HP has just announced the newest addition to its Integrity server line up by launching the Integrity rx2660 entry-level server. Designed especially for small and medium sized businesses, the server claims to deliver enterprise class performance at lowest price points.

The rx2660 is a rack-mount server that is said to be capable of handling mission critical applications and support functions such as porting, application serving, testing and development. Besides supporting HP’s own UX 11i, it also supports Red Hat and SUSE Linux, Windows Server 2003 and OpenVMS 8.3 operating systems.

According to HP, the biggest plus of the rx2660 lies in its ability to support virtualization. The vendor says that by deploying the server, even smaller businesses with limited IT know how and resources can reap the benefits of a virtualized set up.

"rx2660 is setting the benchmark for the lowest system price in a virtual environment. With a starting price of 2 lacs, the rx2660 offers the quickest return on investment (ROI) for the customers as it enables them to divide their critical application workloads into multiple independent workloads in a completely virtual computing environment," said Kamal Dutta, country manager, business critical systems, HP India.

By using HP Virtual Server Environment (VSE) software designed specifically for the Integrity server platform, customers can create virtual servers that can automatically grow and shrink based on service level objectives set for each application they host.

HP has also plans to build a nationwide VSE partner community which will educate, train, implement and provide support for customers wanting to build a virtualized infrastructure.