Alan Stevens

Dell PowerEdge R815

The first of the big-name vendors to deliver a server based on AMD's new 16-core Opteron 6200 series (Interlagos) processors, Dell has stolen a march on the competition with an affordable yet highly scalable 2U platform offering all the usual PowerEdge trimmings.

November 13, 2011 by Alan Stevens in Servers

Gateway GT350 F1

The Gateway GT350 F1 is a well-made server from Acer with scope to handle a wide variety of applications and workloads, both in small businesses and on larger corporate networks.

September 10, 2010 by Alan Stevens in Servers

Check Point InterSpect 610

Even with the best firewall protection, viruses, worms and other nasties can still get onto your network -- often innocently brought in on notebooks used by guests and mobile workers. Moreover, once inside the firewall, malware can spread like wildfire, which is why Check Point introduced the InterSpect appliance in January last year, to reinforce the perimeter protection provided by its firewalls. This protection is further enhanced in the latest InterSpect 2.0 release, which also features new centralised management facilities.

January 10, 2005 by Alan Stevens in Security

Synology Rack Station RS408

<p> The <a href="http://www.synology.com/enu/products/RS408/index.php">Synology Rack Station RS408</a> only comes as a bare enclosure. Although you'll need to factor in the price of the disks, this does mean that you can shop around for the best value and get exactly the speed and capacity you want. Almost any SATA disk can be employed, up to 1TB in capacity, with screws supplied to mount the disks in special carriers ready to pop into the hot-plug bays. Our review unit was supplied by <a href="http://www.novatech.co.uk">Novatech</a>. </p>

July 22, 2008 by Alan Stevens in Storage

HP ProLiant ML370 G5

The first thing you notice about the <a href="http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/sm/WF25a/521-525-358265-358265-12083545-12572504.html">HP ProLiant ML370 G5</a> is its size. It’s massive, with room for not just the latest dual-core Xeon processors but enough memory, storage and other options to suit a wide range of applications. Because it’s very solidly built, the huge desk-side tower housing the ML370 is extremely heavy, requiring two people to lift it. It can also be rack mounted if required, although it ends up 5U high and the rack would need to be well anchored to prevent it tipping — especially if you choose any of the optional extras. Our review model, for example, came with a redundant second power supply and an additional bank of hot-swap fans. You can also add a lot of storage, making for a very heavy and, at times, quite noisy system.

February 26, 2007 by Alan Stevens in Servers

Mandrakelinux 10.1 PowerPack+

Here’s a few things you don’t often hear in relation to a Linux package, but in the case of Mandrakelinux 10.1 they’re absolutely true. This new release is a refreshingly easy package to install with a choice of graphical interfaces, management tools and add-on applications that make it as easy to configure and use as Microsoft's Windows, both for desktop and server deployment.

January 6, 2005 by Alan Stevens in Enterprise Software

3Com OfficeConnect Wireless 54Mbps 11G Travel Router

A small product with a big name, 3Com’s OfficeConnect Wireless 54Mbps 11G Travel Router sounds a bit like a marketing invention, but it does have practical uses. For example, it can be used to create a private wireless network when tavelling and to share an Internet connection at out-of-office meetings, presentations and conferences. It can also be used to connect fixed Ethernet devices to a wireless LAN or, if you just want to loose the bulk, instead of a standard wireless router on a home or small-business network.

December 14, 2004 by Alan Stevens in Reviews

Inty ExoServer XL

The emphasis at Inty is on secure email and Internet access, the company offering a range of ExoServer appliances that can either be purchased or included as part of a managed service. Firewall and VPN servers come built-in as standard on all models with anti-virus, anti-spam and content filtering available as optional add-ons.

October 12, 2004 by Alan Stevens in Networking

Kerio Connect 7

A well-established small-business messaging and collaboration solution, Kerio Connect can now be considered as an alternative to large Exchange deployments.

April 26, 2010 by Alan Stevens in Developer

Multi-Tech MultiVOIP MVP210

The MultiVOIP family of Voice over IP gateways is designed specifically to work with existing PBX and fax installations, with transparent operation and automatic failover to the PSTN being two of the key features. Moreover, the same functionality is available across the complete range from the 2-port analogue MVP210 we tested right to the 60-line digital implementation for use with large enterprise PBX systems.

May 6, 2005 by Alan Stevens in Networking

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