Dell PowerEdge 2600 review

Dell's new PowerEdge 2600 takes the bullet-proof chassis of its predecessor and adds a superb range of new features. These include support for Intel Xeon processors and an embedded Ultra320 SCSI storage subsystem, which are teamed up with superb expansion potential and fault tolerance. It's aimed at a similar market to HP's ProLiant ML370 G3, which includes email, database and applications services for small businesses of up to 100 users.

We were impressed with construction of the ML370, but the 2600 takes this to a new level. A fully loaded system tips the scales at nearly 50kg, which gives a clear indication of how solid the chassis is. General design is unusual - the six hot-swap hard disk bays are arranged vertically in two groups to one side of the front panel, while alongside are two larger bays each holding a 730W hot-swap redundant power supply.

The low-profile 24x CD-ROM drive leaves enough room above for a pair of 5.25in bays and, as we saw in Dell's PowerVault 750N NAS appliance (see Enterprise, issue 98, p197), these can be converted to accept a further two hard disks. Physical security is excellent - the lockable steel door swings up and prevents access to all devices including the side-panel thumbscrews.

Once inside the 2600, you'll find a large portion of the motherboard is hidden behind a plastic shroud held in place with a pair of thumbscrews. Cooling has a high priority, with a pair of large fans front and back and a smaller one on the shroud, plus all five are hot-swappable. Swing the shroud to one side and you'll find a pair of 2GHz Xeon processors fitted with the biggest passive heatsinks we've yet seen. Alongside are six DIMM sockets, with two occupied by 512MB modules of 200MHz PC2100 DDR memory. Expansion options abound, as the motherboard offers seven PCI slots, with the top pair the 133MHz PCI-X variety. And, thanks to the high levels of component integration, all slots are free.

The storage subsystem in the 2600 has to be one of the best you can currently get in a workgroup-level server. Standard SCSI services are provided by an embedded LSI dual-channel Ultra320 chipset, but this sits idle, as the price includes Dell's optional PERC4/Di Ultra320 RAID controller. This is unique, with the motherboard coming as standard with an Intel 100MHz GC80303 processor and a separate DIMM socket for cache memory. RAID is activated simply by plugging in a hardware key next to the memory sockets, which automatically disables the LSI chipset. A 128MB stick of cache memory is included and the icing on the RAID cake is the embedded battery backup pack. To complete the picture, Dell included a trio of 18.4GB Seagate Cheetah Ultra320 hard disks configured in a RAID-5 array.

Dell's Server Assistant makes light work of installation and is even slicker than HP's SmartStart utility. Once you've answered a few questions, it gets on with the job of configuring hardware and loading your chosen operating system and even offers to install Dell's Server Administrator before completion.

Management and monitoring tools are provided by Dell's OpenManage software suite, which comprises Server Administrator, IT Assistant and Array Manager. The Server Administrator isn't as sophisticated as HP's Insight Manager, but it does offer a wide range of tools for monitoring the health of local and remote PowerEdge servers. From a secure browser interface, you can view hardware areas such as processors, memory and storage, but it will also allow you to access the server's BIOS and modify it directly or download new firmware. Alerting facilities are reasonable. You can set thresholds for fan speeds, voltages, temperatures and power and link errors to displaying a local message, sending a network broadcast, firing up an application and sending an email to a single recipient.