The HP E5000: A New Option for Turnkey Enterprise Exchange 2010 Deployments

Email is the quintessential business-critical application, with every organization relying on it as a vital communications tool. It can pose real challenges for IT, however, as capacity gets swallowed up over time from emails accumulating in client mailboxes. Also, its 24/7availability demands and configuring it to support different server and storage platforms pile up the challenges that IT has to address in support of the application.

Addressing these challenges is what the new HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 with its default direct-attached storage (DAS) is designed to do. The E5000 with DAS is only one of a number of storage solution options available for Exchange within HP's storage portfolio which include its EVA and P4000 lines as well as its newly added HP 3PAR line which DCIG has previously covered in terms of its support for Exchange environments. However what is notable about the E5000 is that HP is offering it within the framework of its Converged Infrastructure initiative.

The HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 is a fully self-contained, highly available messaging solution. While it may be characterized as an email "appliance," it epitomizes the spirit of HP's converged infrastructure vision, as it is designed to be an out-of-the-box, turnkey solution, preconfigured for ease of purchase, setup, management, and even scaling.

However, don't be misled by the simplicity of the system. Depending on the model selected, the HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 can handle between 500 and 3,000 users, providing each user with a mailbox starting at 1 GB of storage.

Dozens of terabytes of capacity can also be added to the system, as can more appliances within the environment, so it can support up to 15,000 mailboxes. Organizations, therefore, can choose a model to meet their needs now and then plug in and scale out either the computing or storage resources that they may need later.

The standard "in-the-box" HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 configuration reflects best-practice recommendations from both HP and Microsoft. In terms of hardware, all models contain the following:

• 3U rack mount chassis system enclosure
• Two preconfigured HP E5460sb servers
• Disk drawer containing sixteen (16) 1 or 2 TB MDL SAS drives
• New model P1210m 6 Gb/sec SAS storage controller
• Four redundant 6 Gb/sec SAS ports to plug in an additional twelve (12) or 24 TB external disk shelves to the P1210m storage controller

In terms of integrated software and other resources, it includes the following:

• Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition preinstalled on each server
• Microsoft Exchange 2010 Server quick deployment tool that enables Exchange to be deployed swiftly in a high-availability configuration in terms of both server role and mailbox resiliency  
• Single solution support contract (3 years of technical support)

The primary purpose of this system is to eliminate all of the steps and complexity normally associated with installing and configuring Exchange. Instead of the multifaceted configuration decisions that are usually required when configuring an enterprise-class messaging solution, the HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 requires just two steps:

1. Determine the number and size of mailboxes needed in the organization
2. Select the model SKU that corresponds with those requirements

Dean Steadman, product manager for the E5000, asserts in a recent podcast that setup can be done in less than an hour, which is a far cry from the days of setup often required by enterprise-class messaging solutions.

Integrated deployment tools get the E5000 servers up and running in Active Directory, while the Microsoft Exchange 2010 Server quick deployment tool facilitates the prompt deployment of Exchange 2010 Server. Steadman says, "The E5000 enables organizations to deploy Exchange in a two-copy Database Availability Group for high-availability setup right out of the box, with automatic database-level recovery from failures and continuity of service."

Expediting the hardware configuration and setup is the other half of making Exchange simpler and easier to install and manage.  The E5000 combines storage, servers, built-in network connectivity, deployment tools, software, a single support contract, etc., in a single box. So instead of having to assemble different products from different vendors, now everything needed to get Exchange up and operational is included in a single SKU.

One of the distinct advantages of the E5000 is that it consists entirely of HP servers and storage. Its storage is a built-in HP disk drawer while the servers are HP E5460sb servers. So by using HP hardware, organizations can have a greater degree of confidence that it will provide the performance they expect and the reliability and ready supply of replacement components that they need.

The HP E5000 Messaging System for Microsoft Exchange 2010 provides enterprises with much needed simplicity in configuring and managing an Exchange solution without requiring them to sacrifice functionality in order to do so. But possibly the E5000's most appealing feature is it enables enterprises to scale and grow the Exchange environment without burdening their IT staff in order to do so.