F E A T U R E
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Enterprise Server
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Winner
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PowerEdge 8450, Dell Computer Corp., (800) 388-8542, (512) 338-4400
www.dell.com
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Finalists
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ProLiant 6500, Compaq Computer Corp., (800) 345-1518
www.compaq.com
Netfinity 5500 M20, IBM Corp., (914) 499-1900
www.ibm.com
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Award: Enterprise Server
For the second year in a row, Dell Computer Corp. has captured the throne for best enterprise server. The new, rack-optimized PowerEdge 8450--like its predecessor, the 6300--serves up outstanding performance, features and value. Powered by up to eight 550-MHz Pentium III Xeon processors and supporting up to 16 GB of RAM, the 8450 packs a punch. In our labs, this server easily outperformed the four-way servers we reviewed more recently and earned its spot as the fastest x86-based server we've ever tested. With a base price of slightly more than $18,000 in its single-processor configuration, we think the 8450 is an excellent value and provides ample headroom for future performance demands.
Performance and value alone do not guarantee the success of a server. E-commerce initiatives and ERP systems continually push the need for servers to maintain high availability and scalability. The PowerEdge 8450 answers the former with three 750-watt load-balancing power supplies; hot-plug hard drives and PCI support, and redundant fans. And while its eight-processor capacity is the 8450's most obvious scalability feature, this unit offers even more. Four 64-bit 66-MHz and six 64-bit 33-MHz PCI slots incorporated into a quad-peer bus scheme, capable of 532-MB-per-second bandwidth, should help satisfy the hunger of an increasing number of I/O-intensive applications. Packaged in a compact 7U chassis, the 8450 will be a boon in any data center.
-- Dave Fetters
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Network-Attached Storage System
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Winner
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F760 Storage Appliance, Network Appliance, (888) 4-NETAPP, (408) 822-6000
www.netapp.com
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Finalists
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HP SureStore HD Server 4000, Hewlett-Packard Co., (916) 785-8000
www.hp.com
Quantum Snap Server (formerly Meridian Data Snap! Server), Quantum Corp., (888) 343-SNAP, (408) 232-6831
www.snapserver.com
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Award: Network-Attached Storage System
In the past year, IT administrators and storage vendors alike have embraced network-attached storage (NAS). EMC, Network Appliance, Sun Microsystems and other vendors are out to prove that a NAS server not only provides better performance than a traditional file server, but offers significantly lower TCO than a standard-issue server--whether for use in the workgroup or in the enterprise.
-- Dave Fetters
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DLT Tape Library
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Winner
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Exabyte 230D, Exabyte, (800) EXABYTE, (303) 442-4333
www.exabyte.com
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Finalists
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DLT MinilibraryXpress, Overland, (800) 729-8725, (858) 571-5555
www.overlanddata.com
Qualstar TLS-6220, Qualstar Corp., (800) 468-0680, (818) 592-0061
www.qualstar.com
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Award: DLT Tape Library
A DLT (digital linear tape) library is a little like water: It's not all that interesting, so we take it for granted--but we couldn't survive without it. Routine tape backups are a part of virtually all IT departments' regimen, and the status quo has been to use DLT technology. Meanwhile, DLT libraries have developed into an increasingly mature product category. Vendors such as ADIC, Exabyte and Qualstar continue to push the market, offering increased capacity and resiliency.
This year, the honor for best DLT library goes to Exabyte's 230D. Named best-in-class in our DLT library review (see "Hungry for Backup? Order a DLT", the 230D offered the greatest mix of capacity, build quality, and performance among our tested units. Exabyte has always produced top-notch products, and the 230D shows the company's ongoing commitment to quality. With its superior drive robotics, a dual DLT drive configuration and up to 1 TB of capacity, the 230D is the most versatile DLT library we've tested. In a market that struggles for product differentiation, Exabyte has rolled the 230D into a well-rounded, economical package with a starting price of less than $15,000.
-- Dave Fetters
Award: Storage Area Network Solution Provider
This year, for the first time, vendors began to offer viable storage area network (SAN) solutions. ADIC, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, McData and other companies emerged with readily deployable, fully functional SANs. Combining fiber-attached disk arrays and tape libraries, along with a backbone of Fibre Channel switches interfacing with Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs), these vendors have tackled the scalability deficiencies and management issues that still plague conventional direct-attached storage.
With its bulletproof storage arrays and high-performance, fully scalable fabric, Hewlett-Packard has garnered this year's Well-Connected Award for best SAN solution. HP pulled out all the stops in providing a superior SAN solution with unmatched performance, scalability and redundancy. In our recent SAN RFP (see "RFP: Storage Area Networks", HP provided the most detailed and comprehensive solution of anything we've seen. With the HP XP256 storage array and 20/700 tape library--both of which offer a full array of redundant systems for increased availability--HP has incorporated into its SAN solution some of the best hardware available on the market. The company ties the hardware together with a fully fault-tolerant Fibre Channel fabric that uses Brocade's SilkWorm line of switches. Even the SAN management package, conveniently named SANmanager, excels by offering a simple and direct way to manage the SAN's devices and storage pools.
-- Dave Fetters
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