[THIN] Re: OT: Dell PE 1855 Blade Servers
- From: "James Lilly" <LillyJ@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <thin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <roger.riggins@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 12:54:49 -0500
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
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
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Jim Kenzig
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Sponsorships Available!
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
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