HP tc2120, $829. Hewlett-Packard Co., (650) 857-5518, (800) 282-6672. www.hp.com
Dell has huge presence in the home market and a burgeoning presence in the server space, thanks to its direct model and growing reseller program. We liked the PowerEdge 600SC, which is a virtual twin to the Gateway 920--the two machines share an almost identical motherboard, and both include small Travan TR-5 tape drives, but the Gateway 920's price is lower, and the 920 has more memory.
One big plus for Dell, and something we think small businesses should consider, is that Dell offers four-hour-response-time support as an option for the PowerEdge 600SC. For many, that could be a lifesaver.
The Dell PowerEdge 600SC comes with four 64-bit, 33-MHz slots and one 32-bit, 33-MHz slot. Connectivity consists of two USB 1.1 ports in the back, one standard serial port, a parallel port and a copper Gigabit Ethernet port. The motherboard chipset is the Grand Champion SL, and the unit is powered by a 250-watt power supply.
Included system software are Dell's excellent Open Manage for server management and Open Manage Server Assistant for OS installation. These packages are identical to those sold on Dell's full-fledged enterprise machines.
The PowerEdge 600SC exhibited only average performance in our testing. In some tests, such as I/O per second, the 600SC got the top mark, but at the expense of an almost 60 percent CPU utilization rate. On our Web testing with the Spirent, the Dell came in last; scores on other tests were respectable. The 600SC isn't a bad performer, but it doesn't dazzle.
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