Dell Debuts Servers Strictly For Small Shops

The PowerEdge SC420, which sells for $499, was hyped as a small business' or home office's first server, and a replacement for the peer-to-peer networking that the tiniest firms often use. The server runs a single Pentium 4 or Celeron processor (the former up to 3.6GHz) and packs as much as 4GB of memory.

The more expensive PowerEdge SC1420 starts at $799, can accommodate up to two Xeon processors, 6GB of RAM, and four hard drives.

Both servers are available with Microsoft Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2003 Small Business Server, or Red Hat Linux ES3.0 at prices ranging from $349 for a one-year subscription to Red Hat to $1,299 for Windows 2004 Small Business Server Premium. Prices don't include the OS or a monitor for the server.

Dell on Monday also offered a variety of service and support plans geared for small businesses that include set-up support, expedited 24/7 phone help, onsite training, and disaster recovery backup services. The plans start at $289.