[HamWAN PSDR] Any suggestions for a good shallow-depth server?

[Bart Kus]

Hi all,

I've been trying to get my grubby little hands on a server for East 
Tiger.  The physical layout of that site demands we use a shallow depth 
(1/2 depth) server.  There are surprisingly few servers out there that 
are both shallow and offer some kind of hardware RAID and KVM control 
with virtual media.  I've identified a couple:

 1. Dell R210 ii
      * 1U
      * 1CPU (E3-12##v2 series)
      * Max 32GB RAM
      * 2HD (non-hot-swap)
      * Stock H200 RAID controller is poopy (no BBWC/FBWC, no option to
        enable HD write cache), but it can take an H700 controller.
      * KVM not typically installed, but inexpensive DRAC6 cards
        available ($15)
      * Kind of expensive for what it is
 2. HP DL320e G8
      * 1U
      * 1CPU (E3-12##v2 series)
      * Max 32GB RAM
      * 2-4HD depending on chassis (hot-swap)
      * Stock B210i RAID controller is poopy (no BBWC/FBWC), but it can
        take a P222 controller.
      * KVM via iLO4 integrated standard
      * Expensive

Given the timing, I've gonna deploy a server I have in stock, but it's 
really awful:

 1. Rackable based on Intel S5000PSL motherboard
      * 2U
      * 2CPU (really old Xeon 5148)
      * 16GB RAM installed (32GB max, FBDIMM required)
      * 4HD (hot swap)
      * NO RAID controller, and no room in the chassis to install one
        either.
      * NO KVM (there is an add-on, but it's $170.  It may or may not
        fit the chassis.)
      * "Free!" since it's in my inventory and I'm trying to either sell
        the servers off or put them to good use.

Since this is going up on a mountain top inaccessible for 1/2 the year, 
it's really nice to have the KVM ability in case something goes wrong or 
you need to do troubleshooting (just had to use KVM today to work on 
some of our ESXi hosts), and the RAID is nice in case a drive dies or 
develops a bad sector.

Anyway, do any of you have any suggestions for any other small servers I 
may not have considered yet?

--Bart

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