HP has released its first four-socket Integrity blade server using the latest Intel Itanium chips.

The BL870c model can fit into HP BladeSystem c3000 and c7000 enclosures, allowing IT administrators to control Integrity or ProLiant servers using common management tools.

The vendor has also created “Solution Blocks”, which HP's business critical systems marketing manager, Peter Hindle, said were "tested configurations allowing firms to build business critical applications and high availability quickly onto the new blades”.

Solution Blocks available so far include packages for SAP and IBM WebSphere. They combine Integrity blades, application software, HP storage and interconnect technology - all HP-approved based on best practices or testing.

Hindle said that the BL870c will take up to four of the latest Intel Itanium 9100 series processors, running at speeds topping out at 1.66GHz with 24MB of L3 cache. The new blade can also address up to 96GB of system memory and has built-in 4Gbit/s network connectivity. Pricing starts at £4,700 + VAT.