Alternatives to the HP Proliant DL380e and DL380p Gen8

martin237 | June 18, 2012 | 0 Comments

I got an email asking what the alternatives are to the HP Proliant DL380e and DL380p Gen 8 servers:

“Martin, what else could I be looking at in the x86 space which is similar to the DL380, I want to explore my options,

thanks

Jim”

There are of course the big three vendors in the server space – Dell, IBM and HP, but there are many alternatives, I’ve listed them below, but before we explore the alternatives, let’s summarize what a HP Proliant DL380(e or p) series Gen8 server is:

2u rack mount server

Up to two Intel Xeon processors (e-series uses E5-2400, p-series uses E5-2600)

Up to 768GB RAM (model dependent)

Up to 27 small form factor disks (number of drive bays are model dependent)

4x on board network ports

ILO 4

The specifications for the HP Proliant DL380e Gen8 live here, and the HP Proliant DL380p Gen8 live here.

The alternatives then, I am not going to list every server vendor at this point, nor will I compare detailed features, it’s just an overview to remind you of possibilities or alternatives, if I’ve missed you, email me and maybe its time I learned more about what you have to offer in a separate post.

Cisco UCS C240 M3

This is one of Cisco’s UCS rack servers, it’s 2u and based on the Intel Xeon E5-2400 processor built with expandability and performance in mind. Key features are the support for 24 hard drives and 384GB RAM as well as four on board network ports. You can read all about it here – it’s an impressive offering and I’ve been hearing good things about Cisco UCS as a platform and about their rack servers in general though I’ve yet to try one out.

Dell PowerEdge R720 / R720XD

Dell offers their 2u rack server in two models, the R720 and R720XD. The R720XD brings extra storage capacity to build upon their already scalable 2u rack server based on the Intel Xeon E5-2600 series processors with either 24TB local storage support in the R720 or 38TB on the R720XD, both support up to 768GB RAM and include four network ports on the system board. I’ve been using Dell PowerEdge servers since the Dell PowerEdge 2950 III and had a high opinion of them, you can read all about the Dell PowerEdge R720 here and the Dell PowerEdge R720XD here.

Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 S7

Fujitsu have a 2u rack server using the Intel Xeon E5-2600 processor, supporting up to 768GB RAM, hosting 16 hard drives to provide impressive levels of storage capacity. There’s something I like about Fujitsu PRIMERGY servers ever since I bought their MicroServer which is brilliant, do check it out, the specs and product information lives here.

IBM System X3650 M4

IBM’s latest derivative of their System X3650 brings even further performance and scalability in their 2u form factor, with enhanced focus on remote management, ease of deployment and scale. It brings us IMM2 which is very cool, support for 16 2.5 inch hard drives and 768GB RAM. An impressive offering, do check it out.

Lenovo ThinkServer Systems RD630 Rack Server

I’ve never actually used a Lenovo Server and I confess it would be interesting to try one, that said it’s great to see this latest offering from Lenovo in the rack server space, it’s a dual socket 2u server based on the Intel Xeon E5-2600 processors, supporting 320GB RAM and an impressive number of disks (16×2.5 inch drives), do check it out.

Supermicro SuperServer – 6027-R34F4+

Supermicro’s SuperServer offering builds upon their 2u rack server platforms but is now based on the Intel Xeon E5-2600 processor with support for 768GB RAM, 8x 3.5 inch hard drives and Platinum power supplies for extra energy efficiency which is very cool. Check out the server here.