HP switches on to pay-as-you-go.

Hewlett-Packard will board the capacity-on-demand, or 'pay-as-you-go', bandwagon with hardware offering the facility at the low end of the market.The company said its Unix customers will be able to switch on, and pay for, processing power as and when they need it on its Unix servers.

Customers will receive servers with up to the full complement of processors - four for the L class, eight for the N class and 32 for the V class.However, users pay only for the processors they plan to use. There is no minimum requirement. Service levels can also be maintained by activating a so-called hot spare in case of processor failure.

'The mainframe world has been offering this facility in some shape or form for some time. But previously, it was available only to customers spending a lot of money,' said Terry Walden, HP 9000 UK marketing manager.

'For example, the entry level for this type of package from Sun Microsystems is about £400,000.

'We're taking it much lower. The L class server range starts at about £10,000. Customers will be able to save money and get the capacity they need, when they need it.

'It will also be available retrospectively, so customers don't have to wait to order until January to benefit.' Pricing details will be available at a later date.

IBM and Amdahl already offer capacity on-demand features on their S/390 mainframe systems, and Sun's competing offer in its high-end Starfire server was announced earlier this month. Walden said HP currently has no plans to extend the capacity on-demand technology to Windows NT.