Advatronix Cirrus 1200: a Storage Server Under Your Desk
by Johan De Gelas on June 6, 2014 5:00 AM ESTConclusion
There is definitely a market for a server that keeps your data close to you. Advatronix has been selling the Cirrus 1200 to Managed Service Providers (MSPs), local IT consulting firms. Small companies can then outsource their storage intensive IT needs to these firms. For those who do not like the outdated specs of our review unit, Advatronix recently launched a successor that is being shipped to some MSPs. The updated specs include a Xeon E3-1265LV3, the Adaptec 8-series RAID controller, and USB 3.0 ports.
So when does the the Cirrus 1200 make sense? One use case that can certainly benefit is if you want to run a low latency database server and/or a file server with massive capacity demands.
The massive amount of disk bays and the fact that the server does not require a cooled data center make the Cirrus 1200 a very attractive choice for companies that need to store huge amounts of data and/or have low latency acces to it. Our measurements confirm that the Cirrus 1200 can also run SQL server 2012 very well, despite being limited to 32GB. The pricing is competitive, and especially the operational costs should be very low as it works fine in a normal office environment. We have run the Cirrus 1200 close to our desk, and it does not become noisy or hot when it has to perform.
However, that does not mean that we see no room for improvement. Advatronix claims the Cirrus 1200 is "server grade" and "a data center in a box", but it does lack some server grade features such as hot-swappable fans, and not all upgrades/repairs are quickly serviceable. A RAM upgrade or CPU fan replacement simply requires more time than in your average server. Also, the choice of Xeon E3 limits you to 32GB RAM. If you have many heterogeneous IT services, 32GB might not be enough. Your average tower server with 96GB is probably a better Hyper-V server if that is the case. Worth mentioning is that Advatronix is evaluating a Xeon E5-1600 series based Cirrus to deal with this.
Overall, the Advatronix Cirrus 1200 is a competitive offering that can certainly fit the needs of some small businesses. It may not be the best choice for every company, but as our testing shows it performs well as a local storage server and can expand into other areas as well, provided your needs aren't too great.
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thomas-hrb - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
If you looking at storage servers under the desk why not consider something like the DELL VRTX. that at least have a significant advantage in the scalability department. You can start small and re-dimension to many different use cases as you growJohanAnandtech - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
Good suggestion, although the DELL VRTX is a bit higher in the (pricing) food chain than the servers I described in this article.DanNeely - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
With room for 4 blades in the enclosure the VRTX is also significantly higher in terms of overall capability. Were you unable to find a server from someone else that was a close match in specifications to the Cirrus 1200? Even if it cost significantly more, I think at least one of comparison systems should've been picked for equivalent capability instead of equivalent pricing.jjeff1 - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
I'm not sure who would want this server. If you have a large SQL database, you definitly need more memory and better reliability. Same thing if you have a large amount of business data.Dell, HP or IBM could all provide a better box with much better support options. This HP server supports 18 disk slots, 2 12 core CPUs, and 768GB memory.
http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/proliant-servers...
It'll cost more, no doubt. But if you have a business that's generating TBs of data, you can afford it.
Jeff7181 - Sunday, June 8, 2014 - link
If you have a large SQL database, or any SQL database, you wouldn't run it on this box. This is a storage server, not a compute server.Gonemad - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
I've seen U server racks on wheels, with a dark glass and keys locking it, but that was just an empty "wardrobe" where you would put your servers. It was small enough to be pushed around, but with enough real estate to hide a keyboard and monitor in there, like a hypervisor KVM solution. On the plus side, if you ever decided to upgrade, just plop your gear on a real rack unit. It felt less cumbersome than that huge metal box you showed there.Then again, a server that conforms to a rack shape is needed.
Kevin G - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
Actually I have such a Gator case. It is sold as a portable case for AV hardware but conforms to standard 19" rack mount widths and hole mounts. There is one main gotcha with my unit: it does't provide as much depth as a full rack. I have to use shorter server cases and they tend to be a bit taller. It works out as the cooling systems of taller rack cases tend to be quieter and an advantage when bring them to other locations An more of a personal preference thing but I don't use sliding rails in a portable case as I don't see that as wise for a unit that's going to be frequently moved around and traveling.martixy - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
Someone explain something to me please.So this is specifically low-power - 500W on spec. Let's say then that it's a non-low-power(e.g. twice - 1kW). I'm gonna assume we're threading on CRAC territory at that point. So why exactly? Why would a high powered gaming rig be able to easily handle that load, even under air cooling, but a server with the same power factor require special cooling equipment with fancy acronyms like CRAC?
alaricljs - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
A gaming rig isn't going to be pushing that much wattage 24x7. A server is considered a constant load and proper AC calculations even go so far as to consider # of people expected in a room consistently, so a high wattage computer is definitely part of the equation.DanNeely - Friday, June 6, 2014 - link
I suspect it's mostly marketing BS. One box even a high power one that's at a constant 100% load doesn't need special cooling. A CRAC is needed when you've got a data center packed full of servers because they collectively put out enough heat to overwhelm general purpose AC units. (With the rise of virtualization many older data centers capacity has become a thermal limit instead of being limited by the number of racks there's room for.)At the margin they may be saying it was designed with enough cooling to keep temps reasonable in air on the warm side of room temperature instead of only when it's being blasted with chilled air. OTOH a number of companies that have experimented with running their data centers 10 or 20F hotter than traditional have found the cost savings from cooling didn't have any major impact on longevity so...