First Look: HP Small Business Servers

Wayne N. Kawamoto
Managing Editor, www.smallbusinesscomputing.com

Hewlett-Packard (HP) expanded its Intel-based server offerings for small- and medium-sized businesses by announcing its latest, easy-to-use, and affordable server. Available in North America and Europe, the HP Server tc2100 is designed to meet the needs of the rapidly growing small- to medium-sized business (SMB) market by helping keep SMBs up and running with maximum productivity and efficiency, but minimum cost and effort.

HP says that it designed the server specifically for SMBs who have little to no IT staff. Some of the ease-of-use features that HP is touting include tool-less entry, front-end access, easy mounting and an installation CD. In addition, the server is designed to fit under the desk of a space-constrained office.

HP offers two distinct set-up options so users can customize the uni-processor server to meet their business environment needs. The system can be configured with either an Intel Pentium III/512, 1.13 GHz processor with a choice of SCSI or IDE hard disk drives, or with an Intel Celeron 950 MHz processor with IDE hard disk drives. To meet the needs of expanding SMBs, the HP Server tc2100 includes registered ECC SDRAM memory — expandable to 1.5 GB — along with four open PCI I/O expansion slots. Multi-operating system support includes Microsoft Windows 2000, Linux and Novell Netware. HP’s optional back-up solution with one-button disaster recovery and support packages protects customers’ valuable business data.

“There is more and more pressure on SMB customers to support their businesses with robust IT solutions that can be easily deployed and operated without draining limited resources and budget,” said Jean-Jacques Ozil, worldwide marketing manager, HP Network Server Division. “With the introduction of the HP Server tc2100, HP continues to define its leadership in this market with innovative, inexpensive products that provide superb reliability requiring a minimal amount of IT support.”

Availability and Pricing
The HP Server tc2100 is expected to be available Feb. 1 to customers in North America and Europe. Estimated U.S. pricing starts at $649 for the Celeron 950 MHz model with 40 GB IDE hard-drive.