HP releases SMB server primarily through resellers

Hewlett-Packard unveiled a new server for small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) that will also help its reseller network generate revenue from services, HP said Monday.

The new tc2120 replaces the tc2110, said Paul Miller, director of the platform group at HP. The server is not that much different from HP PCs, but comes with a Grand Champion SL chip set from Serverworks that enables the tc2120 to support up to 4GB of memory, 4 PCI slots, or RAID (redundant array of independent disks) capability. This means the tc2120 can be used as a server with more demanding workloads than a PC could handle, Miller said.

HP will promote the tc2120 heavily through its reseller network, but it will also be available directly from HP’s Web site and through HP Services, Miller said. Since its merger with Compaq Computer last year, HP has attempted to walk a fine line between maintaining its traditional strength among channel partners and value-added resellers and promoting a direct sales model popularized by competitor Dell Computer.

“If you look at small to medium-size businesses, they are typically customers without an IT staff. They’re looking for someone not just to load the OS but to set up the network and optimize the server with the rest of the infrastructure, and they look at the reseller as their remote IT provider,” Miller said.

HP thinks small and medium-size business will be a growing segment of the market for hardware and services over the next five to 10 years, he said.

The tc2120 is available immediately worldwide through local resellers or HP. A base configuration with a 1.8GHz Celeron processor from Intel, a 40GB hard drive, 128MB of DDR (double data rate) SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM), and Gigabit Ethernet costs $549. Several fixed configurations are available with 2.53GHz Intel Pentium 4 processors, and users can add memory and hard drive space as needed, Miller said.