Upgrade Your HPE Integrity Blade Enclosure Efficiency with i6 Series (BL860c, BL870c, BL890c)
- Zo Jakab
- Sep 30, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2025
Upgrading your HPE c3000 or c7000 enclosure with Integrity BL860c i6, BL870c i6, or BL890c i6 blades can be useful for organizations still running HP-UX workloads.
HPE Integrity Blade Enclosures: Save Up To 80%
✔️ No Upfront Payment Required - Test First, Pay Later!
These systems were designed for reliability and scalability, but they belong to a generation that is no longer supported by HPE. Whether it makes sense to add newer blades depends on your existing setup and long-term plans.
Supported HPE Integrity Blade Enclosures
HPE BladeSystem c7000 Enclosure
This high-density chassis holds up to 16 half-height or 8 full-height blade servers. It includes advanced power and cooling features and integrates with HPE management tools for monitoring and control.
HPE BladeSystem c3000 Enclosure
A smaller enclosure supporting up to 8 half-height or 4 full-height blades. It was designed for branch offices and compact server rooms.
Both systems support a mix of compute, storage, and networking blades, allowing modular configuration. They remain suitable for organizations maintaining older HP-UX or Itanium environments.
HPE Integrity i6 Blade Servers
HPE Integrity BL860c i6 Blade Server
Processor: Two-socket full-height blade with Intel® Itanium® 9700 series CPUs
Memory: Up to 384 GB (24 DIMM slots)
Connectivity: Four HPE FlexFabric Converged Network Adapter (CNA) ports
Feature: HPE Blade Link technology allows linking multiple blades for 2-, 4-, or 8-socket systems
HPE Integrity BL870c i6 Blade Server
Processor: Four-socket full-height blade with Intel® Itanium® 9700 series CPUs
Memory: Up to 768 GB (48 DIMM slots)
Connectivity: Eight FlexFabric CNA ports
Feature: Blade Link for system scaling and flexibility
HPE Integrity BL890c i6 Blade Server
Processor: Eight-socket full-height blade with Intel® Itanium® 9700 series CPUs
Memory: Up to 1.5 TB (96 DIMM slots)
Connectivity: Sixteen FlexFabric CNA ports
Feature: Blade Link enables linking blades to create 4- or 8-socket systems
Important Context - HPE Integrity Blade Enclosures
The HPE Integrity i6 generation was the last Itanium-based server family before Intel discontinued the platform in 2021. HPE has ended production and official support for both the Integrity blades and the c-Class enclosures. These servers are now considered legacy equipment.
However, many enterprises continue to run HP-UX applications that cannot easily be migrated. In such cases, refurbished HPE Integrity i6 blades remain valuable as spare units or replacements within existing infrastructures. They can help extend system life without the expense of a full migration project.
HPE Integrity Blade Enclosures: Save Up To 80%
✔️ No Upfront Payment Required - Test First, Pay Later!
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