HP Expands Low-End NetServe r Line

Vendor targets small businesses, remote offices with low-priced Pentium II model

By Mary Hayes

ewlett-Packard is expanding its low-end NetServer E Series line with a model that features a Pentium II processor and system-management features designed for nontechnical administrators. HP is aiming the E45, which runs Microsoft Windows NT, at small businesses and remote offices of large companies.

All systems in the year-old E Series line have been introduced at under $3,000, making them popular among sites that may otherwise have used a desktop PC to double as a server, says an HP official. The E45 follows the E40, w hich featured a Pentium Pro chip, and the line's first model, the Pentium-based E30. "The E30 was a very big success in remote sites of large organizations, because corporate customers often don't have IT management in remote sites," says Elaine Lennox, an HP product line manager.

The HP NetServer E45 comes with either a 233-MHz or 266-MHz Pentium II chip, with prices starting at $2,217. The system also features 512 Kbytes of Level 2 cache, and error checking and correcting (ECC) memory. Because the server is intended for sites with little IT management expertise, the Windows NT-based E45 comes with software that lets it be managed remotely by an off-site administrator. Like other models in the E Series, the E45 comes with simple management and troubleshooting features, such as a traffic-light icon that blinks yellow to alert users to a system problem.

Analysts say the E Series line has worked well as a replacement for the PC as server. "The demand is out there for that type of technology in that mar ketplace-the small installation that doesn't have a lot of system administration on site," says Jerry Sheridan, an analyst with Dataquest Inc. in San Jose, Calif.

However, the E45 would not be a good choice for a small site that anticipates growing demands on its server-such as supporting growing Web traffic in addition to print and file services. Notes Deepinder Sahni, an analyst with Access Media International in New York, "If a site anticipates commercial activity on a Web server, perhaps they would want a dedicated machine."

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