IBM ServeRAID 8k SAS

Advantages: reliable, customer service,expandable
Disadvantages: price,accessory

...The particular model my company own is an 8648-4AY It comes with: 1x Xeon 3.0GHz/800MHz (2MB L2 Cache), 1x 512MB PC2-3200 ECC DDR2 SDRAM RDIMM, No disks,1x Broadcom NetXtreme 5721 Gigabit Ethernet, 48x-20x IDE CD-ROM , 1x 530W Power Supply, SVGA (16MB) . What we have as accessories are: IBM ServeRAID-6M Ultra320 SCSI Controller( around £500) 3x146.8 GB 10 000 rpm Ultra320 SCSI hard drives( around £300 each) and a Remote Supervisor Adapter II card ( around £300 ). Packaging and User manual: The server comes with a very good package.User manual ( CD)and IBM Director software included. keyboard and mouse included.The user manual is very good and include details about connections,set up and enviromental set-up ( noise generated,heat and cooling requirement) Set-up: For our particular configuration , we had to create the disk... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: good value for money
Disadvantages: non SCSI , non hot swap disk, No DVD writer/reader

...If you need a low-traffic server this is the machine for you, but do not expect miracles.It feature 2-way memory interleaving , and Hyper threading on processor helps, but upgrades are quite pricy, and it is missing a DVD-RW. It features same BIOS standard for x-server family ,and it comes with good documentation and IBM director CD( at least here in UK) Hard disk included is 80Gb ,quite small but it has a fast access rate. ServeRAID 7 controller is a must if you install database, but it come pricy .Support is on fee bases, there are no more the 30 days " up and running" as it used to be .If you run into trouble during installation ( quite common with Serveraid 7 controller) and you phone helpline , you have to pay. On the bright side in case of hardware failure( i burned a Power supply unit, my fault...)you have a technician onsite... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Quite a fast drive.
Disadvantages: One of the "Deathstar" drives.

...Whether you are thinking of buying this drive (2nd hand, most likely as it's a couple of years old) or own one of IBM's 60GXP, 75GXP or 120GXP models, read on for important information about issues with these drives and fixing them. ** THE DRIVE ** Capacity: 40 GB (38.3 GB as reported in windows) Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM Interface: ATA-100 Average seek time: 8.5 ms It's a fast enough drive. It seems to perform quite a bit better than the 5400 rpm 45 GB Western Digital drive I had, it's quite a bit quieter and this one's not dead ... yet. ** BORROWING NAMES FROM STAR WARS ** The main reason I thought I'd write a review on this drive, is to hopefully help a few others who have this or one of the other 60GXP, 75GXP or 120GXP models (as I've read these are equally affected). It didn't take long for a lot of people... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful