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

We initially had a hard time with the IBM eServer xSeries 205. Our review machine came in DOA. The replacement for the original came in DOA. IBM even sent its local CE to the lab to take a look, as if we couldn't diagnose "it doesn't POST." We sent them both back, and it turns out that both machines had bad CPUs.

To be honest, CPU failure was the last problem that IBM or we expected. Intel CPUs simply don't fail often. After speaking with IBM engineers, we are confident that this situation was an anomaly. We even pumped the CE (whom we know from past job lives) for problems he's experienced with this model. He said he has seen nothing to indicate a pattern of failure.

Setting our initial problems aside, we found the 205 to be a good box, but not an excellent one. It sports a 2.4-GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor run by the Intel 845E chipset.

While the 845E is a good chipset, its AGP (accelerated graphics port) slot is superfluous in a server. It doesn't provide 64-bit slots--it's just plain less capable than the ServerWorks Grand Champion SL that every machine but the 205 and the Lantech Database 2700 used.

Connectivity comes in the form of two USB 2.0 ports, two standard serial ports, a parallel port and a copper Gigabit Ethernet connection.

Performance of the 205 was middle of the road. Write caching is turned off, as it is on the two HP machines. The IBM won only the 2 KB database test; it turned in average numbers for the remainder.

The 205 came with IBM's usual suite of good management and OS installation software, IBM Director and IBM ServerGuide. Both of these polished programs allow for consistent systems management and OS installation.