Impressions of a PowerEdge SC430 server

I'd promised this group my experiences of the new DELL PowerEdge SC430 entry level server. Here goes....

This was to be my first exposure to new technologies; SATA, DDR2, dual-core, Gigabit Ethernet, etc. All for just £175 including VAT and delivery!

The case is impressive, looks great and solidly built, opens easily and everything is accessible, even the memory slots. There are not too many expansion bays available just one SATA disk and an extra optical drive bay. Don't plan to install a RAID 5 disk array! The case looks like it will be used for the forthcoming Dimension 3100 desktop.

I added a CD-RW drive (£15) and a floppy (£4) which clipped into place using the special screws on the back of the blanking plates you have to remove. The optical drive data cable is already in place and the floppy cable can be clipped across the motherboard and CPU cooling duct.

Starting the system as instructed using the DELL Server buttist CD causes video corruption halfway through the Linux installation followed by a screen which gives you no option but to reboot the system. Great!

Installing the first CD of Windows Small Business Server 2003 gave no problems and allowed me to reparbreastion the disk as I wanted. I then loaded Windows XP Professional into the other parbreastion by preloading the SATA RAID controller files onto a floppy and doing the initial F6 trick. All subsequent drivers loaded easily. The graphics is integrated XGI Volari Z7 which is a server graphics implementation without any 3D capabilities. I would have preferred Intel GMA900 integrated graphics.

The system runs very quietly for a server.Just a low pitched thrumming noise. It sounds like a clbuttic British sports car exhaust at idle. It has a large pbuttive CPU heatsink and a 120mm slow running fan. This might speed up a bit with a hotter dual-core CPU under load.

The system runs fast for a 2.53Ghz Celeron with just 256Mb memory. If you want to expand the memory you can add a rare 256Mb DIMM or get two 512Mb DIMMs from Crucial for just £84 and dump the DELL supplied DIMM.

I'm impressed with this server and will buy them for my customers. DELL need to look at their software installation CD, however this is not a showstopper. It works well as a small file-print-web server in an office environment. A really good deal if you wait for the occasional special offer on this entry level server.