Network Servers

The heart of any network is the server. It’s what stores
your data, runs your critical business applications, and helps give shape to
your network. This year too, IBM has taken the maximum number of votes in the
category and is the winner.

Earlier, IBM had faced stiff competition by Compaq, and the
two fought neck to neck for several years over the winning position. This year,
IBM, and for that matter everybody, seems to be facing stiff competition from
the local assembler. The assembler has steadily risen to the runner up position
this year.

IBM received strong support from the West, whereas Compaq
machines were strong in the South. Given the fact that a server has to work on a
time schedule of 24x7, it needs to be rugged. That’s why our respondents
stressed on quality as the most important criterion for choosing a network
server.

In current usage, Wipro and Zenith were reported to be the
highest. However, in the

most-preferred brand for purchase, Wipro finished second
last, and Zenith couldn’t manage to remain in the Club at all. It’s a highly
competitive market, and one of the exciting parts is the innovation. Everybody’s
trying to come up with a more powerful server than others. So server technology
is improving day by day with better management features, and extra power. This
drive is actually fuelled by users, who prefer to have the best possible (within
their budgets of course).

One of the most interesting innovations has been Compaq’s
rack server, which is just 1.75" thick. It has all the essential parts of
an ordinary server, which includes hot-swappable Ultra-SCSI drives, onboard
RAID, dual processor support, etc.

It’s been an interesting year, with the assembler gaining the runner up
position, and HP gaining the lead on Compaq at number three. With so much
competition, let’s see who tops next year. May the better server win.