On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 8:17 PM, John R Pierce <pierce@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Rudi Ahlers wrote:
>>
>> I got the components cheaper from another supplier /
>> importer / retailer than from Dell directly. And really, how can
>> KingMax RAM or Seagate HDD's from one supplier be better than from
>> another supplier? I only use the recommended types, i.e ECC (non
>> registered), and Seagate RAID edition SATAII HDD's.
>>
>
> I dunno about Dell, but most vendors, their own 'branded' hard drives have
> customized firmware thats been tested and validated to work in all their
> various raid systems.
>
> its a lot of little things. a Sun 72GB SCSI drive will always be an exact
> size, no matter what "72GB" drive is in it, while a whitebox generic drive
> from the same OEM(seagate/hitachi/etc) might be 50MB bigger or 10MB smaller
> or whatever. this really matters when you replace a raid drive. raid
> controllers in particular interact with hard drive firmware in some rather
> complex and subtle ways, and the drives really need to be tested and
> qualified for a specific application. as an example, a seagate ST3100xxxx
> drive might have 100 or more variations, indicated by different part numbers
> (the 9L9005-xxx number in the case of Seagate) to meet specific OEM
> requirements. mix and match the generic 'whitebox' versions of the drives
> in systems, and you're the one doing the qualification testing in
> production.
>
This is interesting, thank you for letting me know :)
> Memory has a lot of little specs that aren't readily apparent, and "DDR2-533
> Registered ECC" can have differing CAS timings, different voltages, and even
> if all that is identical on paper, may or may not work reliably in a given
> system due to timing subtleties.. The HP or Sun or whatever ram has been
> fully qualified to work in their systems and most importantly is supported
> by their field service people. The stuff you get cheaper at mom-n-pops
> compuRus, who knows, you're the one doing the 'qualification testing' on
> your production systems.
>
> since you've mentioned dell, I'd have to say, in my personal experience,
> Dell's are the cheapest and least reliable of the brand name servers...
> their field service in the US at least is decent, but they have a far higher
> 'infant mortality' rate than about anything else I've used (mostly HP, Sun,
> IBM).
Sun, IBM & HP servers in our country are far over rated, and they
don't deal with the "small companies", only the larger corporates, so
it's not really an option for me. Intel server are easier to get hold
of, but also very expensive. Tyan - I don't know who sells it in our
country
>
> your supermicro vendor, he doesn't want anyone elses parts in the system he
> sells and warranties because he doesn't want to be be responsible for fixing
> ensuing problems. he's selling stuff he knows works, he knows meets the
> specifications, and that he's warrantying and supporting. If you bought a
> new Volkswagen, then installed an aftermarket camshaft, and the engine eats
> a valve, you're not going to expect Volkswagen to repair the piston damage,
> are you?
Not quite. The CPU, RAM & HDD's that sells is 30% more expensive than
the other suppliers on the same thing, and this make the servers also
more expensive than what they can be. I'm sitting with a lot of CPU's,
RAM & HDD's which I'd still like to use, and don't see the point and
throwing them in the bin to buy new ones. My other big problem, is if
I want to upgrade anything, then I need to take the servers back to
their warehouse, which with traffic is 2 - 3 hours drive from the DC,
during office hours, and then there's a 2 day turn-around on upgrades.
Our dells can get upgraded by ourselves, we get the component from
Dell and then schedule upgrades for a Sunday night - very convenient.
And Dell will also come to the DC 24/7 if needed. For this reason, I
don't want to purchase from the current SuperMicro supplier.
See, the thing in our country is, some companies have monopolies in
their market, and they set the trends for how their clients may use
their products / services - which doesn't always make business sense.
It has nothing todo with "he doesn't want anyone elses parts in the
system he sells and warranties because he doesn't want to be be
responsible for fixing ensuing problems. he's selling stuff he knows
works" Even our Intel suppliers (there are a few of them) don't have
this stupid policy. IF I wanted to upgrade, I get the necessary
components and upgrade when convenient, not when the supplier feels
they can do it.
>
>
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--
Kind Regards
Rudi Ahlers
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