Dell PowerEdge T110 review

Dell’s latest entry-level PowerEdge T110 aims to convince small businesses that it’s a far better alternative to building their own server or using a desktop system for all their network services. Prices start at rock bottom with a basic system configured with a Core i3 530 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard disk and a one-year warranty costing around £270.

The system on review also looks good value as its price of £631 gets you get a decent quad-core 2.66GHz X3450 Xeon, 4GB of 1333MHz DDR3 memory, a pair of 250GB SATA drives and a three-year warranty. You can also cut costs further in the OS department as Dell offers the T110 with Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation preinstalled which adds an extra £177 to the asking price.

You need to be aware of the limitations of this OS as it’s 64-bit only, supports multiple cores but only a single processor socket, and won’t let you upgrade beyond 8GB of memory. It can handle no more than 30 simultaneous inbound connections and supports a maximum of 15 Windows user accounts.

The T110 is a compact little floor-stander that will slot neatly under a desk, and it’s quiet as well. We have seen some complaints about high noise levels but we found that although the main fan at the rear isn’t silent you’d be hard pushed to notice the T110 in a normal office environment.

Security is good as the interior can only be accessed by removing the metal side panel. The large release lever on the top can be locked down and the chassis intrusion switch links up with the BIOS to warn if it’s been tripped.

Six external USB ports are available but you can configure the server so they’re all disabled or just the rear quartet is enabled. There are also two internal locked down USB ports and the rear-mounted eSATA port can be used to expand storage capacity

The base system uses the embedded SATA controller which includes Dell’s PERC S100 RAID software solution that is activated from the BIOS to provide support for mirrors or stripes. If this isn’t enough, you can opt for an S300 firmware upgrade that brings in support for SAS drives and RAID-5 arrays.

The hard disks are mounted in an internal cage at the front of the chassis, which has room for up to four drives. They’re easy enough to install and each one is fitted in a plastic carrier that slots neatly into the cage. Dell has also provided all four power connectors and SATA interface cables ready to receive new drives.