Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:14:26 -0400 From: "David Robillard" <david.robillard@gmail.com> To: "Marc G. Fournier" <scrappy@hub.org> Cc: FreeBSD Questions Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Opinions Wanted: Dell PowerEdge Servers ... ? Message-ID: <226ae0c60606260814g7efc20e5wec3084a0698d4e70@mail.gmail.com>
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> I'm currently weighing options ... my last two servers were HP Proliant, > and I *really* like them, but I might have a line on a supplier in Panama > that deals in Dell Servers and not HP ... > > Looking at Dell's web site, the PowerEdge has an optional "Remote Access > Controller" that will it *sounds* like will give me similar functionality > as HPs iLO ... > > But, I've heard bad things about their 'desktop offerings', and am not > sure if that follows through to their "Servers" ... > > So, I'm kinda looking for both good, and bad, experiences with the > PowerEdge stuff ... anyone with opinions? > > Thx ... Hi Marc, My experience with Dell hardware and support goes back to the year 2000. As a systems administrator, I can only speak for their server products, not their desktop products. The short story is: Stay away from Dell. Their hardware is of low quality and poor construction. Their enterprise support is by far THE lowest quality I've ever had to deal with. Light years away from Sun, IBM or HP support. The long story is that the machine's parts are of poor manufacturing. They bend, break and snap if you're not very carefull in handling them. The documentation that comes with the machines is far from complete. I've done a test by installing an IBM x346 sitting next to a Dell PowerEdge 2850 and a Sun Fire X4200. You can clearly see that the IBM and the Sun are of superior quality. All the parts are clearly labeled, there is extensive maintenance documentation on the casing and the parts are sturdy and solid. Compared to the Dell which has flimsy bits of plastic hanging loose, internal cabling has to pass over heat-sinks and fans and there is close to zero documentation on the casing. Also, to remove the casing on the IBM and Sun machines, you have well built latches which makes the whole thing "snap" into place without any screws. While the Dell machine has an awkward metal casing with sharp edges and requires three screws. All in all, working with a Dell machine is a nightmare compared to working with IBM or Sun hardware. That's on the low end machines. Dell does not offer high end machines such as the Sun Fire E25K Server or the IBM eServer p5 595. Granted that not everyone needs such big machines, but almost any corporation will need more then 4 CPU machines one day, an area in which Dell is not present. Therefore, you're forced to change hardware when you need to scale up. That's for the hardware. Now, let's talk support. In several years, I've had to place numerous support calls to IBM, Sun, HP, Veritas, Hitachi, EMC and Brocade. In all of them, the call was handled by a single phone call, my problem was quickly found and either a person, a part or a patch was sent or advised to fix it. At Dell, I often had to make two, three and even four different calls to talk to someone. One time, that someone didn't even know we had a support contract. Worse, the phone number on the support contract was invalid! More often then not, the Dell techs are not properly trained on the hardware and have close to zero knowledge of actual systems maintenance. Of course, our IT staff was not happy with the quality of support from Dell (or lack of..) So we had Dell's Head of Canadian Support in to discuss this. His suggestion was that we pay more for the platinum support. It's pathetic, really. In the end you get what you pay for. Dell is cheaper of course. But when you add up the downtime caused by broken parts, the time you lose answering "is the server powered-on" dump support questions and the poor reliability you get out of Dell machines, the ROI is not as nice as it looked compared to Sun, IBM or HP. Finally, the HP iLO you appreciate is also present in the IBM and Sun machines with a lot more features then Dell's. Of course, YMMV. But IMHO, if you're planning on doing serious work in an enterprise, stay clear of Dell and go for Sun, IBM or HP. David -- David Robillard UNIX systems administrator & Oracle DBA CISSP, RHCE, Sun Certified Security & Systems Administrator Montreal: +1 514 966 0122
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