| Siliconrax-Sliger's Rax2100 Web Server, which
is intended for a next-generation telco, such as a CLEC or an ILEC,
provides a new rackmount system that enables you to attach additional Web
servers to your current structure by adding the Rax2100 to your existing
equipment rack. This is accomplished mainly because of the size of the
server, which is a rackmountable 2U chassis. Just as important is the
ability for the Rax2100 to incorporate most operating systems, such as
Windows NT/2000, Linux, Free BSD, or Sun Solaris 7.0. These operating
systems are compatible with the most popular Web server software products,
including Apache, Microsoft IIS, and Netscape Enterprise.
INSTALLATION
The Rax2100 Web Server usually comes as a dual processor Pentium III 550
MHz, 256 MB RAM, 9.1 GB hard drive, and most of the standard PC
accessories, such as a CD-ROM and a floppy drive. Other less standard
accessories include an onboard Ultra II SCSI and two PCI slots with riser
cards so that a network card, RAID card, modem, or another PCI card could
fit into the 2U chassis. The Rax2100 provides the preinstalled operating
system and all the service packs that the customer requests. Therefore, we
only had to plug in a power cord and connect the mouse, keyboard, monitor,
and network link to the back of the Rax2100. Windows NT 4.0 with Microsoft
IIS happened to be preinstalled on our evaluation unit. First we checked
the BIOS and then let it boot up. We also checked the Event Viewer to make
sure everything was okay. There were no problems.
DOCUMENTATION
Web servers should not require too much documentation. After all, they are
essentially just computers with the ability to connect your Web pages to
the Internet. Siliconrax-Sliger provides a Quick Product Guide, which has
an introduction explaining the benefits of using the Rax2100 Web server
and its system components. There is also a sheet that gives basic boot-up
instructions. There are a few typos, such as "Net Work" instead
of "Network" or "CLES" instead of "CLECs,"
but despite the errors, the documents do serve their purpose.
We would like to see more troubleshooting documentation (besides the
information about Event Viewer) in case something went wrong or the server
was preinstalled incorrectly. Also, some instructions on how to rack a
Rax2100 Web Server would be helpful. These additions would assist
administrators when setting up or supervising the system.
FEATURES
Besides the core features that all Web servers provide, the Rax2100
Web Server's main benefits include:
- Size.
- Dual processors.
- Ease of rack mounting many servers.
- Preinstalled setup of customer-requested hardware operating system.
OPERATIONAL TESTING
To obtain a better idea of the Web server's layout, we opened the case of
2U chassis. While the interior resembled that of a PC, we were delighted
to see that the cards and other hardware fit cleanly into such a thin
chassis. We were especially interested in seeing the placement of the
riser cards. We placed a network card into a riser card, which had been
placed in a middle PCI slot, and it fit in easily.
While there were many slots available on the motherboard itself, we
could only use two of them because of the chassis size. We could not use
the ISA slot at all because we did not have any riser card that would fit
that slot. However, an administrator should only need two PCI slots
anyway.
With the inclusion of two network cards (the one in the PCI slot and
the one preinstalled on the motherboard), we were ready to test the
resiliency of the Rax2100. First, we acquired a valid IP address for the
Rax2100 so that it could link to the Internet. Then, we checked the .htm
files to see whether they would show up on our browser, manipulated the
coding slightly, and saw if those changes were incorporated on the
browser. We even tested to see if the second network card would continue
to work if the other card lost its connection.
We disconnected one of the network cables, went to another site, and
found that we could still view Web pages on the Rax2100. This is a form of
load balancing that is central to a Web server. During our testing (with
the help of Microsoft IIS), we did not spot any problems when adding new
Web pages or updating old ones on to the Rax2100.
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
For this type of product, there is little we could say that would
improve the Rax2100 Web Server dramatically. However, like always, we do
have a few suggestions. We have already mentioned our suggestions for the
documentation (including a troubleshooting guide and rack instructions).
Also, labeling the ports on the back of the Rax2100 would be helpful, such
as labeling Com1 and Com2 and labeling which PS2 port is for the mouse and
which is for the keyboard. If possible, it would also be nice to produce a
riser card used for placing an ISA card into the 2U chassis. Furthermore,
a protective, lockable latch cover around the on/off and reset buttons
would also be of benefit. This way, no one could accidentally press one of
these buttons.
CONCLUSION
As e-business services become more and more prevalent and companies
reposition themselves to keep up with this ever-developing technology,
equipment like the Rax2100 Web Server could be very useful when setting up
a new data center or updating an existing one. It is well-designed and
fits the requirements of a next-generation telco or ISP. Because of this
slick build and quality internal hardware, the Rax2100 Web Server is
certainly worth the investment.
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