Sun Fire X4450: Challenging the HP and IBM bastion

Conclusion

We start with the only problem we encountered. We feel Sun should adopt the more flexible configuration possibilities (with discount!) of the DELL Servers. The “Try and Buy” program is only applicable to about two predefined configurations in most countries, and the 25% discount can make a big difference to the buying decision. Sun should give the "Try and Buy" customers a few more options: especially memory and disks should be chosen freely. But at the end of the day, sacrificing a bit of flexibility for getting this lower power, low rack space and powerful server at a low price is well worth in our opinion.

IBM and HP better take notice: Sun has thrown down the proverbial gauntlet. We would be happy to review HP and IBM systems, but we think it will be very difficult to beat the Sun Fire X4450 unless the servers are also 2U designs. There is life outside the blade world, where IBM and HP have demonstrated so much innovation. It is time to return to the drawing board and bring that kind of innovation to the four socket servers.

Unless HP, Dell, or IBM comes out quickly with an appropriate reply, we feel Sun has a winner here. Sun's aggressive pricing helps, but it is the exceptional hardware design that makes the difference. This 2U server is able to deliver the same performance and 95% of the expandability of the 4U competition, and it is easier to maintain than any of those bulky boxes are. We experienced it first hand, as we are used to working with Dell boxes. Lower power, a pretty face, but especially the "try and buy program" top it off: the Sun X4450 is ahead of the pack. Here's to hoping this will create a new wave of innovation throughout the x86 server world.

References

[1] Intel, "Intel 7300 Chipset Memory Controller Hub (MCH)" ,Thermal/Mechanical Design Guide, September 2007