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Beware PCs in servers' clothing

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Matt Loney ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 17 Oct 2002 14:03 BST

When is a server not a server? When it's got microphone and headphone sockets on the front, perhaps? Or how about an S-VHS/Composite socket, or even FireWire, on the back? No? Then how about the fact that it is built from low cost PC components destined for the desktop?

OK, pretty much anything can be used as a server these days; everything from tiny embedded systems -- there is even talk of light switches becoming mini Web servers -- to PCs that are given an extra lease of life in Linux clusters. Most Linux distributions come with the option of creating either a workstation setup or a server setup on the target computer, and some versions of Windows have been known to ship with simple personal Web server software.

But if you intend to buy yourself or your company a new server, there are certain things you expect, and this has more to do with hardware than software. You might reasonably expect a little redundancy; for example, RAID support to spread your data over two or more hard disks in case one fails. You might even expect error correcting code memory.

So those of us at ZDNet UK who are geeky enough to occasionally find humour in tech specs almost choked on our baguettes when a PR sent us the details of a new server being shown off by a relatively new company at a recent expo. For reasons that will become clear, I'm not inclined to name the company concerned. Let's just say they pitch themselves as a new Linux server vendor who "is going head to head with the Sun Cobalt Qube3." Suffice to say you probably have not heard of them.

Neither had we until their PR phoned us. And phoned us again, and again, asking if we would meet the client at this recent expo. Now usually, I'm the sort of chap who finds it hard to say no, but in this case I found it surprisingly easy. Why? Because the list of specs started getting silly when they mentioned the IEEE 1394 interface, well known for connecting video cameras and other home entertainment devices to computers, but not widely used in servers to the best of my knowledge. Things quickly descended from silly, swiftly passing through sublime and into the ridiculous, with the inclusion of S-video and composite TV-out terminal. Not something you normally expect to see on a server. Mind you, we were impressed by the matching keyboard and mouse -- something that no self-respecting server should be without.

Of course, once at the expo, I couldn't resist removing my name badge and dropping by the stand just to see what they would try to sell me, and they lived down to my every expectation.