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HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12: Boosting AI, Computing Efficiency and Security
HPE unveils ProLiant Gen12 servers with enhanced security, AI-driven management, and improved power efficiency. Aimed at hybrid cloud, edge computing, and AI workloads.
Key Highlights
- HPE ProLiant Gen12 servers feature enhanced security from chip to cloud.
- AI-driven insights improve operations management and automation.
- Servers optimized for performance, energy efficiency, and direct liquid cooling.
- New servers support upcoming Intel Xeon 6 processors.
- HPE Compute Ops Management offers cloud-based server management.
The News
HPE announced eight new ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers designed for the hybrid world. These servers introduce advanced security features, optimize performance for demanding workloads, and boost productivity with AI-enhanced management. The Gen12 servers will feature upcoming Intel Xeon 6 processors. Find out more by checking out the HPE press release.
Analyst Take:
HPE’s Proliant range has a storied history being originally introduced by Compaq in 1993 as a high-end solution following their SystemPro series, and after the 2002 merger with Hewlett-Packard, it became the flagship server brand over HP's NetServer, leveraging Compaq's technology. The servers were segmented into ML for modularity and DL for density in 2000, catering to different market needs. From Gen1 to Gen12, each generation of ProLiant servers brought significant advancements in performance, scalability, and management, with notable introductions like UEFI boot options in Gen8 and support for AMD EPYC processors in Gen10. Over the years, the ProLiant range has expanded into various form factors including tower, rack, blade, and scale-out servers, serving diverse market segments from small businesses to large enterprises.
Against this storied history, HPE's latest ProLiant Gen12 servers represent a significant step forward in enterprise computing. The focus on security, performance, and efficiency is well-timed, given the increasing demands of modern workloads and the evolving threat landscape. I am especially impressed by the chip-to-cloud security approach. This holistic view is essential for protecting sensitive data in today's complex IT environments. Furthermore, the integration of AI-driven insights into operations management is a game changer. It allows for proactive and predictive automation, leading to improved energy efficiency and reduced downtime. HPE's commitment to sustainability is also commendable, with the new servers offering significant power savings compared to previous generations.
What was Announced:
The HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 servers are architected to deliver enhanced security through HPE iLO 7, which introduces a secure enclave designed as HPE intellectual property. This secure enclave establishes a chain of trust from the factory through the product lifecycle, including HPE Onsite Decommission Services.
HPE was keen to stress how the latest enhancements to the HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 lineup are thoughtfully designed to tackle the complexities of modern computing challenges, including AI, data analytics, edge computing, hybrid cloud, and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI). Recognizing the surge in energy consumption within data centers, the HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 series has been engineered to enhance performance while slashing energy use. The company highlighted 41% better performance per watt than its predecessors. This generation promises not only to cut power expenses significantly, with potential savings of up to 65% annually but also to revolutionize data center efficiency. Remarkably, a single Gen12 server can match the computational output of seven Gen10 servers, thereby liberating precious data center space and resources. I would need to see these claims benchmarked by a third-party testing house such as Signal65 or similar, but working off HPEs data these performance and consolidation figures will be welcomed by enterprises looking to control cost while ensuring workload performance.
Another key element of the announcement was a focus on HPE Compute Ops Management, a cloud-based platform, that aims to improve energy efficiency through AI-driven insights, enabling power usage forecasting and threshold setting. A global map view simplifies server health monitoring across distributed environments. The Compute Ops Management portfolio has been gaining increased traction in the marketplace since Justin McGarry joined HPE just over a year ago from VMware. His team made a solid set of announcements at HPE Discover this past fall, and I expect to see HPE focusing more on Compute Ops Management going forward as a way to differentiate its Proliant offerings against other vendor's offerings.
The Gen12 servers are designed to support a wide range of workloads, including AI, data analytics, edge computing, hybrid cloud, and VDI. They are engineered to optimize performance, energy efficiency, and cost, delivering improved performance per watt and significant power savings. Direct liquid cooling options are available for select models.
Security Focus
In the latest generation of Proliant HPE has lent into security and specifically certifying the solution for the FIPS 140-Level 3 certification. FIPS 140-3 Level 3 is a stringent U.S. government security standard for cryptographic modules, emphasizing robust physical and operational security measures to protect cryptographic keys and operations within hardware systems. This level requires tamper-resistant packaging, identity-based authentication for access, and separate interfaces for critical security parameters (CSPs) to prevent side-channel attacks, alongside immediate key zeroization upon detected tampering. It mandates enhanced self-tests to ensure module integrity, and protection against non-invasive attacks like timing or electromagnetic analysis, and supports advanced cryptographic algorithms for future-proofing. For enterprises, Level 3 certification offers enhanced data protection, regulatory compliance, and risk mitigation, justifying the higher initial investment with long-term security assurance and operational efficiency. Certified solutions provide assured security, interoperability, market advantage, and potentially reduced liability in case of security breaches, making them invaluable in environments where data security is critical.
Looking Ahead:
The server market is highly competitive, with vendors constantly innovating to meet the evolving needs of businesses. Based on what I am observing, HPE’s focus on security and AI-driven management positions them well in this market and I expect the FIPS 140-3 level 3 certification to resonate with enterprises, especially those in highly regulated industries. The inclusion of NVIDIA GPUs more prominently is going to be a key product line to focus on in coming quarters.
The key trend that I am going to be looking out for is how well these servers perform in real-world deployments, particularly in demanding AI and edge computing scenarios, and whether the benchmarks provided in the launch material manifest themselves in customer deployments.. Based on my analysis of the market, my perspective is that HPE's commitment to sustainability will resonate with environmentally conscious organizations, especially in the EU market. Going forward I am going to be closely monitoring how the company performs on delivering on its chip-to-cloud security promise. When you look at the market as a whole, the announcement today signals a growing emphasis on security and AI in enterprise computing, which while needed is hardly surprising given the wider market trends. HyperFRAME will be tracking how the company does in future quarters in winning new customers with Proliant and taking market share from Dell, Lenovo, and Supermicro.
Steven Dickens | CEO HyperFRAME Research
Regarded as a luminary at the intersection of technology and business transformation, Steven Dickens is the CEO and Principal Analyst at HyperFRAME Research.
Ranked consistently among the Top 10 Analysts by AR Insights and a contributor to Forbes, Steven's expert perspectives are sought after by tier one media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and CNBC, and he is a regular on TV networks including the Schwab Network and Bloomberg.