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

Wanted: servers Under $1K

If it's been three years or so since you checked out low-priced servers, it's time to go shopping. Many top-tier vendors have made strides in providing reliable, compatible, manageable machines with service options that will let small business owners or IT folks with remote offices or workgroups sleep soundly at night.

We put out a call for servers with street prices under $1,000 (not including OS). We specified that the machine will serve as a file/print server for an office of 10 people, and asked that submissions be expandable with additional RAID storage and a tape backup. Hard drives must offer a minimum 30 GB of storage, the system must include a CD-ROM drive, memory capacities can be no less than 128 MB, and all entries must have at least one 10/100 network port.

We must admit we were unsure what would show up on our doorstep, but we needn't have worried: The systems we received from Dell, Gateway, Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Lantech PC exceeded our expectations. After a battery of performance tests and rating systems on expandability, warranty options, management/configuration, features/options and, of course, price, we pegged HP's ProLiant ML330 as the shiniest jewel in the group.