Most common server in use? Recommendation on lab

lespaulman74lespaulman74 Member Posts: 26 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hey Guys,

Im setting up a lab to study for my MCSE and Im considering purchasing some rack mount servers. (I know I can use virtual machines, but one advantage of having a real physical server is that I can also play/learn with the hardware - RAID, hot swap drives, etc, etc.....)

Question is: what is the most commonly used rack mount servers in use at small to medium sized companies today?? - Dell (eg. poweredge, etc), IBM xSeries, HPs.......

I want to say Dell, since we also used them frequently, but we were a small company - perhaps others admins with more experience can shed some light.

Comments

  • astorrsastorrs Member Posts: 3,139 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Question is: what is the most commonly used rack mount servers in use at small to medium sized companies today?? - Dell (eg. poweredge, etc), IBM xSeries, HPs.......
    "Yes"

    All 3 of them, they are all very similar although the management tools, etc will differ (each has their strengths/weaknesses).
  • NetAdmin2436NetAdmin2436 Member Posts: 1,076
    We have all HP DL's at the small company I work for. Personally, I also picked up a couple older HP DL's off craigslist for my labs. I know Dells and IBM's are very popular as well. How about 1 of each? icon_wink.gif
    WIP: CCENT/CCNA (.....probably)
  • PlantwizPlantwiz Mod Posts: 5,057 Mod
    I see all 3 fairly frequently in use. Depends on the client. Larger clients 200+ users seem to have IBM while smaller clients I tend to see Dell 50 or fewer.

    Not absolutely, but all three do have their place in the industry.

    I don't see as many newer installs of Compaq/HP, however those running them have been running them several years now (and could stand to upgrade), but the longevity of those units I suppose speaks for the quality.

    I prefer to spec IBM and if I must Dell for new installs/upgrades (though Dell's seem to be a little less costly as of late icon_scratch.gif
    Plantwiz
    _____
    "Grammar and spelling aren't everything, but this is a forum, not a chat room. You have plenty of time to spell out the word "you", and look just a little bit smarter." by Phaideaux

    ***I'll add you can Capitalize the word 'I' to show a little respect for yourself too.

    'i' before 'e' except after 'c'.... weird?
  • tierstentiersten Member Posts: 4,505
    We're a majority IBM shop. xSeries, iSeries, pSeries and nSeries boxes with a handful of older HP Proliants. All the IBM gear is under IBM Global Services maint.
  • AshenweltAshenwelt Member Posts: 266 ■■■■□□□□□□
    I would say IBM or HP. Dell is common, but larger deployments (20+) seem to be the IBM or HP.
    Ashenwelt
    -Always working on something...
    -The RepAdmin Active Directory Blog
  • RTmarcRTmarc Member Posts: 1,082 ■■■□□□□□□□
    I think you are going to be misusing your time and resources if you go after physical servers. Yes, they all differ a bit as far as hardware is concerned and they have different admin tools and utilities but on a whole, they are relatively the same. It's just like a CLI. Syntax and presentation differs by vendor but if you know one, you should have no problems feeling your way around the others.

    Most likely, very little of your time is going to be configuring/modifying the hardware.

    If you insist on purchasing a physical server, you can't go wrong with any of the big three; HP, Dell, or IBM. At my previous company we had a mix of Dell and HP servers. The company I'm just about to start with has HP blades.
  • dynamikdynamik Banned Posts: 12,312 ■■■■■■■■■□
    RTmarc wrote: »
    The company I'm just about to start with has HP blades.

    Off-topic, but congratulations on landing a new gig :D
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