HP has launched their Gen8 (not G8) line of ProLiant servers. The machine I was most interested in was the DL380p Gen8 because that’s the model I’d most encounter in virtualisation. Some highlights:
- 2 CPU sockets handling up to 8 cores each
- 24 DIMM slots (requires HP SmartMemory for warrantee and performance) with a maximum of 768 GB (!!!) RAM using 32 GB RDIMM.
- Choice between 4 * 1 GbE or 2 * 10 GbE NICs on board.
- iLO 4
On board management has taken a bit of a leap forward:
- “HP iLO: The HP iLO management processor is the core foundation for HP iLO Management Engine. HP iLO for HP ProLiant servers simplify server setup, engage health monitoring, power and thermal control, and promote remote administration for HP ProLiant ML, DL, BL and SL servers. Furthermore with the new HP iLO is the ability to access, deploy, and manage your server anytime from anywhere with your Smartphone device.
- HP Agentless Management: With HP iLO Management Engine in every HP ProLiant Gen8 server, the base hardware monitoring and alerting capability is built into the system (running on the HP iLO chipset) and starts working the moment that a power cord and an Ethernet cable is connected to the server.
- HP Active Health System: HP Active Health System is an essential component of the HP iLO Management Engine. It provides: Diagnostics tools/scanners wrapped into one; Always on, continuous monitoring for increased stability and shorter downtimes; Rich configuration history; Health and service alerts; Easy export and upload to Service and Support.
- HP Intelligent Provisioning (previously known as SmartStart): HP Intelligent Provisioning offers the ability for out-of-the box single-server deployment and configuration without the need for media”.
On the blade front, there is a new BL460c Gen8:
- 2 CPU sockets handling up to 8 cores each
- 16 DIMM slots (requires HP SmartMemory for warrantee and performance) with a maximum of 512 GB RAM using 32 GB RDIMM.
- One (1) HP FlexFabric 10Gb 2-port 554FLB FlexibleLOM
- iLO 4
There’s crazy big scalability in each host if you can justify it. To counter that you have the “too many eggs in one basket” argument. I wonder how much a 32 GB SmartMemory DIMM costs 
To reach the densities that this hardware can offer, you will absolutely need to install the very best of networking such as 10 GbE. I’d even start wondering about InfiniBand!