A look at the most affordable series of servers offered by Dell. What they pack in the base price and how they perform.
What The Dell PowerEdge T105 Server Packs
The most affordable series of servers by Dell is currently the T105 line, making it ideal for small businesses. With that in mind, the Dell PowerEdge T105 server was reviewed from the point of view of a small business or home office user. It’s packed in a tower case that looks very similar to a desktop PC, making it easy to fit under a desk.
Very similar to a desktop PC as well are the two USB ports placed on the front panel, making it easy to connect an USB keyboard and mouse for those who do not posses a KVM switch. Five other USB ports are located in the back. A standard D-Sub connector allows you to connect a monitor; no proprietary cables with this server.
The 16x DVD drive connects through a SATA port and it is typically a free upgrade when configuring the T105 server at Dell.com, however not selected by default: 16X SATA DVD Drive add $0.
The base CPU for this system is a Dual Core AMD Opteron 1210 running at 1.8GHz and with 1MB of Cache on each core. Being a 64 bit CPU, you’ll need a 64 bit operating system, so Windows Server 2008 might be an appropriate choice.
For storing capacity, the PowerEdge T105 server packs two 250GB SATA drives included in the price, for a total of 500GB. They spin at 7200 RPM but make no noticeable noise.
Only 1GB of DDR2 memory is included in the base price, however the upgrade to 2GB (2x 1GB 800 MHz modules) is only $10 more, and considering that this server takes in ECC rated memory exclusively, it’s definitely a necessary update.
Cooling is where this server performs extremely well. It packs a massive heatsink that’s being cooled down by a large fan, sucking in air from the front and blowing it through the back of the case. Numerous holes were punched in the front and the back of the case, creating a great air flow through the case. The result? The fan barely has to run, and you cannot hear it making any noise. The only time you notice it is when it runs full throttle during the first few seconds of boot. Afterwards, in a completely silent room and with an average CPU load, you wouldn’t be able to tell if the server is running without looking at its LEDs.
