Hewlett-Packard Co. and Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group on Wednesday announced a joint venture agreement that is aimed at creating a new line of cloud-optimized servers specifically for service providers. The companies plan to combine Foxconn's large-scale manufacturing operations with HP's computer know-how to develop a new line of servers aimed specifically at big online service providers, they announced Wednesday.

The companies will jointly design "cloud-optimized" servers that will be manufactured by Foxconn and marketed, sold and supported by HP. The server line will complement HP's existing ProLiant server portfolio, including Moonshot, said Foxconn.

Foxconn said that the new product line would address the computing requirements of the world's largest service providers by delivering low cost ownership, service and support.

The joint venture will take effect May 1.

Today's joint venture follows IBM's announcement to better tackle the cloud server market, by licensing the design of its Power processor to other hardware makers.