IBM System x3650 M2 review

Remote management sees big improvements, featuring an embedded IMM (integrated management module). This presents a dedicated network port at the rear and provides web browser access to the server. The Basic version allows you to monitor critical components and remotely control power, while the Premium adds remote control, virtual boot media and OS failure screen capture.

Systems Director 6.1 handles general systems management. It's accessed via a tidy web interface where you can run network discoveries, collect and store hardware and software inventories, and use its problem-alerting system.

The results of the network discoveries can be viewed from the Systems Director homepage, and options are provided for deploying agents to IBM and non-IBM systems. These allow you to collect inventory data, execute tasks such as file transfers, and run remote control sessions using RDP or RealVNC.

IBM follows HP's power management initiatives, as you can upgrade Systems Director with the new Active Energy Manager plugin. This interacts with the server's baseboard management controller, providing power capping with trend graphs of power consumption and system temperatures over time.

Removing the lid on the x3650 reveals a well-designed interior offering plenty of room to grow. At the rear, you have a pair of riser cards each sporting two PCI Express x8 slots, and enough room to add a mixture of full-height, half-length and low-profile cards.

The server comes with two embedded Gigabit ports, which can be increased to four with an optional dual-port Gigabit daughtercard that slots into a proprietary slot on the motherboard. IBM also offers riser cards with PCI Express x16 or PCI-X slots.

The server came with a single 675W supply, but you can slip in another alongside for power redundancy. For general power consumption, our inline power meter recorded 14W in standby and 140W with Windows Server 2008 idling along. With SiSoft Sandra pummelling all 16 logical cores, we saw this peak at 218W. The same tests run on a similarly specified PowerEdge R710 returned power readings of 16W, 150W and 270W.

Although not quite as good as HP's ProLiant DL380 G6, this IBM offers high storage capacity and expansion potential, a greatly improved systems management package and optional power metering.

Author: Dave Mitchell