We used one of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new NetServer LPr units, because drivers are available and stable on both platforms. Targeted as an entry-level server, the LPr model that HP provided included dual Pentium II 450 CPUs, an Ultra2 SCSI bus and an Intel-based 10/100-Mbps NIC.

We attached the NetServer to a Lucent Cajun P550 10/100 switch along with our cluster of Pentium-based Cubix machines.

Using Coffee Computing Corp.'s FileMetric 1.0 benchmarking tool (www.coffeecomputing.com), we pounded on the machine with multiple reads and writes of small, medium and large files over the course of several hours. We tested morning ramp-ups, performed massive file transfers and saturated the unit until we couldn't cram any more traffic down the wire.

Linux slightly outperformed NT on file writes, but NT edged out Linux on massive reads. With tuning, however, we leveled the playing field. At no point were we able to push the CPUs much over 50-percent utilization--the single NIC, full duplex 100BASE-T environment wouldn't allow it.

Our conclusion? With a $50 Red Hat CD and a Dual Pentium II 450 system with Ultra2-SCSI drives for less than $5,000, you can assemble one powerful server.