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WD introduces Sentinel DS5100 and DS6100 storage plus servers

by Mark Tyson on 10 October 2013, 15:26

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Western Digital has announced a new pair of ultra-compact Intel-based Windows servers. The WD Sentinel DS5100 and DS6100 are aimed at small businesses and come pre-populated with WD Enterprise-Class hard drives and marketed at an affordable price – starting from £1,599.00 (Ex VAT) for the WD Sentinel DS5100 4 TB network storage plus server. WD says these new servers come complete and fully configured with automatic backup and restore software suitable for up to 25 users and 50 computers and are an excellent choice as a first server for your small business. Unlike NAS systems the Sentinel Windows servers can run line-of-business applications on their network storage platform.

WD’s strapline for these new ultra-compact servers is “Proven. Reliable. Affordable”. Succinctly summing up the key qualities of these two new members of the Sentinel family, WD describes the devices as being “Designed for storage plus server capabilities, WD Sentinel S-Series is ideal for small businesses looking for an ultra-compact unified storage solution with an integrated iSCSI SAN, NAS and server-based backup technology. Featuring enterprise-class hard drives, an Intel Xeon dual core processor and Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials operating system, it provides secure access to data and line-of-business applications, even when working remotely”.

Sentinel DS5100 front and back views

Below I have put together a comparison table showing exactly what is offered by both these storage plus server products. You can see the base model of the Sentinel DS5100 comes equipped with 4TB of storage (2 x 2TB drives) with two bays free. The CPU behind it is a 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Xeon E3-1220LV2 backed by 8GB of RAM. Though the Sentinel DS6100 looks exactly the same outwardly it boasts both a faster CPU and greater storage capacities. The DS6100 uses a 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Xeon E3-1265LV2 backed by 16GB of RAM in its base configuration. The DS6100 also offers a greater base capacity of 8TB (4 x 2TB drives) which can be expanded to 16TB.

WD Sentinel DS5100 and Sentinel DS6100 side by side

“No other vendor offers a comparable network storage plus server in an equally small form factor. With a small footprint and quiet fan, an S-series appliance can be deployed anywhere,” says WD. Also both the WD Sentinel DS5100 and DS6100 have a dedicated 2.5-inch Windows boot drives for maximum reliability.

 

WD Sentinel DS5100
Ultra-compact Storage Plus Server

WD Sentinel DS6100
Ultra-compact Storage Plus Server

Form factor

4-bay desktop pedestal

4-bay desktop pedestal

Operating system

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials

Capacity

4 TB (2 x 2 TB), 8 TB (4 x 2 TB)

8 TB (4 x 2 TB), 12 TB (4 x 3 TB), 16 TB (4 x 4 TB)

CPU

Intel Xeon E3-1220LV2 2.3 GHz Dual Core Processor

Intel Xeon E3-1265LV2 2.5 GHz Quad Core processor

RAM

8 GB ECC RAM (upgradable to 32 GB)

16 GB ECC RAM (upgradable to 32 GB)

Interface

Gigabit Ethernet x2, USB 3.0 x4

Gigabit Ethernet x2, USB 3.0 x4

RAID

RAID (JBOD, 0, 1, 5, 10)

RAID (JBOD, 0, 1, 5, 10)

LCD/VGA

VGA monitor

VGA monitor

Base RRP

£1,599.00 (Ex VAT)

N/A

 

WD says that five preconfigured versions of these servers are available from today through select VARs, resellers, and distributors. Prices start from £1,599 ex VAT. The new WD Sentinel DS5100 and DS6100 will be showcased by WD at VMWorld in Barcelona, 14-17 October, booth S99.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Sexy … but expensive. Not for the home.
Is there a version that doesn't come encumbered with Windows?
sykobee
Sexy … but expensive. Not for the home.
Is there a version that doesn't come encumbered with Windows?

I presume you would buy the normal Windows version, then install your chosen OS over the top. With that sort of cost, not including Windows is hardly a saving (unless you object to the Windows tax on an ethical basis, in which case you would probably build your own server anyway).
Three network ports is nice, but it seems very over priced.

When the Silverstone DS380 case is released with 8 hot swap HDD bays, it will make for a very expandable and quiet server.

£70 gets you a motherboard that can handle 7 HDDs (plus one e-sata): http://www.ebuyer.com/456469-asrock-fm2a85x-itx-socket-fm2-vga-dvi-hdmi-7-1-channel-audio-mini-itx-fm2a85x-itx
Throw in a £100 APU, £60 for ram. A two port network PCIe card gets you two fileserving ports with the motherboard port for admin address.

Struggling to get up to the price of the WD box, even if I make the 2 port card 10Gb :D
sykobee
Sexy … but expensive. Not for the home.
Is there a version that doesn't come encumbered with Windows?

I would look at the HP microserver gen 7 or 8 (some great deals on gen 7 at moment) as a home server
Like the look of the Silverston that DanceswithUnix mentioned, however will wait to hear more about it, as from the pics looks like it will need 8 SATA cables, on that sort of case I would have expected some sort of SAS socket to keep things nice and tidy

Kimbie