HP Business Laptops, Desktops and Servers

Key facts

• HP is 4iT’s alternative to Lenovo for business laptops and desktops, and one of two server platforms we deploy.
• The client range covers EliteBook and ProBook laptops, EliteDesk and ProDesk desktops, and ZBook workstations.
• HP Wolf Security for Business adds hardware and firmware level protection on Pro and Elite machines, including a self healing BIOS and isolation of files and browser sessions inside micro virtual machines.
• HP Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise have been separate companies since 2015. Laptops, desktops and printers come from HP Inc; servers come from HPE under the ProLiant name.
• HPE ProLiant Compute Gen12 is the current server generation, with ML tower models suited to a single office and DL rack models where you have a comms room or rack.
• ProLiant servers include HPE iLO out of band management, so the server can be reached, power cycled and updated even when the operating system will not start.
• HP Care Pack extends the warranty and adds onsite response, and is worth attaching at the point of purchase rather than trying to add it later.

When does 4iT specify HP instead of Lenovo?

Most often when the business already runs HP. If there are thirty EliteBooks in the building, the sensible move is usually to keep buying EliteBooks rather than run two standards through a transition, because the cost of maintaining a second image, a second set of docks and a second parts inventory outweighs any per-machine saving. Continuity is worth more than a small price difference.

Beyond that, it comes down to fit and availability. Occasionally a specific HP model is the right answer for a role, particularly at the workstation end or where a business wants a particular screen size or form factor that Lenovo does not have in market. Availability matters too: supply on commercial hardware moves around, and if a rollout of twenty machines is held up for six weeks on one vendor and available immediately on the other, we will tell you so rather than let the project sit. Our preference for Lenovo is a default, not a rule.

What does the HP business range cover?

EliteBook is the premium business laptop line, running in 600, 800 and 1000 series tiers with increasing amounts of screen quality, conferencing hardware and security features as you move up. ProBook sits below it as the value business line, with fewer features but the same essential manageability, which makes it a reasonable answer where budget is the constraint but the machine still needs to be part of a managed fleet. ZBook is the mobile workstation range for people running CAD, rendering or heavy data work.

On the desk, EliteDesk and ProDesk cover the desktop range in tower, small form factor and mini configurations, mirroring the same premium and value split. HP also has a substantial printing and scanning range, which matters for the businesses that still run significant paper volume, though we would generally look at whether the workflow needs to be on paper at all before specifying more of it.

What is HP Wolf Security and does it matter?

HP Wolf Security for Business is a set of protections built into the hardware and firmware of HP’s Pro and Elite machines rather than installed on top of the operating system. The parts that matter in practice are Sure Start, a self healing BIOS that restores itself from a protected copy if the firmware is attacked or corrupted, and Sure Click, which opens files and browser tabs inside disposable micro virtual machines so that something malicious in an attachment is contained rather than loose on the machine.

It is useful, and it is a real point of difference at the firmware layer, where most endpoint security products cannot reach. It is not, however, a replacement for a proper endpoint security stack, monitoring, or user training, and we would not want anyone buying HP on the assumption that the security question is now answered. It is one layer among several. See endpoint security and security awareness training for the layers that sit around it.

When is an HPE ProLiant server the right choice?

When you have established that you need an onsite server at all, which is a question worth asking first. Plenty of businesses that used to need a file server no longer do. Where an onsite server is warranted, typically a line of business application that will not run well from the cloud, a large working data set, a virtualisation host, or a local backup target, ProLiant is a sound platform and one of the two we deploy.

An ML series tower suits a single office with no rack: it sits in a cupboard or comms room, runs quietly enough, and takes a sensible amount of storage. A DL series rack server is the answer where you already have a rack, where you are running more than one host, or where the space is properly ventilated and you want the density. We specify against the workload, the growth you expect over five years, and the recovery time you need if it fails, then attach the right support cover. Backup design is part of that conversation, not an afterthought: see server backup and backup and disaster recovery.