IT Pro Verdict
Gateway’s new GR360 F1 has high storage capacity and plenty of expansion potential in a well-built 1U chassis. Remote management tools aren’t as good as those offered by Dell or HP, but the GR360 F1 costs a lot less than a similarly specified ProLiant DL360.
With the UK server market pretty much sewn up by the big five vendors you'd have thought there wasn't room for any more, but the Acer Group thinks otherwise. Gateway, now owned by Acer, is back in town and is launching a big family of rack, pedestal and blade servers with a firm focus on small to medium businesses.
In this review we look at the new GR360 F1 rack server and from the model names chosen, it's crystal clear which company Gateway has at the top of its hit list. It's been quite brazen with its naming convention as GR360 F1 takes on HP's ProLiant DL360. Other servers in this family leave you under no illusions as the Gateway GR380 2U rack server takes on HP's top selling ProLiant DL380 and the pedestal-based GR350 is pitted against the ML350.
Gateway isn't implementing a direct sales model, but is targeting the channel only. It plans to compete in the 1,000 seat space where, the company told us, it sees plenty of room for a creditable second place so IBM and Dell are also in its sights. The GR360 F1 is certainly far superior to the old Acer Altos products.
