Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:56:33 +0100 From: Alex Zbyslaw <xfb52@dial.pipex.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Opinions Wanted: Dell PowerEdge Servers ... ? Message-ID: <449FE791.8000700@dial.pipex.com> In-Reply-To: <20060626133619.GA264@d-137-145-35.bootp.virginia.edu> References: <20060624215742.N1114@ganymede.hub.org> <20060626133619.GA264@d-137-145-35.bootp.virginia.edu>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Mike Galvez wrote: >No small thing you need to consider when choosing Dell is that they DO NOT support >FreeBSD. They support Windows and Red Hat Linux. If the machine is not lights-out >and the OS is not one of the above, they will not send parts or a technician. > >I found this out the hard way and had to load Linux on a spare drive just to prove >a piece of hardware was failing. They wasted a lot of my time. The cheaper cost of >their hardware was easily outweighed by the wasted hours of my time. > > Disclaimer: fingers crossed we have yet to have a hardware problem or need Dell's support. Also, my experience of their "technical support" as a private purchaser of a laptop, was absolutely lousy. My only consolation was that their being so atrocious cost them more money than they could possibly have made on the laptop. I have been told that they are better for business class customers but have no proof. The 2850 servers we purchased came with Dell diagnostics on slice 1 - running Windows 95 I think! It would seem especially prudent when running a non-supported OS in any production environment to keep those diagnostics intact. BSD will happily install on slices 2-4 and auto boot from whichever you last booted from, so the diags can stay invisible until you need them. --Alex
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?449FE791.8000700>