In his ITPro review of the Sun Fire X2270 Server Dave Mitchell finds a Nehalem-based, powerful 1U rack server that offers some unusual storage features. It earned four out of a possible six stars with its hardware spec and value winning Mitchell's praise, while its high operational noise level and thirst for power garnered criticism.

Mitchell notes that the system he reviewed arrived with a pair of 2.26GHz L5520 modules that represent the entry point of the 5500 family that support Intel’s Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technologies. They also have a low TDP of 60W, support DDR3 memory speeds up to 1,066MHz and have a QPI speed of 5.86GT/sec. The X2270 comes standard with four 3.5 inch hot-swap hard disks and supports SATA drives.

Mitchell finds some interesting storage possibilities for this server as the embedded ICH10R controller provides six SATA channels. None goes to waste, as two interfaces are presented on the motherboard as mini-DIMM sockets that accept Sun’s 24GB Flash modules. These combine 4GB NAND flash chips and a Marvell flash memory controller, and appear to the BIOS and OS as standard but very fast SATA hard disks, he explains.

Both L5520 processors are accompanied by a dedicated bank of six DIMM sockets, and the price includes a total of 12GB of DDR3 memory. Quick path interconnect (QPI) links all components, which allows each processor to swiftly access the memory bank controlled by the other. Theoretically, Mitchell writes, it’s possible to upgrade memory to 96GB although 8GB DDR3 DIMMs probably won’t be available until 2010.

Cooling was a bit noisy for Mitchell's taste, which he found surprising given the supposed reduced cooling demands of the Intel 5500 processors. He also registers some concern about the power requirements of the X2270, dictated by the single 600W cold-swap supply. By contrast, Dell's PowerEdge R610 proved itself less power hungry, he notes.

Mitchell does praise the X2270's remote server management, provided by Sun's embedded ILOM chip that delivers full KVM-over-IP services, enabling the server to be controlled regardless of its condition.

The author found handy and easy to use the secure web interface that opens with a status report on all critical components, including voltages, temperatures and fan speeds. Predefined thresholds are applied to each one. If any of these is breached, users can have the ILOM issue an email alert or SNMP trap.

The ILOM itself puts Sun on a par with HP, Mitchell writes, as most of its ProLiant servers come with an embedded iLO2 chip which offers a similar set of features. He adds that Sun also provides full remote control and virtual media services as standard, whereas HP expects you to pay extra for the privilege. What the X2270 does not provide is any of the sophisticated power capping, metering and regulation features offered by HP.

Sun's xVM Ops Center software suite provides general systems management for both x64 and SPARC platforms and provides features such as firmware provisioning, inventory, system monitoring and alerting. Unlike Dell, IBM and HP, users don’t get the management software included as standard since it’s only available as an option, Mitchell observes.

Finally, Mitchell writes that the X2270 is not the most impressive Sun Fire server he has come across as build quality and design isn’t up with the likes of the X4140, for example. It does, however, offer a decent hardware spec and good value but the high operational noise levels and thirst for power do go against it.

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