ProLiant

Wordmark logo for ProLiant when it was still owned by Compaq

The ProLiant series of server computers was originally introduced in 1993 by Compaq to replace their former SystemPro line of servers in the high-end space, with the mid-range space of the SystemPro being succeeded by the ProSignia line of servers and business PCs. The ProLiant and ProSignia brand of servers coexisted with each other up until the ProSignia brand was discontinued in 2000.

The departmental-oriented Compaq ProLiant 2500 (left) and Compaq ProLiant 3000 (right) servers

From its launch in 1993 up until the early 2000s, numbered models in the ProLiant line were produced such as the entry-level 400 series, the workgroup-oriented 800 and 1000 series, the departmental-oriented 2000 and 3000 series, and the enterprise-oriented 4000, 5000, 6000, 7000 and 8000 series.^[4] On November 15, 1999, the ProLiant CL1850 was released as a cluster designed for affordability and space-efficiency to businesses and enterprises of all sizes, using a cube-shaped cabinet which can be either tower or rack mounted.^[5]

On January 31, 2000, Compaq introduced the ProLiant ML and DL line of servers as part of a new positioning framework for the ProLiant line, offering two separate and distinct lines to suit different needs in the server market. The ML (Modular Line) line of servers features a modular design that is designed for maximum system expansion, while the DL (Density Line) line of servers consists of powerful, density-optimized servers designed for rack mounted use.^[6] The initial models produced under the new product lines were the ProLiant ML350, ML370 and ML530 for the ML line and the ProLiant DL380 for the DL line. The ProLiant ML350 and ProLiant DL380 continues to be produced to this day, spanning over 12 generations in its 24+ year lifespan since its inception. The ProLiant CL380 was released on June 5, 2000, joining with the ProLiant CL1850 as part of the CL (Cluster Line) line of servers.^[7] This generation of ProLiant servers is referred to as "Gen1" after the introduction of "Gen2" ProLiant servers on October 25, 2000, the latter of which featured new and improved hardware as well as an updated enclosure^[8] that was previously previewed with the release of the ProLiant ML330 on April 26, 2000.^[9][10]

In May 2002, Compaq was acquired by HP. As part of the merger with Compaq that year, HP discontinued their NetServer line of servers that had been produced the same year ProLiant servers debuted in the early 1990s in favor of Compaq's ProLiant line of servers. The 2002 merger also brought in other products that were made or offered by Compaq at the time, such as the NonStop line of servers (which were formerly owned by Tandem Computers, inc. and then brought out by Compaq in 1997), the Presario line of personal computers, and the iPAQ line of personal digital assistant (PDA) devices.

Following the 2002 merger, "Gen2" ProLiant servers became produced by HP and Compaq-provided software and tools were slowly replaced by HP-provided ones. Between the early 2000s and early 2010s, various ProLiant server models in Gen3, Gen4, Gen5, Gen6, and Gen7 guises were produced.

In February 2012, HP announced the ProLiant Gen8.^[11] The ProLiant DL580 Gen8 has been described as a "middle generation" between Gen8 and Gen9. It has some of new features introduced in Gen9, primarily the availability of a UEFI boot option.

In July 2013, HP announced a new blade server-based ProLiant, the HP Moonshot Server.

Starting August 28, 2014, HP ProLiant Gen9 series were available based on Intel Haswell chipset and DDR4 memory.^[12] The first were the HP ProLiant ML350 Gen9 Server and HP ProLiant BL460c Gen9 Blade. Servers in this generation support both BIOS and UEFI.

On November 1, 2015, HP split up into two separate companies, HP Inc., and HPE. As part of the spilt, HPE inherited the ProLiant line of servers from the original HP along with a few other products, such as the NonStop line of servers originally produced by Tandem Computers, Compaq, and the original HP.

Starting Q4 2017, HPE ProLiant Gen10 servers^[13][14] were available. Also in November 2017, HPE extended their Gen10 range to include AMD EPYC processors using EPYC's price v cores architectures claiming to lower cost per virtual machine (VM) by 50%.^[15]

In April 2021, HPE introduced the ProLiant Gen10 Plus line of servers, which are built on third-generation Intel Xeon scalable processors. Equipped with PCIe Gen4 capabilities, the HPE ProLiant DGen10 Plus servers offer improved data transfer rates and higher networking speeds.

In November 2022, HPE introduced the ProLiant Gen11 server lineup providing support for several architectures including fourth-generation AMD EPYC processors and fourth-generation Intel Xeon scalable processors.

In Q4 2024, HPE introduced the ProLiant Gen12 line of servers, which featured HPE and Nvidia's next-generation AI technologies in certain AI-powered models. Those models featured an NVIDIA GH200 NVL2 superchip with 1.2 TB of unified memory to accelerate AI workloads.

ProLiant servers produced since 2000 are separated into several different product lines - ML, DL, RL, CL, SL, BL, SY, XL (Apollo), and MicroServer - which generally denote form factor.

ProLiant servers produced by Compaq includes tower-based and rack-mounted servers, which were produced in various different configurations and models since its introduction in 1993. Numbered ProLiant models were produced up until the current ML and DL product lines were introduced in 2000. The ProLiant ML line comprises tower-based servers (convertible to rack mount) with capacity for internal expansion of disks and interconnects, while the DL line comprises general-purpose rack mount servers. Both the ProLiant ML and DL lines were inherited by HP (and HPE) after Compaq was acquired by HP in 2002.

The RL line compromises cloud-native servers that can handle cloud-native workloads, The CL line compromises affordable and space-efficient clusters for business-critical applications, and the SL line compromises of rack mounted servers designed for use in data centers and environments where high computing power is required. The BL line comprises blade servers which fit within the HP BladeSystem, the SY line comprises Synergy Blades, and the XL line (also known as Apollo) comprises servers for scale out and High Performance Computing environments. The MicroServer product line addresses home and small businesses.

ProLiant servers are also split into several series which denote processor configuration. The 100, 200, 300 and 400 series comprise single and dual socket capable systems, the 500 and 600 series comprise quad socket capable systems, and the 700 and 900 series comprise eight socket capable systems. The 900 series supports up to 80 CPU cores and up to 4 TB of RAM. Models with a '0' in the last digit use Intel processors while models with a '5' in the last digit use AMD processors.^[16]

ProLiant servers made by Compaq were offered with the company's own SmartStart and Insight Manager among other utilities for management. They were replaced with their HP equivalents in the years since the merger with Compaq and HP in 2002, with Insight Manager being succeeded by HP Systems Insight Manager and HP/HPE Insight Management Agents in 2003, and SmartStart being offered until 2012 with the introduction of ProLiant Gen8. The ProLiant forms part of the HP Converged Systems, which use a common Converged Infrastructure architecture for server, storage, and networking products.^[17] Designed to support 50 to 300 virtual machines, the HP ConvergedSystem 300 is configured with ProLiant servers.^[18] A system administrator can manage ProLiant servers using HP OneView for converged infrastructure management.^[19] HP also provide drivers a software for managing servers such as Management Component Pack which includes hp online configuration utility (hponcfg), Agentless Management Service amsd, Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) ssa, Smart Storage Administrator (SSA) CLI ssacli and Smart Storage Administrator Diagnostic Utility (SSADU) CLI ssaducli.^[20]

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