InformationWeek

November 10, 1997

Tolerant Servers

Departmental systems gain features aimed at improving reliability

C server vendors are responding to user demand by moving a degree of fault tolerance into low-end and midrange systems. NEC Computer Systems, the commercial PC arm of Packard Bell, recently announced the Express 5800 ES1200, which includes error checking and correcting (ECC) RAM and an optional RAID controller, both unusual in entry-level systems. Compaq Computer is moving features such as hot-pluggable hard drives into its workgroup servers.

According to Martin Reynolds, a PC analyst at Dataquest in San Jose, Calif., IS managers are demanding more fault-tolerant features on low-end systems. "The cost of repairing one of these systems is simply too high, so they're looking for all the fault-tolerant features on their servers," he says.

NEC's Express 5800 ES1200 is a low-cost line aimed at small workgroup applications. The line begins at $2,299 for an entry-level system with a 233-MHz Pentium II processor, 32-Mbytes of ECC RAM, a 2-Gbyte hard drive, and a 10/100 network interface card.

Server market leader Compaq is introducing four new ProLiant servers at the departmental level and high end. New fault-tolerant features are included in the departmental systems for the first time, including hot-pluggable hard drives, says John Young, marketing manager for Compaq's server group.

"More and more servers are going out into distributed environments where you need more fault tolerance," Young adds, "because IS departments don't have the resources to repair systems when they're down."

The new ProLiant 1200 and 1600 servers are designed for workgroup and file and print applications; the ProLiant 3000, a departmental server, is aimed at file and print and small database applications; and the ProLiant 5500 is a new high-end server. The high-end systems also include hot-pluggable power supplies.

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