Palo Alto (California) - As long as a desktop PC is grounded, and the company network is ubiquitous, Hewlett-Packard has been actively exploring enterprises' options to move the landlocked PC processor into the network data center. The latest step in that effort was announced this morning, with the release of the company's bc1500 Blade PC, an AMD64-based PC on a single card under 16 inches long.

Last year, HP unveiled its Consolidated Client Infrastructure (CCI) program, which is geared towards large deployments in small spaces, such as call centers and service bureaus. The user's PC hardware is reduced to a thin screen, and a "thin client" the size of an ordinary hardback book. HP's thin clients are themselves PCs, but in the very narrowest sense: They generally include 800 MHz processors with just the basic equipment to run standard graphics, plus four USB ports, network connection, 256 Mb of DDR, and replacing the hard drive and ATA interface altogether, about 256 Mb of flash RAM. (If you want an optical disc, you'd need USB external.)

HP's new AMD64-based bc1500 Blade PC. (Courtesy Hewlett-Packard)

So the real processing power in this operation is supplied by the bc1500, which resides in the data center. Purchased individually or in groups of 10, the bc1500 is designed for deployment within a 3U HP e-Class Blade PC enclosure, which resembles a blade server mounting system. Each card is powered by an AMD Athlon 64 1500+ CPU with up to 2 Gb of SODIMM (the form factor generally used for notebooks), 512 kb of L2 cache, a ULi southbridge chipset, and a standard 40 Gb, 5200 rpm hard drive - just enough to run Windows. Network high-speed storage is supplied by a StorageWorks array system or NAS.

The Blade PC and thin client communicate seamlessly by means of Microsoft's Remote Desktop Communication software, which provides secure logon with optional SmartCard multi-factor authentication. They're linked by way of an e-Class Gigabit Ethernet switch with four uplinks and 40 ports, and administered on the back end by Integrated Administrator hardware with provisions for up to 25 users per enclosure.

This morning's announcement by HP also represents another win for AMD, whose low-power Athlon 64s are ousting Intel at the top of HP's line for this form factor. Although HP is using AMD's ultra-low-power model, technical specifications do not show voltage recommendations at this time. If you're wondering why you've never seen this low of a performance number attributed to an Athlon 64 before, you're not dreaming: This isn't just a low-voltage unit, but a moderate performance unit as well. Two years ago, Tom's Hardware Guide tested the first wave of Athlon 64s. The 1500+ was not among them, but still, our Frank and Bert concluded then that Intel processors continued to outperform Athlon 64s with similar processor speed.

HP's statement this morning cited an internal test, where a hypothetical desktop system was put through the paces with the equivalent workload of a 10,000 user system over a four-year period. These tests concluded, HP says, that its CCI system as a whole, including Blade PCs, could lead to a 50% reduction in a company's total cost of ownership. But with Windows Vista's upcoming requirements for both graphics and on-board memory, it will be interesting to see how "fat" HP's thin clients will have to become to accommodate, especially with flash memory storage tending to fall less dramatically than hard drive storage.