BL460c & WS460c memory compatibility

[MaydayIT]

Hi guys.

We recently bought a bunch of BL460 G9s to replace a bunch of older servers.  We decided to use these for a VDI pilot, which went well overall.  However, we decided that to get better video performance, we wanted to get some nVidia Grid cards for the servers.  Much to our surprise, this would put us in an unsupported configuration!  We were told that the WS460 was what we should have bought, but it was too late.!  Recently, another group in our organization started planning for a project that will require a few servers for other uses.  We're thinking/hoping this will give us the opportunity we need.  This project will not be using the servers for virtualization, so they won't need nearly as much RAM as what's in our existing servers.  We would like to purchase some WS460s for VDI and repurpose the BL460s for the new project.

Is the RAM in the BL460 compatible with the WS460?  More importantly, will HP support us doing this?

Thanks in advancde for any advice!

Derek

[Torsten.]

Since the hardware is more or less identical, it should be no problem.

Depending on the graphics option you will need an expansion blade, this is unique to the workstation.

DIP switch S9 off makes the box a server, S9=on a workstation (see user manual).

[MaydayIT]

I know I sent this yesterday, but I guess it didn't post.

My intention is to run VMWare Horizon desktops on this.  To me, this makes it a server.  However, HP tends to have their own definitions.  Do I need an expansion blade for this type of configuration?  If so, is the expansion blade dedicated to a single server?

Thanks again for any help you can offer.

Derek

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

see quickspec for details:

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetPDF.aspx/c04440152.pdf

there are

Mezzanine Graphics Adapters for single-width model

and

Full-size PCI Express Graphics Adapters for double-width model (Expansion Blade)

[MaydayIT]

Thanks Torsten!  Much appreciated!