What to expect with HPE’s new ProLiant Gen13 servers

HPE has launched a range of new servers optimized for enterprise inference and agentic AI.

The firm said the HPE ProLiant Gen13 Servers, powered by sixth-generation AMD Epyc Server CPUs, deliver higher core density, memory bandwidth, and I/O.

These servers are primarily targeted at compute-intensive workloads such as agentic AI and inference, analytics, virtualization, simulation, and modeling, the company said in an announcement.

“Organizations need to turn their investments in agentic AI and inference into business value without adding operational complexity or risk,” said Krista Satterthwaite, senior vice president and general manager for compute at HPE.

“For these workloads, HPE ProLiant Gen13 brings together optimized performance, built-in, automatic security, intelligent operations, and proven reliability. It gives customers a trusted foundation to modernize and innovate today and adapt as their requirements evolve.”

Under the hood of HPE's ProLiant Gen13 servers

The HPE ProLiant DL585a Gen13 Server is a high-density platform designed to support up to eight double-wide PCIe GPUs, two sixth-generation AMD Epyc Server processors, and PCIe Gen6 connectivity.

Conversely, the HPE ProLiant DL525 Gen13 Server is a more compact, performance-optimized 1U, single-socket system powered by one sixth-generation AMD EPYC Server processor with up to 256 cores.

HPE said this features high bandwidth 16-channel memory, with support for high-speed and high performance –DDR5 and MRDIMM – and PCIe Gen6 connectivity.

Notably, this is suited more for workloads with extremely high data throughput, such as fraud detection, market-data processing, risk and pricing models, electronic design automation (EDA), simulation, and AI inference.

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Meanwhile, the HPE ProLiant XD245 Gen13 and HPE ProLiant XD285 Gen13 are designed to maximize compute performance within a smaller footprint. The two OCP-compliant servers combine high-density compute with efficient shared power and cooling to support data-intensive AI and HPC workloads.

Finally, the HPE ProLiant XD245 Gen13 Server uses a one-Open Rack Unit (1OU), four-node direct liquid-cooled design, and is powered by up to eight sixth-generation AMD EPYC Server processors; while the HPE ProLiant XD285 Gen13 Server uses a two-Open Rack Unit (2OU), two-node air-cooled design.

More on the horizon for HPE

According to HPE, there are more systems planned in the near future. The new servers combine automatic security from HPE Integrated Lights-Out 8 with enhanced HPE Compute Ops Management capabilities to protect data and system integrity.

The company will also introduce new features, including automatic self-encrypting drive (Auto-SED) server capabilities to protect data at rest from first boot without added configuration, external key managers, or manual activation.

Multi-person authorization (MPA) requires two authorized users to approve high-impact actions, including key provisioning and secure erase, while expanded post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness now extends beyond firmware to help protect server communication paths from emerging threats - a first in the industry, HPE said.

“AI is moving into the applications and operations that run the enterprise, fundamentally changing what organizations demand from their infrastructure,” said Dan McNamara, senior vice president and general manager, Compute and Enterprise AI, AMD.

“Across generations of AMD Epyc CPUs and HPE ProLiant servers, our teams have worked side by side to turn advances in processor and system design into practical value for customers,” McNamara added.

“With sixth-generation AMD EPYC processors and HPE ProLiant Gen13, we are delivering the performance, efficiency and flexibility enterprises need to scale AI while modernizing the critical workloads their businesses depend on.”

The HPE ProLiant DL525 Gen13 server will be available later in 2026, with the HPE ProLiant DL585a Gen13 server rolling out in early 2027 and the HPE ProLiant XD245 and XD285 Gen13 servers later that year.

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