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LONDON, November 12, 2007

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Over the last month, I've been testing a new 1U Server concept from Supermicro. The model is the SuperServer 5015M-UR and the concept is a flexible solution with multiple storage options available to the customer.

The SuperServer 5015M-UR is an interesting new beast from Supermicro because the motherboard (PDSMU) is a proprietary form factor and the entire concept is based on Supermicro's new "Universal I/O" system. Essentially, Supermicro is letting the customer select what UIO solution they want with their 1U server... This flexibility will make the 5015M-UR an attractive solution to a wide range of customers. For those looking for something affordable to do low-level file & print, a 5015-UR with a cost-effective SAS controller and SATA drives would be an excellent solution. On the other side of the coin, if someone was looking for a server to handle something more I/O intensive, a 5015-UR could still be a viable option when paired with a higher-end SAS controller and drives.

My personal thanks go out to Michael at Supermicro for working with us on this. If you'd like to read the review in its entirety, click here.

About a month ago Jim and I were invited to fly out to Oregon and spend some quality time at Intel's Jones Farm campus. The main purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with Intel's upcoming dual-core Xeon platforms, based on the Greencreek and Blackford chipsets and Dempsey processors. Although we spent quite a bit of our two days there watching presentations and taking tours, we did get to spend some quality time with the pre-release hardware. It wasn't really enough time to do everything that we would've liked to do, and since the hardware we had access to was beta, we opted not to post any performance data until we got a real system to play with.

Intel was kind enough to send me that evaluation system a week ago. The system they sent was a server "validation platform" based on the Bensley platform. Because the machine is not a production unit, we had a rough time tracking down drivers to get everything in the box functioning properly. By the time all the bugs were worked out, I was left with only a few days to actually run the tests before the expiration of the official embargo date (today, November 8, 2005). Again I found myself in a time crunch, but this time I was able to complete a large majority of the tests that I wanted to run.

*UPDATE* - I added the power consumption numbers to the last page of the review. Go check them out!

AOpen releases the XC Cube EX761 SFF system for AMD mobile processors.

The XC Cube EX761uses a SiS756GX north bridge, SiS965 south bridge, and features Gigabit Ethernet, Firewire, integrated graphics, and PCI Express x16 and PCI slots.

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