The LP2000r packs a punch
Hewlett-Packard's 2U server puts a lot of power into a small package.
 
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Hewlett-Packard's LP2000r packs a lot of power into a 2U space, with six drives and two 933-MHz Pentium III processors. The unit, which began shipping in April, scored high enough in our tests to be a strong contender in the battle at the top of the two-processor rack-optimized server space.
Performance
The LP2000r scored well in our file size, CPU database and network I/O tests. We used new benchmarks with this server, leaving us with no servers to compare with because the older benchmarks were used in previous tests.
However, comparing the Dell 6400 with four 700-MHz Pentium III Xeon processors reviewed last November, the two-way HP delivers 93% of the Dell's four-way performance, according to our CPU tests. Looking at the results against Windows 2000, the LP2000r delivers 67% of the Dell's performance, which is not bad for a two-processor machine.
How we did it
Scorecard and NetResults
Large file tests
Small file tests
Database test
Network Test Results
Features
Our LP2000r came with two 933-MHz Pentium III processors, 1G byte of RAM, six 18G-byte hard drives, an HP NetRAID 2M RAID controller, two embedded Intel Pro100+ Ethernet network interface cards and one Intel Pro1000 Gigabit Ethernet PCI NIC.
The six hard drives are plugged into two three-slot drive cages. The drive carriers allowed the hard drives to be swapped without a hitch.
The two hard drive cages can be connected to different SCSI controllers or plugged into the same SCSI controller. The one we tested came configured with the two drive cages connected to both ports of the NetRAID RAID controller.
The RAID controller configured the first drive in the left drive cage to be the operating system partition. The remaining five drives were configured into two RAID-zero stripe sets for the data partitions.
The LP2000r has two Symbios SCSI controllers on the motherboard. Neither of the SCSI controllers on the motherboard were used, but one SCSI controller was connected to an external SCSI port on the back of the server. We would have liked to have seen the addition of hot-swap PCI slots and key locks on the chassis.
Availability
The availability features of the server are adequate. The server supports two redundant load-balancing power supplies that can be removed from outside the chassis without having to open the chassis. Our LP2000r came with one power supply. The NICs can be configured in a redundant failover arrangement to make the server tolerant of a NIC failure. The LP2000r has hot-swappable hard drives to replace a failed drive. Again, we would have liked to have seen some hot-plug PCI slots.
While the layout of the internal parts is good, upgrading or fixing the server could be difficult. The major components of the server can be accessed via the top cover without using tools, but internal cabling and the fit between components can make removing and adding components a challenge.
For example, we could remove the PCI cage, get to the PCI cards and reinstall the PCI cage, but not without a few problems.
When adding, removing or swapping a PCI card, a piece of sheet metal with a large fan mounted on it for cooling the system RAM and processors had to be removed, and then we could get to the PCI cage. The first time we removed the PCI cage, it took a few minutes to figure out how to unplug it from the motherboard. Then we had to juggle the parts we removed to get to the PCI cage. Reinstalling the PCI cage was also a challenge. It took a few attempts to line up the metal guides to slide the unit back in place.
Racking the server, on the other hand, is much easier. All LP2000rs ship with hardware to mount the server in a two-post or four-post rack. This can be an advantage when the type of rack the server will be mounted in isn't known. As a bonus, the rack rails mount to a four-post rack without tools.
In addition to the ease of installation into a rack, the LP2000r has a relatively small chassis. Rack dimensions define the height and width _of 2U servers, but depth is not as clearly defined. The LP2000r is only 24 inches deep - about 4 inches shorter than some other 2U servers we have seen. A short chassis depth can make it easier to service the unit in the rack.
Manageability
The LP2000r had good manageability, as it ships with HP's Top Tools software for managing the server. It includes hooks to the major management platforms such as Tivoli Systems, CA Unicenter and OpenView.
The LP2000r has hardware on the motherboard to allow for remote reboot over the LAN. HP also includes _ManageX software to manage system alerts; HP Instant Support to provide automated troubleshooting; PC Anywhere for accessing the server console remotely; and HP Navigator - an operating system installation aid and hardware diagnostic utilities.
HP Navigator is somewhat cumbersome to use. Its implementation of the NetWare installation aid is no more than a driver-disk creation wizard. It doesn't automatically coordinate the installation of the operating system and the hardware drivers. The management platform and utilities are good, but a more unified approach would be an improvement.
Conclusion
The HP LP2000r is a fine, rack-optimized, performance-oriented server with good features and manageability. The LP2000r would be a good choice for a Web server or file server in an enterprise network.
Server testing is performed at North Carolina State University's Centennial Networking Labs (CNL) in Raleigh, N.C. CNL tests network equipment and network-attached devices for interoperability and performance.
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| SCORE: 4.30 COMPANY: Hewlett-Packard (800) 307-6397 http://netserver.hp.com COST: (as tested): $11,920 for unlimited users. PROS: Small and powerful CONS: Difficult to service, no hot-swap PCI slots | |||||||||||||
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| SCORING KEY: 5: Exceptional showing in this category. Couldn’t be better. May define the standard for excellence in this category. 4: A very good showing in this category. Although there may have been room for improvement, this product was much better than average. 3: An average showing in this category. The product was neither especially good nor exceptionally bad. 2: A below average showing in this category. The product lacked some features or had lower performance than other products, or than was expected from a product in this category. 1: Considerably sub-par, or lacking features being reviewed. A 1 is the lowest score that can be awarded. | |||||||||||||
RELATED LINKS
Bass, a senior technical staff member at CNL and co-author of McGraw Hill's Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks, designs and leads the execution of the test suites. He can be reached at john_bass@ncsu.edu.
Bass is also a member of the Network World Global Test Alliance, a cooperative of the premier reviewers in the network industry, each bringing to bear years of practical experience on every review. For more Test Alliance information, including what it takes to become a member, go to www.nwfusion.com/alliance.
How we did it
Details of our testing methods.
More testing results:
Large file tests
Small file tests
Database test
Network test
Feature and configuration table
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Network World, 09/18/00.
