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	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

Lantech submitted the only white-box unit for our review, and we were somewhat surprised to find that every other PC tested offered better value than the 2700. It's a good little machine, but for the price you can get a significantly smaller server with a much better warranty.

The 2700 uses an Intel server board and standard components. By far the largest machine in our review, the 2700 didn't fit on the wire rack shelving we use for testing and had to be laid on its side.

The 2700, like the IBM eSeries xServer 205, uses the Intel 845E chipset, putting it at considerable disadvantage when compared with machines sporting the ServerWorks Grand Champion SL. However, the Database 2700 was assembled with care: All the fans in the system are ball bearing, and the cabling is carefully routed.

Connectivity is provided by two USB 2.0 ports, two standard serial ports and a parallel port.

The Database 2700 has a plethora of Ethernet connectors. The main board has two Intel-based 10/100 ports, and in an expansion slot there is an Intel copper Gigabit Ethernet adapter. The motherboard, frankly, is short on slots. It has only three 32-bit, 33-MHz slots and an AGP slot.

One of the PCI slots is taken up by the Intel copper Gigabit Ethernet adapter, and another PCI slot is used by the LSI SCSI controller for the hard disk, leaving only one PCI slot open. Considering the huge amount of room for disk drive and other devices, the choice of that motherboard is puzzling.

Generalized Custom Test | Database Test click to enlarge