HP ProLiant DL380 G7 review

The ProLiant DL380 has always been the star player in HP’s rack server line-up, so the seventh generation has a lot to live up to. In this exclusive review, we bring you the lowdown on this popular 2U server and see whether the latest G7 model can live up to the hype.

Remote management is a key area of focus for HP, and this is the first ProLiant we’ve seen with the new iLO3 embedded controller. HP claims the iLO3’s remote control is eight times faster than that offered by iLO2, and that virtual media services are more than three times faster.

Its integrated Windows remote console can be more easily scaled to suit multiple monitors, and the Linux version of the console offers more features than it did before. Also, access security for iLO controllers features AES hardware encryption.

HP still insists on holding back the best iLO features as an advanced upgrade. Many vendors provide essential support functions such as server remote control as standard, but to get these on the iLO3 chip you must buy an upgrade licence.

You’ll also need this if you want power management and video playback. The former provides graphs and analysis of power consumption plus regulation and capping controls, while the latter can capture events such as the boot-up process and allow you to view it at leisure from the iLO Video Player utility.

During testing, we confirmed the new remote control services are noticeably faster with a mouse action that exhibited little or no lag. We also found the new Windows remote console was a smooth operator and could easily be stretched and shaped to the dimensions we desired.

For general server and network device management, HP’s Insight Control Edition (ICE) software is included. This runs network discoveries and manages HP servers with Insight agents installed and other SNMP-compliant devices.

ICE provides a smart browser interface offering detailed reports on system operations and asset management. You can remotely upgrade firmware on servers, use thresholds on critical components to send alerts and, with the optional Power Manager upgrade, monitor server power consumption, CPU performance or inlet air temperatures and view historical graphs.

HP has made significant changes internally to the new server: the massive metal plate that shrouded the entire motherboard in the G6 has been replaced with a smaller version. It’s used to support the riser cards, and is much easier to remove and replace.

As with the G6, there’s a good choice of expansion options, with the system on review offering a single riser with three PCI Express slots. You can add a second riser, and have a mix of PCI Express and PCI-X slots.

The huge cooling shroud in the G6 also gets its marching orders. Instead, it comes with a smaller, transparent cover that fits around the centralised processor sockets rather than over them. This arrangement works well: with four of the six possible hot-plug cooling fans in place, we found this server delivered nigh on silent running.

For storage capacity, the DL380 is still the best in its class with room at the front for up to 16 hot-swap drive bays; Dell’s PowerEdge R710 2U rack server still lags behind with room for only eight SFF drives.

The DL380 sports an embedded Smart Array P410i controller that presents a pair of four-port SAS connectors on the motherboard. The review system also had the 256MB cache module located in a dedicated slot at the side, and this has a plug for an optional battery backup pack.

Virtualisation fans get a nod as the server has both internal USB and SD memory card slots for booting from an embedded hypervisor. However, if you want boot media redundancy then check out Dell’s R710, since this now comes with dual internal SD card slots.

The server was supplied with a single 460W power supply, but redundancy is on the cards as the server supports two hot-plug supplies. HP offers three power supply models, all of which share a common slot form factor.

Power consumption was low, although note that the review system had a basic specification. With Server 2008 R2 Enterprise in idle we measured a draw of only 72W, and with the single quad-core E5640 under load from SiSoft Sandra, this peaked at a mere 145W.

Although the Dell PowerEdge R710 with the same specification is better value, the DL380 G7 won’t be beaten for its combination of processing power, storage capacity, expansion potential and low power usage.

Related Posts

Samsung Galaxy S7 Review: A Great Phone in its Day, but Don’t Buy One “Your Payment Requires Additional Review” in Zelle – What Does it Mean? Private Internet Access Review Pluto TV Review—Is It Worth It? ExpressVPN Review – Unbiased and Tested In-House CyberGhost Review Best VPN Services 2023: What’s the Best VPN in the US? How to Change Your Username and Display Name on Twitter from Any Device How to Appear Offline on Steam