed to 18 in previous generation DL380 G7 servers and can address up to twice as much memory logically (768GB!)

 

Con: HP DL380p Gen8 servers use newly designed memory modules that have HP signatures written to them such that the server management software (iLO) will know if you are using HP or third party memory. (Our engineers are guessing that there is some sort of signature in the RAM module SPD chip that helps facilitate this verification.) While the server will warn you if you are using uncertified memory, you CAN still chose to use quality third party Kingston or Crucial memory, for example.

 

CPU Changes in the DL380p Gen8

Pro: The HP DL380p G8 is using next generation Intel Xeon Processors. There is really no downside here! HP has redesigned the CPU installation process with Smart Socket technology to avoid bending pins or otherwise damaging the server motherboard.

 

 

Server Management Changes in the DL380p

Pro: HP has made a host of changes to various server sensors and monitoring points to facilitate its new "HP Active Health Monitoring" software (which we assume will integrate into the iLO software.)

 

 

Make an Informed Decision

Contact Storage Networks to assist in selecting and integrating the HP options and feature sets that:

- Minimizes the effort of integration and management
- Accomplishes your IT objectives quickly, with minimal risk
- Leverages your current resources & discount pricing to meet budget requirements

Contact a Project Coordinator today for the information you need to make an informed decision.