The IBM System p5 510Q Express is the company's newest entry-level p-system series server. But don't let the entry-level tag turn you off, because this server -- which runs IBM's Unix-based AIX or a variety of Linux operating systems -- is an impressive bundle of performance and manageability.

IBM positions this server as either a database or enterprise application-delivery platform. There are many server offerings in this space, but IBM offers compelling management and virtualization features that set this server apart.

The server we tested was loaded with four 64-bit 1.5GHz IBM Power5+ processors, 8GB of RAM and three 150GB hard drives. The motherboard had two copper 1Gbps Ethernet ports. There were two hot-swappable, load-balancing, redundant power supplies.

In our CPU performance tests we saw nearly 600 transactions per second; this is similar to results we found with an Intel-based server with almost twice the processor clock speed. CPU performance with AIX was slightly lower than that of Red Hat Enterprise Linux on average, when all data points of the five-minute test were taken into account.

NETWORK SERVERS IBM SYSTEM P5 5100Q EXPRESS IBM

4.3

Price: Starts at $5,550. Pros: Great performance; strong management tools; interesting virtualization feature. Cons: No hot-swappable components inside the chassis; the operator panel is difficult to use. The breakdown Performance 40% 4.5 Scoring Key: 5: Exceptional 4: Very good 3: Average 2: Below average 1: Subpar or not available Serviceability 30% 4 Management 20% 4.5 Documentation 10% 4 TOTAL SCORE 4.3

Click to see: NetResults for IBM P5 5100Q Express

But AIX was more stable with its performance over time, as the Red Hat performance numbers showed a higher variability and sometimes a declining trend. With all the differences between the software components making up the two operating systems, it is difficult to determine the cause for the difference.