Not to change the topic but why is everyone married to Dell servers? They cost more but your paying for a brand and Dell doesn't make a single component in their machines. I am not going to promote any other brands here but suffice to say many of us here can build a server as good or better for a lot less money.
Whole different topic and it's been covered in other threads...but I'll bite and toss out just a few of the many reasons.
*We also do HP Proliants.
*Also have done IBM X servers.
First, I'll preface it by saying I'm very comfortable with building my own custom systems...I used to build high end custom gaming rigs, and I used to build servers that hosted online games for clans, I'd have them in big data centers..and they were running some very popular game servers. One of them hosted an Unreal Tournament server that was in the NG Stats top 20 UT servers in the world list for around 3 years.
When I come across a client with existing home grown cloners....I make it clear that if I'm to be their ongoing IT support...that server will be replaced within the first year or so. I hate..hate ...hate...supporting cloners. I've wasted far too much time in my past troubleshooting wonky weird issues. I recall one law firm in the past, they had used a local IT shop that did cloners, including their server. Server would lock up randomly ...a couple of times a month. Tried this, that, the other...no luck. Spent crazy time on that. Eventually found out there was a weird compatiblity issue between the Adaptec RAID controller and the onboard NIC that the Soyo or Gigacrap motherboard had. Probably 3 people in the world had that combo and that problem.
I could type away for the rest of the day and fill the hard drives these forums are on with similar stories..but honestly it's boring.
*People that build cloners don't always fully and properly test the compatibility across components they use in the build. Tier-1 vendors do When you order up a Dell or HP or Lenovo server...you get a fully tested, compatible, certified stable system. There's no guesswork.
*Warranty. Typically at least 24x hours, overnight shipment. Typically options for 4x hours delivery! Typically options for onsite replacement of components (this rocks for my long distance clients).
*Guaranteed stock of parts for years down the road.
*Support for the server...1x stop support, quick support, very effective support.
*Importantly for your client....a system that is able to be supported by some other geek down the road if you get hit by a bus. It should be an important consideration done on behalf of your client. I think it's bad practice to select products that other techs in your area don't know or are unable to support or at least get support...it leaves your client screwed if you get hit by a bus.
