HP has announced what it says is the world's first two-in-one server blade, the HP ProLiant BL2x220c G5, offering enterprises improved performance, while requiring less floor space, and lower power consumption.

HP is aiming the new blade at businesses with investments in cloud computing, Web 2.0 and high-performance computing (HPC), touting a, "60 per cent better performance per watt than similar configurations on the market."

HP said that the G5's two servers per slot feature means that it can offer systems that scale up to 128 servers, 1,024 CPU cores and 2TB of RAM in a single 42U rack. HP calculates the performance per standard 42U rack as 12.3 teraflops, while "requiring only eight square feet of datacentre raised floor space."

The G5 can use up to two Intel Xeon 5400 series quad core processors or Intel Xeon 5200 series dual core processors per server node. Network connectivity support includes dual-gigabit Ethernet NICs and HP Virtual Connect. For firms requiring low latency/high bandwidth links, HP can supply an optional PCI-Express mezzanine socket supporting double data rate InfiniBand fabric connectivity. For connecting storage area networks (SANs), HP offers a 4Gbit/s Emulex LPe1105-HP dual port fibre channel host bus adaptor.

For remote management the G5 uses HP's Integrated Lights-Out 2 (iLO2) Standard Blade Edition over a 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet link, and for system monitoring, HP Insight Control Environment for HP BladeSystem.

HP's ProLiant BL2x220c G5 is available now from HP or resellers, starting at £3,200 + VAT.