HP has introduced to Europe a blade workstation system for environments where multiple screens and high performance are vital, such as City trading rooms. As well as securely centralising workstation hardware into a datacentre, the architecture makes remote access possible for business continuity, according to HP.

The HP ProLiant xw25p Blade Workstation, available immediately, slots into a rack-mounted enclosure in a server room, with a network connection to a console on the user's desktop. This architecture keeps system units secure, while freeing up space on the desk.

HP said it created this system for customers like finance companies, which face issues with existing workstations such as data security and centralised management control.
"Some traders may have four or more workstations under their desk, which also means a lot of heat and noise. We can replace that with one client," said Jim Zafarana, vice-president of HP's Workstation business.

While HP's blades cost up to 40 percent more than traditional workstations, an IDC study in the US found that early adopters there recouped the cost through reduced management overheads in just a single year. In this country, Lloyds TSB is deploying the blades to kit out its new London trading floor.

The xw25p Blade Workstation runs Windows XP but is based on HP's twin-Opteron server blades. This means it can slot into the same ProLiant server racks and be managed via the same administration tools, the company said.

HP's four-screen console is a stripped down PC chassis with twin graphics cards and embedded client software. Customers can alternatively choose an HP Compaq t5720 thin client, which supports up to two screens.

HP uses its own Remote Graphics Software (RGS) to send screen updates instead of Microsoft's RDP or Citrix ICA. HP said this is because RGS has the performance for multi-display 2D/3D graphics and video.

"It's a workstation-class experience – high compute performance, strong graphics and multi-display support," said Zafarana.

An RGS client for Windows also allows workers to access workstations remotely from a laptop. This gives customers the reassurance that they can continue operations if one of their offices is out of action, HP said.