Hardware vendors (was: Just when you think you've seen it all...)

[Chris Brenton]

On Tue, 2006-06-27 at 16:15 -0400, mike ledoux wrote:
>
> >  Are we talking problems as in faulty design, or hardware failures?
> > Or both?  :)  I would pretty much expect that Dell's hardware wears
> > out sooner and more often than HP or IBM stuff.  Design issues, on the
> > other hand, can't be fixed by swapping parts...
> 
> Both.  Some things are clearly a problem with inferior parts, like
> the drives and memory which seem to need replacement about 10x more
> often than with our other servers.  Others are compatibility issues,
> like with the RAID cards they sold us for servers ordered with Linux
> where the available drivers simply do not function correctly.

Just to add to the fodder, performance is also an apples and oranges
comparison. I've standardized on Compaq as a firewall and IDS platform
for about the last eight years. More than once I've had a client try and
replace a 3-5 year old system with a spiffy new Dell server they've
purchased, only to have to revert back to the old Compaq box because
performance took a nose dive.

Don't get me wrong, Dell makes great desktops and laptops. Would never
touch one for a server. For the few hundred $$$ you save up front you
end up spending well more than that in repairs and down time.

Then again an enterprising independent consultant could go far
maximizing their billing time by installing Dell servers for their
clients. ;-p

HTH,
Chris