Input on Server... Old, but reliable.

TechJunky

I just purchased a Dell 2550 for a really good price.

Specs,

2U Rackmountable with thumbscrews
Dual 1.2ghz 512 cache processors
4GB ECC PC133 Memory
4 9.1GB SCSI 320 Drives, 2 additional drives can be added.
On board raid controller, with 256mb memory and raid key.
dual power supply's
2 ethernet, 1 10/100, 1GB
2 usb ports
ps2 keyboard/mouse port
parallel port
vga port
and 2 rs232 ports.

It also came with a dell windows 2000 Server sticker of Authenticity and CD Key. The only downside is I dont have a dell CD since it is a OEM Distro.

I was going to use this server to setup a SQL Server that runs a pretty decent database.

I have a chance to pickup dell 2500 series with a DLT tape backup for 100 bucks. It doesnt have any SCSI drives, but you can get them for a dime a dozen on ebay. It is basically the same specs as the one above but only comes with 1GB of memory....

Should I pick this one up as well? I am looking to fill some rack space with some good looking servers.

sexion8

Good lucking and working good are two different categories. I've worked in the industry for quite some time and I can say from experience that on a personal level, you couldn't pay me to take Dells or HP's. I've got 3 Dell laptops only because I get them for dirt cheap, on the server side, I prefer Sun http://www.infiltrated.net/mydesk/dellsun1.jpg they're much better machines, actually look even better then most machines on the block. At home I have a Sunfire 280R, two Netra's, an Ultra 60 in the closet and some other Intel machines running a variety of things (Linux w/Oracle, OpenBSD VPN's, Solaris JBoss, etc.).

sprkymrk

Dell's are top notch IMO. Make sure you can get the drive cages that are needed for the hard drives. You may end up paying more for those than the drives themselves if the server doesn't come with them. I've used Dell PE's, Lattitudes, Inspirons and Optiplexes for at least 6-8 years and have had great luck with all of them.

sexion8

sprkymrk wrote:

Dell's are top notch IMO. ... I've used Dell PE's, Lattitudes, Inspirons and Optiplexes for at least 6-8 years and have had great luck with all of them.

I've worked in everything from the banking industry, ISP industry, NOC's, for IBM, and academiaville and outside of the standard desktops, not ONE of the companies I worked for had Dell's in their racks. IBM z's, Sun's, and Alphas. The question was geared for a rack so I take this to be some form of server in a colo place geared for business. I know a friend who swears by them and I asked him why and he stated they have great support when his machines go down. Think of the ironicy with that statement... When they go down? My personal best uptime for a Sun machine, 2 1/2 years without going down. I took it down to upgrade to take my machine home and move over to FreeBSD from Solaris (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=infiltrated.net) at the time. It had ZERO downtime prior to that. I have a coworker and I will never forget, he had 4 years uptime on a Sun machine... Why'd it go down? He took it offline for Y2k patching back then.

blargoe

sprkymrk wrote:

Dell's are top notch IMO. Make sure you can get the drive cages that are needed for the hard drives. You may end up paying more for those than the drives themselves if the server doesn't come with them.

Seconded. You must be certain they have the cages on which you can mount the drive and not just the blank fillers for the drive slots.

sprkymrk

sexion8 wrote:

sprkymrk wrote:

Dell's are top notch IMO. ... I've used Dell PE's, Lattitudes, Inspirons and Optiplexes for at least 6-8 years and have had great luck with all of them.

I've worked in everything from the banking industry, ISP industry, NOC's, for IBM, and academiaville and outside of the standard desktops, not ONE of the companies I worked for had Dell's in their racks. IBM z's, Sun's, and Alphas. The question was geared for a rack so I take this to be some form of server in a colo place geared for business. I know a friend who swears by them and I asked him why and he stated they have great support when his machines go down. Think of the ironicy with that statement... When they go down? My personal best uptime for a Sun machine, 2 1/2 years without going down. I took it down to upgrade to take my machine home and move over to FreeBSD from Solaris (http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph?site=infiltrated.net) at the time. It had ZERO downtime prior to that. I have a coworker and I will never forget, he had 4 years uptime on a Sun machine... Why'd it go down? He took it offline for Y2k patching back then.

My reply was to TJ, not to disregard your opinion or personal experience with Dells. I don't think TechJunky is purchasing a $100 used server for business purposes, but I guess I could be wrong. And just for the record, the entire DoD is heavily invested in Dell Servers.... I know that by experience.

SRTMCSE

I've never had a problem with Dell servers, workstations yea, servers no. Their support is crappy and I can't deal with it. I prefer Compaq/HP servers to Dell any day of the week. Can't speak for Solaris with the exception of the IT bootcamp I worked for and other brands haven't had enough hands on time to make a judgement.

TechJunky

Thanks for the responses. I called him today and every computer component he had is gone. He was liquidating for amazing prices.

I guess better luck next time.

No, I am not using these for business use. I am simply using these for learning purposes.

And WOW, them Sunfire 280's are WAY overpriced.

$900 on ebay. I purchased mine for $200...