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IBM's really done it this time. It's not the first company to market a state-of-the-art dual-processor 1U server, but the new eserver xSeries 330, introduced last week, is a machine worth waiting for. Light-years ahead of the 1U-high Netfinity 4000R, which it will replace, the new model has vastly improved features, such as hot- swappable drives-de rigueur in this market-faster processors and 64- bit PCI slots. It also has an innovative cable-management scheme, which should drastically reduce the amount of copper filling up a rack.
This machine takes aim directly at Compaq's 1U-high server, the ProLiant DL360 www.internetwk.com/reviews00/rev071700.htm. Both are ideal for the high-density ISP/ASP market, for being integrated into a SAN or for controlling masses of external SCSI data. In some key ways, the new IBM server has the edge; the cable-management scheme and the integrated onboard management scheme, which frees up an expansion slot, is more than a match for Compaq's most slender server.
By the way, note the new branding for IBM's Netfinity servers. According to IBM spokesman Ron Winick, the transition from the Netfinity brand name to the eserver xSeries name has been planned for some time: The eserver is a brand derived from IBM's eBusiness initiatives, and the xSeries is a reference to IBM's X architecture, a hardware design with elements shared by both AS/400 and x86-based PC servers. The new names will be phased in with future hardware releases; existing Netfinity models will not be renamed, Winick said.
Under The Covers
Out of the chute, the xSeries 330 will come in two processor configurations: 800MHz and 866MHz Pentium III processors. The preproduction system we tested had dual 866MHz chips with 256 KB L2 cache each. In November, the company promises to ship 933MHz and 1GHz versions of the server. Inside the server are four DIMM slots, which can hold as much as 4 GB 133MHz RAM; the model we tested had 512 MB in two 256 MB DIMMs. The onboard SCSI controller is Ultra160 SCSI compatible, and supports two internal drives.
For a 1U (1.75-inch high) server, the new server stuffs as much into a small space as the ProLiant DL360. Both servers boast two hot- swap 1-inch-high drive bays. Both offer a pair of non-hot-swappable PCI slots....