10th Annual Well-Connected Awards: Storage and Servers

Categories:

iSCSI Accelerator

WINNER: Adaptec iSCSI ASA-7211C (Copper). Adaptec, (800) 442-7274, (408) 945-8600. www.adaptec.com

Adaptec has found its way in the uncharted iSCSI frontier with its ASA-7211C, a stable, well-rounded card that offers acceptable throughput with very good CPU utilization. When it comes to iSCSI accelerator cards, CPU utilization is king, and that's why Adaptec owns this category. The early version of the 7211C used a CLI, but in a recent incarnation, Adaptec delivered on its promise to provide a Windows control panel applet for configuration, which only adds to its value.

FINALISTS: Alacritech 1000x1 Server and Storage Accelerator (Copper or Fiber). Alacritech, (877) 338-7542, (408) 287-9997. www.alacritech.com

Intel Pro/1000 T IP Storage Adapter. Intel Corp., (800) 538-3373. www.intel.com

Small-Business ServerWINNER: HP ProLiant ML330 G3. Hewlett-Packard, (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com

Hewlett-Packard made a splash in the low-end server market with the ProLiant ML330 G3. Now the long-suffering SMB customer can get a high-quality, expandable and very speedy server-class machine--at a price that won't make its accountants see red. With RAID capabilities, memory expansion up to 4 GB, copper Gigabit Ethernet ports and four 64-bit 33-MHz slots, this powerful little server offers all the expandability that the small business needs. And those who need some real horsepower can get the ML330 G3 in a dual-processor configuration.

FINALISTS: HP Server tc2120. Hewlett-Packard, (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com

IBM eServer 325. IBM, (888) 746-7426, (800) 426-7378. www.ibm.com

Midrange NAS DeviceWINNER: Dell PowerVault 775N. Dell, (800) 999-3355, (512) 338-4400. www.dell.com

The midrange NAS category has seen a lot of movement in the past couple of years, with the low end moving up and the high end moving down. Dell has responded with the PowerVault 775N, a robust and flexible device. Dell's combination of Windows SAK, fast SCSI drives and powerful processing hardware makes this unit a formidable competitor. But the real icing on the cake is the 775N's very competitive price.

FINALISTS: NetStor MVD. Excel Meridian Data, (800) 995-1014, (972) 980-7098. www.excelmeridian.com

HP StorageWorks NAS b3000. Hewlett-Packard, (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com

Storage Resource ManagementWINNER: BrightStor Storage Resource Manager 6.4. Computer Associates International, (800) 225-5224, (631) 342-6000. www.ca.com

In our review of storage-resource management, we asked vendors to solve some sticky problems for our fictional company, Minuteman Storage. Only CA's Brightstor Resource Manager 6.4 offered the flexibility, features and support we needed. In addition, CA didn't try to oversell us with features we didn't want, and didn't require a huge forklift upgrade or risky virtualization implementation. CA's reasonable and logical approach to Minuteman's problems and clear thinking about its business-process changes make it our winner.

FINALISTS: Softek Storage Manager 2.2, Softek SANView 5.2. Softek (formerly Fujitsu Softek), (877) 887-4562, (408) 746-7638. www.softek.com

Global Storage Manager 3.6. Storability Software, (866) STRG-MGT, (508) 229-1700. www.storability.com

Disaster Recovery ProviderWINNER: Softek (formerly Fujitsu Softek), (877) 887-4562, (408) 746-7638. www.softek.com

This category is a little different--here we determined the award based on a vendor's total disaster-recovery system, as opposed to a specific product. We sent an RFI for a fictitious company, Darwin's Groceries, that needed a disaster recovery setup to safeguard against retaliation for its somewhat unsavory business practices. Softek offered the most straightforward approach, with a three-phase implementation. In addition, its product didn't require extensive and expensive equipment upgrades to Darwin's infrastructure.

FINALISTS: Computer Associates International, (800) 225-5224, (631) 342-6000. www.ca.com

Veritas Software Corp., (800) 327-2232, (650) 527-8000. www.veritas.com

STEVEN J. SCHUCHART JR. covers storage and servers for NETWORK COMPUTING. Previously, he worked as a network architect for a general retail firm, a PC and electronics technician, a computer retail store manager, and a freelance disc jockey. Write to him at [email protected].HP ProLiant ML330 G3. Hewlett-Packard, (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com

It's difficult to satisfy small and midsize business users. Indeed, SMBs are the most demanding market segment: They want everything--with a price tag lower than bleacher seats at the local AAA ballpark. Hewlett-Packard has done an outstanding job with its ProLiant ML330 G3, providing a server that can cater to almost any SMB need, and adding expandability for those businesses that don't need all their horsepower up front. This server also has enterprise aspirations, as it can be readily used for workgroup-level projects and as a reliable departmental server. With its attention to the needs of its customers and the marketplace, HP has scored a home run in a game filled with reliable competing teams.