Lanner announced a modular 1U network appliance that supports Intel's recently announced Xeon E3 CPUs. The FW-8865 includes from five to 21 gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 16GB of RAM, one or two hard disk drives, a CompactFlash slot, and a front-panel character display, the company says.

Lanner's FW-8770, a 1U network appliance released in January, was the first device of any kind to be announced with Intel's then-new "Sandy Bridge" Core processors. The FW-8865 now turns to Intel's recently released, 32nm Xeon E3 CPUs, though it is not quite the first network appliance to do so (we covered the similarly endowed Portwell CAR-4010 last week).

Lanner's FW-8865
(Click to enlarge)

Like that Portwell device, the FW-8865 (above) employs Intel's C206 chipset, a "Cougar Point" variant. Here, it's used to support two different processors, according to Lanner:

• Intel's Xeon E3-1275, with quad cores, 3.4GHz clock speed, 3.8GHz turbo frequency, and a 95-Watt TDP
• Intel's Xeon E3-1225, with quad cores, 3.1GHz clock speed, 3.4GHz turbo frequency, and a 95-Watt TDP

Lanner says the FW-8865 accepts up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM via four DIMM slots, and includes a CompactFlash slot that may be used to install a Windows or Linux boot image. Dual SATA ports and drive bays accept a single 3.5-inch hard disk or two 2.5-inch units, the company adds.

Designed to be operated via a serial console, the FW-8865 has a front-panel RJ45 port for that purpose as well as a LCD that can display two 20-character lines of information. Also up front are two USB 2.0 ports and five gigabit Ethernet ports, says Lanner.

As the picture early in our story shows, the FW-8865 can be fitted with eight or 16 additional gigabit Ethernet ports via optional expansion modules. The device also includes internal Mini PCI and PCI Express x4 expansion slots, according to Lanner.

Specifications listed by Lanner for the FW-8865 include:

• Processor:
  • Xeon E3-1275, with quad cores, 3.4GHz clock speed, 3.8GHz turbo frequency, and 95-Watt TDP
  • Xeon E3-1225, with quad cores, 3.1GHz clock speed, 3.4GHz turbo frequency, and 95-Watt TDP
• Chipset — C206 I/O controller
• Memory — up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM via four DIMM sockets
• Storage — CompactFlash slot, plus room for 1 x 3.5-inch or 2 x 2.5-inch hard disk drives
• Expansion — 1 x PCI Express x4; 1 x Mini PCI
• Networking — 5 x gigabit Ethernet, with optional modules supporting up to 16 additional ports
• Other I/O:
  2 x USB 2.0
  • RJ45 for serial console
• Power:
  • 270W ATX power supply, or dual redundant supplies
  • consumption n/s
• Operating range — 32 to 104 deg. F (0 to 40 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 21.7 x 17 x 1.7 inches (550 x 431 x 44mm)
• Weight — 26.4 pounds (12kg)

Further information

Lanner did not specify pricing, but said the FW-8865 is available now. More information may be found on the FW-8865 product page.

Jonathan Angel can be followed at www.twitter.com/gadgetsense.

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