HP 9000 K Class K370
Written: Sep 22 '02
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Pros: Acceptable Noise Level thanks to variable Fans, easy to disassemble, very expandable
Cons: Price does not reflect mechanical quality, internal SCSI channel for disk drives HVD
The Bottom Line: If You need a reliable SMP machine with strong CPU4s and the availability of 3D gfx go for the K370.
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| bgawert's Full Review: HP 9000 K Class K370 |
I bought a HP 9000 K370 Enterprise Server as a replacement for an old SGI Server. The K Class is a deskside system running HP-UX 10.20 and above. Itīs available with various types of CPUs and in various configurations (server and workstation configurations), the K370 can use up to 6 CPUīs (PA-8200 200MHz). It has two serial ports, one parallel port, PS/2 mouse and keyboard port (but no gfx card) and an 10MBit Ethernet Port (TP), HP-PB and HSC expansion slots, and two SCSI channels (1x Fast-SCSI SE 8Bit for Peripherals like CD/DVD and Streamer, 1x FW-Differential for the internal disk drives). On the front the machine has a little status LCD and a keyswitch for power on/off and diag. The machine I ordered came with 1x PA-8200-CPU, 1.5GB RAM, DVD-ROM, DDS3 24GB DAT Streamer, 2x4.5GB internal disk, 2x HP-PB 16Bit FW-Differential SCSI Controllers, 1x Dual-100MBit Ethernet Controller, and HP-UX 11i. Since the disk space wass somewhat small I decided to upgrade the machine. The bad thing was that the internal drives are HVD (High Voltage Differential), and HVD disks havenīt been produced for several years now. The good thing was that the original HP disks were plain SCA disk drives with HVD-to-SE adapter. So I replaced the 4.5GB drives with 1x18GB from HP (relabeled IBM DDYS-T with 10krpm) and one 36GB IBM DDYS-T 10krpm. I even upgraded the K370 with a second CPU module, a Sound Subsystem, and a HP VisualizeEG HSC gfx subsystem. Now the machine is used for number crunching and CFD calculations, and even when being a big server with a big fan working besides the unit is quite possible due to the speed-controlled fan which keeps the noise leve at an acceptable range. To be hones the K370 emits a much more convenient noise than the SGI Octanes I have which are workstations. The critics I have so far is the quality level thatīs not really appropriate to the price, and the lack of Hot-Swap components. Other than that the HP 9000 K370 is a great machine for demanding applications in the technical market, and itīs even great for doing some light 3D work (modelling, CAD/CAM).
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
bgawert
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