Issue TOC Print full article Print this page Download as PDF E-Mail this URL Discuss this article Flame the author     In this article Introduction Chips Matter Hewlett-Packard ProLiant ML330 Hewlett-Packard tc2120 Dell PowerEdge 600SC Gateway 920 IBM eServer xSeries 205 Lantech Database 2700 L Executive Summary How We Tested Weblinks Report Card

The 920 is a solid performer; the unit we received even incorporated a small Travan tape drive with software. Recently, Gateway has been making strides in the server game, and the small-business market is the perfect place for the company with Holstein-patterned boxes to get its hoof in the door.

At $897 with a tape drive and 512 MB of RAM, the Gateway 920 provided many desirable features at an excellent price point. Hardwarewise, it's eclipsed only by the advanced processor and features of the HP ProLiant ML330. However, the included software was below par, which hurt its score.

The motherboard has four 64 bit, 33-MHz slots and one 32-bit, 33-MHz slot, and is powered by the ServerWorks Grand Champion SL chipset, like most of the machines in our review. For connectivity, it has two USB 1.1 ports, one standard serial port, one parallel port and a copper Gigabit Ethernet port. Storage is provided by an 80-GB ATA drive, a CD-ROM drive and the aforementioned tape drive.

We particularly liked the 920's case; pushing apart two large thumb levers on the back of the unit causes the side case to pop off. The only system easier to access was the IBM eServer xSeries 205.

The 920 did pretty well in our testing, mostly thanks to the 512 MB of memory Gateway included. On our IOMeter tests, the Gateway didn't perform as well as the SCSI system, but that was expected. When it came to serving Web pages, however, the 920 shone, placing No. 1 in our Spirent tests. All in all, a decent performer.