Although the LX50, Sun Microsystems Inc.'s first x86-based
server, doesn't stand out when compared with other x86 servers
in its class, it comes prepackaged with an arsenal of useful
Sun application and developer tools at a competitive price.
Shops that are looking for an inexpensive Linux-based server
should consider the LX50 to power Tier 1 applications, such
as Web sites, firewalls and streaming media; or as a software
development server; or as part of a grid computing farm.
The LX50, which began shipping last month, is Sun's first
entry into a crowded x86 server market dominated by Dell Computer
Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM. The LX50 uses industry-standard
x86 hardware, including Broadcom Corp.'s ServerWorks chip
set and Intel Corp.'s Pentium III processors, and it runs
Sun's Linux 5.0 or Solaris 8 Intel Platform Edition operating
systems.
The LX50 server eWeek Labs tested, priced at $5,295, had
Sun Linux 5.0 pre-installed and came bundled with the standard
package, which includes Sun MPEG4 Streaming Server, Sun Grid
Engine, Java 2 Standard Edition, Sun Open Net Environment
Active Server Pages and Tomcat Java Server.
The Sun applications are pre-loaded into the root directory
in .tar or .rpm Linux formats. We could install the applications
by "untaring" the file or running the .rpm installation, a
straightforward process for users familiar with Linux. However,
we believe Sun should provide a setup wizard utility to help
less-Linux-savvy shops with the server setup process.
Sun's Linux distribution is optimized for the LX50 server's
hardware and bears a strong resemblance to Red Hat Inc.'s
Red Hat Linux 7.2 kernel. Sun Linux 5.0 has standard services
pre-installed, including Apache Web Server and the Samba file
sharing service.
The LX50 is positioned to compete with other 1U (1.75-inch)
Intel-based servers, including Dell's PowerEdge 1650, IBM's
xSeries 330 and HP's Compaq ProLiant DL360 G2. Like these
other boxes, the LX50 uses Broadcom's ServerWorks HE-SL chip
set to support two-way symmetric multiprocessing and Intel
CuMine Pentium III processors.
The LX50 configuration we tested featured dual 1.4GHz Pentium
III processors with 512KB of Level 2 cache; 2GB of error-correcting-code
synchronous dynamic RAM (upgradable to 6GB); a 36GB Ultra-160
SCSI hard drive; and dual 10/100M-bps Ethernet ports.
Comparable Scalability
The LX50 matches its rivals' good scalability; it can support
as many as three hard drives by replacing the CD-ROM and floppy
drives with a SCSI hard drive. The server can also support
as much as 6GB of memory in six dual in-line memory module
slots.
The LX50 server has a starting price of $2,795 with a single
1.4GHz Pentium III processor and 512MB of memory. By comparison,
a similarly configured IBM xSeries 330 lists for more than
$2,900, and the Dell PowerEdge 1650 costs about $2,700. (Go
to www. eweek.com/links for the Labs' March 18 review of the
PowerEdge 1650.)
Although the LX50 has many hardware similarities to its competitors,
it doesn't offer integrated management processors, as are
found in the xSeries and ProLiant servers. Nor does the LX50
offer embedded RAID controllers.
The LX50 has two PCI slots for expansion: a standard full-length
and a low-profile half-length PCI slot. The server comes standard
with two 10/100M-bps NICs but doesn't offer embedded copper
Gigabit NICs. This will limit the server's performance capability
in high network traffic. To shore up the server for high traffic,
IT managers will need to purchase a PCI Gigabit adapter for
the LX50, taking up one of the server's two PCI slots.
For Web sites with high network traffic demands, a competing
system might be a better option. Dell, HP and IBM offer dual
embedded copper Gigabit NICs on their 1U servers.
The LX50 ships with a management agent for the Sun Cobalt
Control Station, which is based on the Cobalt RaQ 4r appliance.
The Control Station allows IT mangers to control and monitor
Cobalt RaQ appliances and LX50 servers. The Sun Cobalt Control
Station comes with four pre-installed control modules for
inventory management, performance monitoring, software management
and health monitoring (for hardware conditions such as CPU
temperature, fan speeds and so on).
The Control Station can greatly reduce operational costs
when used to manage large numbers of systems. However, it
works with only Sun's Cobalt appliances and the LX50 server
and requires an additional hardware investment of $5,000.
The LX50 also can be managed via standard SNMP with third-party
management tools such as Computer Associates International
Inc.'s Unicenter, HP's OpenView and Intel's Server Manager,
but we'd like to see integrated management in the LX50. By
comparison, HP and IBM offer embedded server processors in
their rack-mount Intel servers that provide remote management
and monitoring capabilities.
Technical Analyst Francis Chu can be reached at francis_chu@ziffdavis.com.
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