The Dell PowerEdge 1550 is a great 1U server. The advanced chipset Dell packed into this system really spit-shines it from the technical side. This is the first system to feature Dell's new industrial design. The machine we tested came configured with one 933-MHz Pentium III processor. Dell has packed three hard drives into the front of the system, along with the CD-ROM and floppy drives and indicator lights for NIC 1 and NIC 2 link/activity, power status, hard-disk access, heartbeat, and alert. A convenient feature of this unit is the power switch in the rear of the unit.

The dual NICs are based on the Intel Pro/100+, and the PowerEdge 1550 uses the ServerWorks ServerSet III HE chipset. This advanced chipset increases memory bandwidth to a theoretical maximum of 2 GB per second. The only downside to this is that you need to install memory in banks of two. Maximum memory is 4 GB. The PowerEdge 1550 performed very well in our tests, coming in a close second behind the Compaq unit in maximum throughput, largely because of the HE chipset.

TPS, Throughput and Response Performance Click here to enlarge

You can put as many as three hard drives in the system, each a maximum of 36 GB. With the addition of a RAID controller, you can make those three 36 GB drives into one 72 GB logical drive. Thanks to the ServerSet HE chipset, this unit supports two 64-bit PCI slots at 66 MHz, each on an independent bus for increased throughput.

The Dell PowerEdge 1550 has a unique case design. Instead of the removable top found on most systems, the front of this machine has two thumbscrews; you loosen them and pull, and the innards of the machine slide out of the casing on internal rails. This allows for upgrading and maintenance without taking the machine out of the rack. A cable guide is included with the machine to help keep the cables from disconnecting when the internal workings are pulled forward. You can also lock the front bezel to prevent unauthorized access.

Serviceability is good on this unit. The motherboard is secured with one thumbscrew and several "friction slots" that hold the board in with pressure points. The power supply is held in with one thumbscrew. To remove the power supply, simply remove the thumbscrew and unplug the power supply "pigtail" from the motherboard, and voila! you can slide the power supply out from under its metal tabs and remove it from the system.

Other interesting features are the duplicate VGA connector and the split keyboard/mouse connector on the front of the machine. This is for companies that use a "crash cart" instead of a KVM arrangement. Considering our past experience in hot-plugging PS/2 keyboards and mice in a Windows environment, we're not certain this feature is all it's cracked up to be.

Dell's OS installation utility, OpenManage Server Assistant, is one of the best we saw. Installation of Windows NT 4.0 was truly simple, requiring the fewest number of reboots, and the software offered the most preconfiguration of any installation utility, with the exception of the NEC Express Server. Dell's OpenManage Server Assistant supports the installation of Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Red Hat Linux 7.0. Dell OpenManage Connections, reminiscent of HP's Toptools, is an easy-to-use, well-designed tool for managing your servers and other Dell machines.

One of the best things about this Dell system is the price. Less expensive than any of its competitors, the PowerEdge 1550 earned our Best Value award. However, Dell's warranty picture pales in comparison with IBM's extra two years of on-site service. The PowerEdge 1550 comes with a three-year warranty: The first year is on-site, and the second and third years are with direct parts shipment.

PowerEdge 1550, $2,074 (Web pricing), $2,873 with Windows 2000 Advanced Server. Available: Now. Dell Computer Corp., (800) 289-3355, (512) 338-4400; fax (512) 728-3653. www.dell.com.