HP has unveiled a datacentre system that combines servers, storage and networking with management software to create an integrated pool of resources for running applications. The move echoes recent announcements by rivals such as Cisco and even VMware aimed at turning the datacentre into one giant computer.

HP's BladeSystem Matrix brings together the firm's BladeSystem server portfolio and StorageWorks storage arrays with a software layer called the Matrix Orchestration Environment, designed to automate provisioning of resources for applications as required.

According to HP, Matrix provides a push-button approach to provisioning using a self-service portal. The platform dynamically assigns resources to meet the current needs of the business, and returns these to the pool once the service requirements are completed.

Mark Potter, HP's senior vice president for Infrastructure Software and Blades, said that customers are increasingly looking for datacentre solutions with dynamic capacity management.

"Matrix is a game-changing, all-in-one technology that allows the infrastructure to run at the pace of the business," he said.

VMware today launched its vSphere platform, which similarly offers administrators a single overview of all the resources in their datacentre. Meanwhile, Cisco recently unveiled its Unified Computing System (UCS) for the datacentre, which introduced Cisco servers and a single network fabric for data and storage.

As part of the announcement, HP unveiled new StorageWorks models, including the SB40c Storage Blade with P4000 Virtual SAN Appliance software and StorageWorks 600 Modular Disk System, plus the HP P4000 SAN from LeftHand Networks, the iSCSI vendor HP acquired last year.

The Matrix system also comes with HP’s new Virtual Connect 8Gbit/s Fibre Channel and Flex-10 Ethernet modules for greater I/O bandwidth.

HP's BladeSystem Matrix is available now through HP Factory Express, the vendor's customisation and integration service.