Fujitsu Primergy RX100 S7 review

The Primergy RX100 S7 is Fujitsu’s first low-profile rack server to support Xeon E3 processors, and aims to be the model of versatility. It’s designed as a scalable system for SMBs needing a workhorse for web, file and print services, but also as a low-cost virtualisation platform for data centres.

Reliability is a high priority, so the server comes with dual hotplug power supplies, dual Gigabit ports and redundant fans. For storage, the RX100 matches Dell’s diminutive PowerEdge R210 II by supporting either two LFF or four SFF hard disks.

This price includes the SFF module, with all four bays filled with high-performance 15k 6Gbits/sec SAS drives. RAID is very much on the menu: it also has Fujitsu’s SAS PCI Express card, with 512MB of embedded cache memory. It supports RAID5 and 6, although for the latter we’d suggest adding the optional battery backup pack.

The drive bays only take up half the front panel, so there’s plenty of room for air grilles. A small control panel sits to the right with power and reset buttons, a server ID light, two USB ports and status lights for detected faults, plus drive and network activity.

The space above the DVD drive has room for another optional panel. Fujitsu offers a VGA module that extends monitor and USB ports to the front, or a local service panel (LSP) module that provides a pop-out LED status array.

Remote management is easily the match of HP’s iLO 3: Fujitsu’s embedded iRMC S3 controller and dedicated management port comes as standard. It provides a smart web interface with detailed status views of critical components and environmental values, along with graphs showing power consumption in periods ranging from one hour to a whole year.

You apply power management by opting for best performance, minimum power consumption or by setting a specific ceiling in Watts. The server can issue a warning if it breaches this threshold, and can power down after a few minutes.