IBM's System x3550 M4 rack server combines E5-2600 Xeon power with a new energy efficient design. Its expansion potential also targets businesses looking to start small but get the most from their investment.
IBM's 1U rack server aims to provide businesses with the perfect balance of power, expansion, value and processing density. It goes head-to-head with HP's ProLiant DL360p Gen8 and we take a look to see if IBM can topple the server which won the IT Pro Editor's Choice award.
Along with support for Intel's E5-2600 Xeons, the x3550 M4 continues IBM's pay-as-you-grow philosophy allowing businesses to start small and expand when demand dictates. The standard models all ship with four SFF SAS/SATA hot-swap bays which can be upgraded to eight SFF drives the same number as the DL360p Gen8.
This is achieved with a kit comprising of a backplane for the four extra bays. It requires an IBM ServeRAID M1115 or M5110 controller fitted in the dedicated PCI-e slot behind the DIMM sockets as only these have a spare four-port SAS connector. Other drive options are three hot-swap LFF bays and a cheaper cold-swap LFF version available as a CTO (configure to order) model.