Smoothly serviceable midrange servers

Midsized servers are still the backbone of the enterprise, despite all of the hype surrounding 1U and blade servers. After all, larger 4U and 5U boxes offer plenty of room for internal storage and add-ons. They take lots of additional rack space, but that isn’t an issue for most businesses, which are typically happy to trade a few Us for easy expandability and smooth servicing.

HP’s new ProLiant DL580 G2, built on a 4U chassis and running up to four Xeon MP processors, illustrates wonderfully what can happen when a server is designed to be as expandable and serviceable as possible. HP’s designers appear to have left no stone unturned in making this server easy to work with. State of the art in most respects, it’s a good fit for large datacenters.

MPC’s NetFrame 3610, a 5U server with dual Xeon DP processors, is aimed at smaller enterprises where having the ultimate in serviceability and manageability is less important, but where performance at a reasonable cost is the prime concern. It hits the mark dead on.

Master of Management

With nearly tool-free access to HP’s ProLiant DL580 G2, you can slide the top cover off while the server is still in the rack, and virtually every component is hot-swappable. Even components such as CD-ROM drives can be replaced by simply pressing a latch. Internal components are easy to reach as well. If a fan or power supply fails, a redundant one will take over, and you can replace the failed device in seconds.

Even items that are normally difficult to service, such as processors, can be replaced without tools. In the case of the DL580, which can be ordered in a single-processor configuration and outfitted with as many as four 3GHz Xeon MP CPUs, this means that processors can be effortlessly added as needed. The machine I tested contained a pair of 2.5GHz Xeon MP processors.

Some of the DL580’s impressive management features, such as HP’s ILO (Integrated Lights-Out) remote management, have been covered previously in InfoWorld. The version that came with the DL580 works as well as prior versions we’ve tested, providing effective remote management even when the server upon which it resides is shut down. You can, among other things, use ILO to power up, restart, or power down the DL580 via Web browser.

HP includes its Systems Insight Manager with the DL580. This application handles asset and configuration management of the server and many other devices on your enterprise network. It’s generally useful, but strangely deficient in a few areas. For example, it was unable to identify the existence of Cisco switches on the test network, even though the SNMP information returned by the switches disclosed their identity correctly.

Physically, the DL580 is a dream machine for IT workers. You can service nearly anything with the server in the rack. Four of the six PCI-X slots are hot pluggable. All four of the Ultra320 SCSI disks are hot swappable from the front of the server, as are the two power supplies. But there is no USB port on the front of the machine; the two USB ports are inconveniently located on the rear panel.

Overall, with but a few minor problems, the HP ProLiant DL580 G2 proved to be a server that would fit well into the biggest enterprise and not add significantly to the workload of the staff.

Penny-wise Performer

MPC’s NetFrame 3610 is designed to deliver high performance at a low price. But this is not to say that MPC has ignored manageability and serviceability. Far from it. For the first time in its product lineup, MPC has included a service hatch on the top of this rack-mount machine, which allows access to the hot-swappable fans for quick replacement. The process involves sliding the server about half way out, flipping open the hatch, and replacing the fan. It takes seconds. Two more fans are similarly replaceable from the rear of the server.

Like the HP DL580, the NetFrame 3610 lets you remove the server’s lid without removing the server from the rack. But it’s a little more difficult with the 3610, because you have to remove two knurled thumbscrews from the rear of the server (which required a screwdriver because they were so tight) and then sliding the lid out from the rear.

As you’d expect, most of the service on this server is performed from the front of the case. There is room for up to ten hot-swappable Ultra320 drives. My test unit was delivered with an eight-disk RAID array using Serial ATA drives. Unlike the HP server, the NetFrame’s floppy and CD-ROM drives are not easily removable from the front. On the plus side, MPC did include a USB port on the front of the box.

MPC includes LANDesk System Manager from LANDesk Software. This software can be accessed remotely while the server is operating and provides a wealth of information. For example, System Manager reported that one of the fans on the NetFrame 3610 was running more slowly than it should. I was not able to determine the cause of the slow fan, but it didn’t seem to adversely affect the operating temperatures inside the server, which were also reported through the LANDesk software.

The NetFrame 3610 is supplied with a pair of Gigabit Ethernet ports. The server can be outfitted with one or two Xeons; my test server came with two 3.06GHz Xeon DP processors. As you’d expect, this server performs well, as confirmed by my load tests with a Spirent Communications WebAvalanche box.

Both of these servers will be nearly perfect fits in their respective intended environments. The HP ProLiant DL580 G2 is the classic workhorse server for the enterprise. Designed to be a good citizen in the datacenter, it’s outfitted with the right tools for the IT staff to be productive, and it’s highly configurable and expandable. Its rich set of features doesn’t come cheap, but the DL580 is worth every nickel to the high-end enterprise user.

MPC’s NetFrame 3610 costs a third to half as much as HP’s DL580, important for its intended role in small to medium-sized businesses. Like the HP server, it is designed for life in the datacenter rack, but isn’t as easy to manage or service. On the other hand, it gives plenty of performance for the dollar, providing a level of manageability and serviceability that MPC hasn’t reached before, but which is increasingly necessary for its customers.