We especially liked the server's chassis design. Taking a page from Dell's original PowerEdge tool-free design, IBM has raised the ante by including LightPath technology traditionally relegated to the mainframe world. These indicator lights, located throughout the motherboard and front bezel, highlight component status. If a DIMM dies, for instance, a light appears on the motherboard pinpointing the failed component. This can save it administrators time and effort when troubleshooting.
The Netfinity's chassis is completely tool-free, easing the upgrade process. We liked the design of the expansion bay, in which sliding tabs fit snugly on the sides of an internal backup drive, eliminating the need for screws. A lockable front bezel, which has light indicators offering basic system status, opens to expose six hot-swappable hard drive bays, CD-ROM and floppy disk drives, and two empty expansion bays.
The server has strong redundancy features, with room for three hot-swappable power supplies. Predictive Failure Analysis (PFA) gives administrators advance notice of an impending failure in the memory, processor, fans, or power supply.
A blue latch opens the side panel, which allows unrestricted access to internal motherboard components. Five PCI slots (three 64-bit, two 32-bit) are available; in our test unit, three were filled, holding two network cards and a raid controller. Diagrams on the inside of the side panel show system information, including motherboard design, component upgrade steps, as well as numbers for the parts.
IBM's server setup tool, ServerGuide, is similar to the setup tools that come with the other systems we reviewed. This bootable CD helps you install drivers, check the system bios, set up raid arrays, and automatically install an operating system. ServerGuide currently supports Microsoft Windows NT and 2000, NetWare, UnixWare, and OS/2; it will support Linux by the time this issue reaches you.
IBM's Netfinity Director management software is unrivaled. The utility (a revised version of IBM's Tivoli IT Director tool) lets you inventory, monitor, and update the system from a remote console. It does everything that HP's TopTools and Dell's IT Assistant can do, and much more. For example, Netfinity Director can monitor a server's performance over long periods of time, telling you where bottlenecks are or when they may possibly arise. The program can monitor the Windows Event Log to check certain software failures and gain full remote control of the system. It can manage raid arrays, Fibre Channel connections, and server clusters. And since the Netfinity server has an onboard Advanced System Management processor, Director even lets you manage the server when the server has been shut down or its operating system is hung.
IBM also includes a copy of LAN Client Control Manager, which -- when used with an imaging utility like Norton Utilities' Ghost -- lets you remotely capture and deploy software images.
Performance was another Netfinity strong point. At 60 clients, the server finished first on our WebBench, NetBench, and ServerBench tests, edging out the Dell and HP servers.
Best-in-class performance, management, and design would make the Netfinity worth paying extra for. That it doesn't cost more than its competitors makes it a winner.
IBM Netfinity 5100 Pentium III 733MHz
Company: IBM
Ph: 1800 289 426; Fax: 02 9951 9793
Price: From AU$4,937.
Rating: 5 Star
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