Product Reviews

NEC's entry-level servers have received a mixed reception in the PC Pro Business Labs thanks to some bizarre design decisions. But over the past year or so, they've been getting gradually more sophisticated. In this exclusive review, we take a closer look at the latest SI1310, which now represents the entry point of NEC's pedestal server family and aims to offer some choice features to small businesses on a strict budget.

Chassis design sees some marked improvements, as this chunky black box is more server-orientated than the generic PC chassis NEC once had a predilection for. The quartet of 5.25in bays on the front panel have been put to good use, as you have DVD and backup tape drives included, while the top two slots are occupied by a three-bay SCSI hot-swap cage. NEC also offers the SI1310 with SATA storage and RAID protection, but the hot-swap cage is only for the SCSI variant. Physically, the chassis is built as well as an equivalent ProLiant server, which is saying something, as this has always been one area where HP excels. Security isn't as good: although you can keylock the side panel shut, you can't protect the front bays from wandering fingers.

With the side panel removed, you're presented with a tidy interior with easy access to all key components. The first thing to note is NEC's choice of motherboard, as it's finally chosen a server-specific model. In the past, NEC has often opted for a strange brew of cheap PC motherboard and inordinately powerful graphics controllers, but this time the company has been more sensible and plumped for a Server Board S3000AH from Intel. This comes with an Intel 3000 chipset, allowing the server to be offered with a single-, 3000 dual-core or 3200 quad-core Xeon processor. These single-socket systems are a good choice for small businesses, as many are likely to find those equipped with Intel's series 5100 and 5300 processors a little pricey and overspecified.

The review system came endowed with a 2.4GHz 3060 dual-core Xeon, and this is topped off with a mighty passive heatsink rising some 12cm from the motherboard. Cooling is another area NEC has addressed closely. The chassis

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has fans mounted front and back, and the drive cage also has a pair of dedicated fans. Airflow through the chassis is largely unimpeded, and combining this with the processor heatsink results in a server that runs very quietly, making it suited to desk-side duties in a small office.

Expansion options abound, as along with the hard disk cage the server also offers an internal four-drive carrier. The motherboard sports four SATA interfaces, but these are unused in the review system, as the hot-swap drive cage is partnered with an LSI Logic single-channel Ultra320 SCSI card. Data backup comes courtesy of a Sony StorStation AIT-1 Turbo drive, which is linked to a dedicated Adaptec single-channel SCSI card. The AIT-1 Turbo drive represents the entry point of Sony's tape backup family and, although it's a bit of an old-timer, it still has the legs to beat HP's DAT72. Its native transfer rate of 6MB/sec is twice as fast as DAT72, and the compact 8mm tapes have a higher 40GB native capacity. There's still room to expand, too, as even with the two SCSI controllers occupying both PCI slots you're left with three PCI-E slots.

If you want remote server management features now is the time to look away, as the SI1310 is stripped bare in this department. The motherboard usually comes with Intel's own Active System Console and LANDesk Manager, which we looked at in our review of the SilverEdge 500SA from Evesham (web ID: 113221), but NEC doesn't include these utilities. RAID controller management is also far from satisfactory, as NEC bundles LSI Logic's Power Console Plus utility. This shows the age of the RAID card, as LSI dropped this tool over 18 months ago and replaced it with its Windows Storage Manager utility. Note, also, that NEC's software package doesn't include a backup utility, either.

Server setup is handled ably by NEC's ExpressBuilder utility, which is supplied on a bootable CD-ROM. It opens smartly with a single screen that asks for the version of Windows being installed, the product key and administrator password. Add a machine name, select the system partition size and file format, choose a keyboard, time-zone and graphics resolution, and the utility will do the rest. Just pop in the Windows disc when requested and it will load all the necessary drivers and complete the task with no further intervention.

If you want remote server management, the SI1310 isn't for you. The storage subsystem also dates it, since SCSI is now seen as a poor choice for entry-level servers, as its cost/capacity ratio isn't as good as SATA's. Nevertheless, as a starter server the SI1310 has a lot going for it, because the price includes a dual-core processor, a good helping of memory and a decent tape drive.