IBM eServer 325

The 325 is also equipped with MSI's IPMI 1.5-compliant baseboard management controller card, which slots neatly into a SODIMM socket at the rear of the mainboard. This provides full access to the server regardless of its power status, but the vague documentation is coy on its use. Furthermore, before the card can be accessed it requires a flash update and its IP address can only be accessed and modified using a basic DOS utility that can't be run from the command line. After some considerable time spent trying to access the BMC, we were eventually advised by IBM that the card wasn't currently supported. Although not officially sanctioned by IBM, it's possible to use OSA's IPMI Management Suite software but this will incur additional expense. The open-source OpenIPMI requires agent software installed in a Linux kernel to function. The bottom line is that at the time of writing, IBM didn't support the IPMI card, but the company advised us that this will be implemented in its next release of Director.

IPMI problems aside, the 325 offers a reasonably good specification in a well-built package. There's room for expansion and SCSI is an option. In a straight comparison with HP's ProLiant DL145, it looks equally good value but offers a better management bundle.

Author: Dave Mitchell