[THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
- From: "Eilers, Lee" <lee4@xxxxxxx>
- To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:33:06 -0500
A Gateway Blade server, hey now, that's something to think about!!! And
I want that big Mooo Cow of a plasma display in my server rack too.
Seriously though, I liked and preferred Compaq Proliants (Pre-HP) Since
HP bought out the Compaq lineup, it just has not been the same even
though it is supposedly the same server engineers designing them, HP
seems to have cheapen the product quality, perhaps in response to
competition from Dell. But this goes to show that much of this is
perception based on personal experience.
Admittedly, the Proliant DL360 G1 had terrible power supplies, but in my
ten+ years of experience with the Proliant HW, this was the only item I
had run up against as just flat out bad design. The rest of the
Proliant line up worked flawlessly. If you build a bad OS and/or engage
in bad administrative practices, you are going to have flakey servers
which can lead to the perception that the server H/W is to blame.
PS. Incidentally, our shop converted, strictly politics, not quality,
to Dell two years ago and the servers appear to be doing just fine. (I
still miss the Proliants!)
_____
From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of James Lilly
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 12:55 PM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; roger.riggins@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
But I've enjoyed this so much, here's my two cents:
HP SmartArrays, have in my experience, been more reliable and easier to
configure and manage than the IBM ServeRaid (or whatever they are
called) and the Dell PERC controllers. Dell has made major strides in
their server hardware over the past five years, but they still haven't
caught up. (Anecdotal experience only) IBM, is well, IBM, great if you
always call them, not as easy if you prefer self-support and just ship
us the parts. (Once again, anecdotal experiences.)
Where I see the big differences are in the management capabilities.
RILOs and iLOs in the HPaq equipment are easier to use and more powerful
than the IBM/Dell solutions. (I can't remember what IBM calls theirs,
Dell's DRAC cards have improved, but I still don't find them nearly as
easy to use or configure as the HPaq versions.
And for remote management/deployment, the HP Deployment
Pack/Altiris/Insight Manager solution, head-to-head in my testing, beat
the stuffing out of the Dell OpenManage or IBM Director options in a
head to head we performed at my previous employer.
We were an integrated healthcare delivery network serving 10K employees,
and we were supporting approx. 300 Intel-based servers running Windows
NT/2000/2K3 and Netware V6.0 and V6.5 with 4 full-time employees and one
team lead. (They still are, I just wanted out.) :) In our testing,
the tools just weren't there with either the Dell or the IBM to provide
the efficiencies we needed to do the remote management and server
deployments well enough to allow a team that small to support the
environment. HP won hands down.
We pushed most of our server deployments to the HP Blades (bl20p G1s at
the time), and never looked back.
If you do manual management and deployment, then Dell or IBM might work
fine for you. If you need to automate the processes, I still believe HP
has them beat. I've worked with Dells, HPs, Gateways, and IBMs over the
past six months, and I have not seen anything in the field to cause me
to change my impressions. (I train and do AD/Exchange/Citrix/TS
implementation projects).
Another complaint I have with Dell is their refusal to use AMD chips.
If you want the best price/performance, you should buy Opterons. :) HP
offers both AMD and Itanium blades (although I'm not sure you would want
the latter, but somebody must.)
Disclaimer: I work for an HP VAR now, but not on the hardware side. (I
do lots of project work for clients that buy their own servers, so I
work on just about anything. I've even had to touch <GASP> Gateway
servers recently. For goodness sake, just don't buy a Gateway!!!!!!
James
_____
From: roger.riggins@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 12:27 PM
To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
I still don't get it. If there is no comparison in hardware, then you
should be able to rattle off some differences that make it so.
Roger Riggins
Network Administrator
Lutheran Services in Iowa
w: 319.859.3543
c: 319.290.5687
http://www.lsiowa.org
-----Original Message-----
From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jim Kenzig http://ThinHelp.com
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 11:18 AM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
You are reading between the lines. I was mearly stating to Roger that
both IBM and HP hardware have a bigger stake in the server business and
are more committed to it then Dell ever was or ever will be. I am sure
that dell equipment runs just fine and serves your purpose but there
really is no comparison. Dell still needs to grow up and decide what
kind of company it is going to be. IBM and HP are already there.
JK
Evan Mann <emann@com> wrote:
I've got a couple 7 year old Dell PE servers still running today
that have had zero problems. One of them is a data base server with
heavy I/O and CPU use (it's now relegated to a testing machine, too slow
obviously). So my experiences tells me that Dell can keep up just fine
with the competitors in terms of quality of equipment, uptimes, etc. My
support experiences have been top notch as well.
_____
From: thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:thin-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jim Kenzig
http://ThinHelp.com
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 10:07 AM
To: thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
We have used HP/Compaq/Digital/Dec or whatever you want to call
them servers in our computer center for over 10 years. In all the time
we have had them the only thing that has ever failed on any of them (and
it was a Digital Proliant) was one of the re dundant power supplies and
some hard disks over the years. They are exceptional quality equipment.
The only way a server is ever going to catch fire is if the fan isn't
working or it is not properly ventilated. Dell is just fine for
workstations but they need to stay out of the server business. I've used
IBM eServers to host my websites at my home for 8 years now...the thing
has been running nonstop..no problems ever.
I don't believe that dell is as committed to the server business
as IBM and HP/Compaq/Digital are and have been over the last two
decades. Dell simply just can't compare to the other two...they haven't
earned the respect to even compete with them when it comes t o servers.
You're kidding yourself if you think any differently.
Jim
Matt Kosht <matt.kosht@ wrote:
I just got an 1855 and am starting to install PS 4.0 on
it now. I
have had very good luck with Dell servers in general (we
have about 50
in service) despite some comments here to the contrary.
I have had a
Compaq server catch on fire, had numerous Compaqs with
failed power
supplies, had a hosting customer who had horrendeous
service problems
with IBM servers (every motherboard in their Citrix farm
was replaced
2x)
We have one of the poorly designed (any Dell rep will
admit this)
1655 blades which was the generation before the 1855
eluded to by
others here. Despite some difficulties with KVM
compatibilty and
installing an OS it has performed with no nee d for
service for 2
years. They seem to have learned a lot with the 1855
(time will
tell).
Dell is tough to beat on price and in my experience I
have never seen
a competitive advantage to buying a more expensive
HP/Compaq/IBM.
Service at the Gold level gets you Domestic support and
4 hr response
(we get more like 2 hrs here) and it's still cheaper
than going IBM or
HP.
If you buy any kind of quantity from Dell they will let
you eval one
(built to your spec) for nothing, for 60 days. I am sure
you could
talk HP or IBM into it as well. Why not compare them
head to head?
On 1/21/06, Rusty Yates wrote:
> I would like to know if anyone on this board has had
any good or bad
> experience with the Dell PowerEdge 1855 Blade Servers.
We are currently
> taking a hard look at using the Dell Blades for our
Citrix Servers.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Rusty
Jim Kenzig <mailto:web@xxxxxxxxxx>
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com <http://www.kenzig.com/>
Sponsorships Available!
<http://www.kenzig.com/217/227/index.html>
Blog: http://www.techblink.com <http://www.techblink.com/>
Terminal Services Downloads: http://www.thinhelp.com
<http://www.thinhelp.com/>
Windows Vista: http://www.VistaPop.com
<http://www.vistapop.com/>
Virtualization: http://www.virtualize-it.com
<http://www.virtualize-it.com/>
Games: http://www.stressedpuppy.com
<http://www.stressedpuppy.com/>
Jim Kenzig <mailto:web@xxxxxxxxxx>
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Sponsorships Available! <http://www.kenzig.com/217/227/index.html>
Blog: http://www.techblink.com
Terminal Services Downloads: http://www.thinhelp.com
Windows Vista: http://www.VistaPop.com
Virtualization: http://www.virtualize-it.com
Games: http://www.stressedpuppy.com
Lutheran Services in Iowa Confidentiality Notice
==================================================================
The information contained in this communication may be confidential,
is intended only for the use of the recipient(s) named above, and
may be legally privileged. If the reader of this message is not the
intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination,
distribution, or copying of this communication, or any of its
contents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please return it to the sender immediately
and delete the original message and any copy of it from your computer
system. If you have any questions concerning this message, please
contact the sender.
Other related posts:
