VeryPC GreenServer Janus review

You also get the SuperO Doctor III utility included which offers remote and local server monitoring along with operational details on all critical system components.

So far so good, but when it came to our power-consumption tests we found the Janus to have a slightly bigger appetite than it claims. Both servers were running Windows Server 2003 and with the single power supply hooked up to our in-line power meter we saw a total draw of 265w in idle.

With SiSoft Sandra pushing all 16 cores to more than 95% utilization, we saw this peak at 390w. Admittedly, this isn't quite as environmentally friendly as VeryPC claims, but after discussion we came to the conclusion that the extra InfiniBand adapters and RMM modules were adding to the load.

Also, to put the results in perspective, take a look at the power tests we ran last month on Transtec's 4200 Premium Server. With four quad-core 7300 Xeon MPs on board, this server pulled 347w in idle and 470w under heavy processing load.

Consider the fact that the GreenServer Janus is offering two well-equipped servers almost for the price of one and you have a very unusual rack solution at a good price. The single power supply is a potential liability that needs to be covered but for sheer processing density plus low power consumption there's little to touch this server.

Author: Dave Mitchell