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F E A T U R E

IBM's Small Change

April 30, 2001
By Steven J. Schuchart Jr.

As a seasoned network manager buying servers for your data or collocation center, you consider all the variables, including cost, performance, expandability and service availability. But one important attribute you may not have thought much about is size. Rack space costs big bucks, and a small-form-factor box with performance comparable with that of its larger kin is a smart buy. We tested the latest 1U and 2U servers from Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM, NEC Corp. and Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) in our Real-World Labs® in Madison, Wis.

The machines in the 1U category share a number of the same features: a single power supply, two Intel-based NICs and slim-line CD-ROM drives with manual drawers, such as those found on laptops. Each of the boxes supports as many as two Pentium III FC-PGA (Flip Chip Pin Grid Array) processors with a 133-MHz front-side bus. We requested machines with one processor each. All the vendors whose products we tested, no matter what they say in their brochures, use two Intel Pro/100+ embedded NICs. The 1U machines, with the exception of the SGI 1100, each supports up to 4 GB of memory (the SGI box supports only 2 GB).

When it comes to processing speed, there is a great number of similarity among the boxes. Our testing found that most of the results were within or very close to the expected statistical variance.

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NetIQ's Chariot showed exactly what we expected: All the machines use the same Intel NICs. Our testing with WebLoad showed that the only box with any intrinsic advantage is the Compaq ProLiant DL320, with its built-in RAID controller. That RAID controller also pushed the ProLiant DL320 to the top of our Intel IOmeter tests. The most interesting finding was that IDE drives, especially ATA66 drives, were beaten badly in testing; in fact, SGI's IDE implementation actually hurt the company's SGI 1100, which performed poorly in tests despite having the fastest processor.

So how do you pick one box over another? The differentiators are the innovative features, improved chipsets and software packages included with many of these servers. The only machine that truly disappointed us was the SGI 1100; it lives up only to the "no frills" part of the company's "no frills/good price" promise.

Only two vendors -- HP and NEC -- answered our call for 2U boxes. (See the results of our 2U testing.)

We had a hard time deciding on a winner in the 1U category. IBM's eServer xSeries 330 has some truly innovative features sure to improve your life -- and cut down on the spaghetti jungle behind your server rack. On the other hand, Dell has equipped its PowerEdge 1550 with a superior chipset and an even better price.

After long deliberation and careful consideration, we gave our Editor's Choice award to the IBM eServer xSeries 330. Dell's PowerEdge 1550 received our Best Value award, and we encourage the more cost-conscious to check out Dell's offering, a well-priced system with excellent performance.

What tipped the scales? It came down to improvement and innovation: Dell's PowerEdge 1550 sports keyboard/mouse and monitor ports on its front panel. That's an improvement. IBM has integrated KVM capabilities into its eServer xSeries 330. That's innovation. And the IBM system is solid and comes at an attractive price.

(Prices quoted do not include the operating system, and Web pricing is available only on items purchased from the vendor's Web site.)