NEC Express 5800 TM700

A well-built device with specs and a price to suit a small business.

Price: £1173.83

Manufacturer: NEC

Ratings

Overall rating:

Rate this product

Verdict

Pros:
Sata storage with hardware Raid 0/1 protection; up to 4GB of ECC memory; can be configured as a high-end workstation.

Cons:
Limited storage expansion; competition from other vendors.

Overall:
A well-built and specified server.

Alan Stevens, Personal Computer World 14 Sep 2004

For those of you tempted to press an old desktop PC into use as a file server it's worth looking at some of the alternatives first. In particular, many low-cost entry-level servers currently available are designed with the small business in mind. This includes the NEC Express 5800 TM700, which, despite its desktop-like price, is a remarkably well-specified and capable solution.

You can buy a TM700 server for as little as £499 ex VAT and still get quite a decent specification. For that money the processor will be a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 with 512MB of ECC memory and an 80GB Serial ATA (Sata) hard disk. This isn't particularly exciting, admittedly, but good enough for file and print sharing duties and, if you need them, faster processors, additional memory and extra disks can all be specified.

The server we tested, for example, had the same 2.8GHz P4 chip but with 1MB of cache compared to 512KB on the base system. It also had a second 80GB disk fitted. All of which bumps up the price with a pre-install of Windows Server 2003 pushing it further still, although the review system still managed to dip under the £1,000 barrier - just.

The two drives also came configured as a mirrored pair (Raid 1), where data on one disk is automatically replicated on the other. If one disk fails the other can still carry on, although you only get half the theoretical capacity as a result. Alternatively it's possible to use the full capacity of the two disks by specifying a Raid 0 configuration using the Bios-resident setup utility provided. Additionally 120GB and 250GB drives are available for those requiring the maximum amount of space.

You can also specify faster processors, up to 3.2GHz with an 800MHz front-side bus (FSB) at present, and expand the memory to a whopping 4GB should the need arise. However, that's only likely to be for large databases where a more capable dual or quad processor server might be a better choice. We would, though, recommend 1GB or more of Ram on systems used as web or email servers.

Along with the specification we were particularly impressed with the build quality of the NEC server. As with all Express 5800 models, the TM700 is housed in a substantial metal case with plenty of room inside for expansion. An Asus motherboard is used with an Intel 875P chipset and four Dimm slots for all that memory, NEC using PC3200 Ram here. Network attachment is via an integrated Intel Gigabit Ethernet controller with an Adaptec Sata/Raid controller, similarly, built-in as standard.

The Sata disks make for much neater cabling while the onboard controllers leave plenty of free adapter slots, the only exception being the video interface.

The review system came with an ATI RageXL card fitted in one of the five 32bit/33MHz PCI connectors which, with 8MB of video memory, is more than adequate for server use. However, an AGP slot is also provided so you could, in theory, fit something more capable and use the TM700 as graphics workstation.

Indeed NEC offers a choice of optional Nvidia Quadro cards, added to which you get six USB ports, a DVD-Rom drive and reasonable audio facilities as standard.

In most cases, though, the TM700 will be used as a small business server with a choice of Red Hat Linux or Windows Server 2003 pre-installed at the factory. Norton Anti-virus software is also included along with ESMPRO server management software from NEC itself, plus its Expressbuilder utility to rebuild/recover the operating system should the need arise. A three-year on-site warranty is included, with a range of optional extensions available to improve on the basic next-day response.

Of course some compromises have been made to keep the price low. The disks for example are 7,200rpm devices and you'd need to add an extra controller to handle more than two. You're also limited to just a single processor and a monitor costs extra. But those are all small quibbles about a server ideally suited to life on a small business network and which has a lot to offer at a desktop price.

Contact: NEC 0870 010 6328
www.nec-online.co.uk

Specifications: