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Servers are the Swiss Army knives of SMB networking. They handle the shared files and folders, directory and DNS duties, e-mail, collaboration, and vertical applications so critical to SMB survival. Maybe you've got a property management system, or perhaps you run a widget inventory-management program that has a bridge to QuickBooks. To handle multiple users, all these run off a central server.
Many SMBs think they'll save money using recycled workstations as servers—25 users won't stress the CPU, right? Wrong. Today's OSs, fast networks, telecommuters, external partners and customers, and massive new apps tax processors more than ever. And when a CPU fails (or a hard drive dies or the power supply fries) your makeshift server bites the dust. But with the SMB servers reviewed here your apps are protected by quad-core CPUs, multiple layers of hardware redundancy, system cooling, and sophisticated management that will warn you of imminent problems.
I asked server companies to send me their most popular SMB workhorse configurations built from standardized hardware, including dual Intel Xeon quad-core CPUs, 4GB of RAM, and at least 200GB of drive space in a managed RAID array. Three vendors chose to participate: Aberdeen LLC (a custom server maker), with its muscular new Aberdeen Stirling 229; Apple, with two examples of its slick Xserve machine; and HP, with the world's best-selling all--purpose server, the ProLiant DL380 G5. Dell and IBM were both invited to take part but were prevented by logistical issues on their end. Don't worry, you'll be seeing products from them in upcoming reviews.
Finally, I checked out Sun Microsystems' new Sun Fire X4150. The review has no score because the machine's configuration didn't fit with the rest of our contenders, and I didn't get to run all my benchmark tests on it, but it's worth a look, if only to see everything Sun has managed to stuff into a mere 1U.—Next: CPU >