New server - had to gush a bit

[dandanfireman]

I just had to post a pic of my new server...I am a proud papa

[Chicken]

She's pretttttyyyyyy.. what's it got under the hood?

[dandanfireman]

Dual Xeon 2.0 Ghz
2G Ram
3x73G Raid 5
Dual onboard 1000/100/10 Network cards

[allan]

Dude...you got a Dell :D.

[VoxKeysGtr]

Sweeeeeet! :cool:

[Haddy]

Very slick....Now for the million dollar question *probably really is*...How much? If you dont mind me asking that is...

[dandanfireman]

No, I don't mind sharing. Since anyone can go to the Dell site and configure their own. I paid about $5100 for this. I have learned that Dell changes prices/sales often. I have seen the same config go for as much as $5700 since I purchased this. I will be keeping my eyes open and try to pickup another one if I see a good sale.

[allan]

I agree, I love Dell products, but you have to watch their prices, they can vary from really good to really expensive.

[ALapo]

::drool::

[jbiz718]

Do you get anything more from going with a dell is my question.

[JeremyV]

Originally posted by jbiz718:

Do you get anything more from going with a dell is my question.

Support mainly.. and quality hardware. But I believe with servers they have on-site support if you need it. Just give them a call and they will come to fix it in a very short amount of time. I can't say for sure since I don't use them for any server applications, but where I used to work we had dell workstations, and any slightest problem and they would either come out and fix it, or send a new part w/o even requesting the defective part before hand, and would pay for shipping the old part back.

[markblair]

Not to say this is the norm but according to this site, Dell isn't that great with their customer service:

http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/complaint1608.cfm

I ran across this complaint as one of the most highly viewed on that site. I was actually looking for something else. Now, if I had to get a computer that was made by a specific manufacturer, it would be Dell. I just now know to watch out for any problems or headaches they may cause with support. My personal preference of course is to build it myself. Just my opinion.

As for the server dandanfireman got, stop bragging... :D

[allan]

Originally posted by JeremyV:

Support mainly.. and quality hardware. But I believe with servers they have on-site support if you need it. Just give them a call and they will come to fix it in a very short amount of time. I can't say for sure since I don't use them for any server applications, but where I used to work we had dell workstations, and any slightest problem and they would either come out and fix it, or send a new part w/o even requesting the defective part before hand, and would pay for shipping the old part back.

When we got new computers for our home we went with Dell Workstations (not the consumer models), they were a couple of hundred dollars more but they included next-day onsite support for a year, with the option to extend it for up to three years) -- you really can't beat that. It is hard to argue with that type of support.

[hostpath.com]

Nice server. If I didn't hand build my servers exactly to my own specifications, I'd probably buy a Dell.

[jbiz718]

Well I agree Dell has some good stuff, I have two dells myself. I question Dells prices compared to other companies.

[interactive]

I think Dell support is awesome. Great server by the way. Although, I'm a cheapy and just build my systems most of the time. Good buy though!

[tpetersen]

Originally posted by markblair:

Not to say this is the norm but according to this site, Dell isn't that great with their customer service:

http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/complaint1608.cfm

I ran across this complaint as one of the most highly viewed on that site. I was actually looking for something else. Now, if I had to get a computer that was made by a specific manufacturer, it would be Dell. I just now know to watch out for any problems or headaches they may cause with support. My personal preference of course is to build it myself. Just my opinion.

As for the server dandanfireman got, stop bragging... :D


You are comparing apples and oranges. The website you are referring to has a complaint about a home system. Servers are supported by the Dell business unit which does correct problems very quickly and efficiently.

I purchase all my servers with the 24x7 with 4 hour onsite parts and repair maintenance contract.

Building your own computer does serve a purpose for your home workstation, but you won't find any of my servers being hand buit by me. I have neither the time nor the quality assurance process and support system that a large organization such as Dell has. Say for example at midnight a motherboard goes bad -- by 4am I have a technican onsite with the replacement parts in hand effecting the repair. Where would you get a motherboard at midnight?


All I purchase are the Dell 2650's -- they are awesome machines!

[markblair]

Originally posted by tpetersen:

You are comparing apples and oranges. The website you are referring to has a complaint about a home system. Servers are supported by the Dell business unit which does correct problems very quickly and efficiently.

I purchase all my servers with the 24x7 with 4 hour onsite parts and repair maintenance contract.

Building your own computer does serve a purpose for your home workstation, but you won't find any of my servers being hand buit by me. I have neither the time nor the quality assurance process and support system that a large organization such as Dell has. Say for example at midnight a motherboard goes bad -- by 4am I have a technican onsite with the replacement parts in hand effecting the repair. Where would you get a motherboard at midnight?


All I purchase are the Dell 2650's -- they are awesome machines!

Okay, yes he did purchase a home machine. However, support should never be different just because he didn't spend $2000 more for a server. I doubt many home users of Dell PC's will feel good knowing that the reason support stinks is because they didn't spend enough with the company.

And remember...

S Wolfe as reported on thesqueakywheel.com
I paid extra for a 3 year Next Business Day Parts & Labor Warranty

As far as building the server yourself, there's no problem by not doing that. Some people prefer to build their own. I'm one of them. I like Dell but I currently only purchase their laptops as I don't have a supplier to provide all the individual parts and it would probably cost more that way. However, for workstations or servers, they are all custom built. If a motherboard goes bad at 12 midnight I just get an extra one that I would normally have available to replace it. No need to even leave the house.

There's nothing wrong with your reasons for purchasing Dell Servers. I've seen more than just this one story about their customer service, though. But honestly the ones I have read are from home users so maybe they don't provide quality service for people that don't pay enough?

[David]

Almost every company has a different support departament and contracts for home and buisness users.

[markblair]

Originally posted by David:

Almost every company has a different support departament and contracts for home and buisness users.

I don't doubt that they have different support for home customers versus business customers. My only argument is that they shouldn't treat their home customers different. This has nothing to do with the quality of their equipment because I believe everyone here knows they are one of the best out there. I just thought I'd bring it up since customer service was mentioned on the first page of this thread. It's nothing I want to make a big deal out of as everyone here has made extremely valid points towards Dell's excellent equipment and even support.

[no1v2]

The home computers don't come with the same level of support because they don't come with the same price tags, though I believe you can buy it as an addon. When you buy a dell server or workstation you're paying for the support much more than the hardware.

At work we just got two of those dual Xeon hot-swappable SCSI 2650's shipped to us from the west coast (they were already using them there). Strangely one of them had broken keyboard ports (I don't think the ports themselves were broken, but something along the line was keeping any keyboards from working). They overnighted a new mobo and sent someone to replace it though (we don't have the 4 hour warrenty). Nice servers & a nice repair tech. I've been hearing about problems with their batteries though, both internally and on the net.

[tpetersen]

Originally posted by no1v2:

I've been hearing about problems with their batteries though, both internally and on the net.


What batteries are you referring to? The one on the MB, the DRAC or the PERC3 RAID card? I know with the PERC3 you have to go in and 'condition' the battery from time to time.

I have two 2650's and a 1650 I deployed for a customer that have been up 24x7 for almost a year now without any hardware related problems.

The one thing about the 2650's that I find most annoying is the DRAC card and only being able to configure it through the Open Manage software -- this is great and all but a huge pain if you are running Linux and pretty hopeless if you build a custom kernel.

TP

[brnoe]

I hope I'm not in the wrong by posting my server pic here too, I received it a few weeks ago and have been customizing the kernel and such to my needs. :) It's specs are:
Celeron 850 (will be upgraded soon)
128mb Ram (They skimpped on it, I need at least 512)
20gb HD, I will be replacing with 2 Maxtor drives.
Comments questions, etc are welcomed :)
---
Brad

[no1v2]

I strongly recommend you don't use Maxtors, or at least not 7200 RPM Maxtors. Somehow they got past our initial testing, but soon after we deployed hundreds them they started failing constantly. It became a race between them failing and us swapping them out.

[brnoe]

Originally posted by no1v2:

I strongly recommend you don't use Maxtors, or at least not 7200 RPM Maxtors. Somehow they got past our initial testing, but soon after we deployed hundreds them they started failing constantly. It became a race between them failing and us swapping them out.
Thanks for the suggestion no1v2. I was planning when I do decide to add those drives to use the SCSI Atlas 10k drives, those are supposed to be hard as a rock and reliable. I have had too much trouble with Western Digital to even get one near any of my servers. ;) (Doesnt say much since I have 3 of them in my 2 desktops here :baghead: )

[markblair]

I like both Maxtor and Western Digital drives and haven't had many problems with either one. It appears I am starting to have a hard drive problem though as something in my case continues to wind up and down and I suspect one of the hard drives. I have both in my system and just downloaded some utilities to check them out...