I'm looking at purchasing a DELL Poweredge 6650. I am a completely Proliant shop. However, Dell's pricing is very aggresive and I have to consider it as an option. Can anyone give me an insight on what they think of Dell servers. I've never used one so I would like to know what to expect.
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Dell vs. HP 1
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NickFerrar
MIS
Over the years Dell have improved a lot, especially their servers (and associated support). We've been a Dell shop for at least 8 years, that long ago it was a case of you bought a Dell server to save money and sucked up the poor support. Nowadays I'd rate Dell's server support at least as good as HP's (we have several HP/Compaq servers also but I admit I have little dealing with them). We don't even use their gold support (where you talk directly to their top-level techs) but as we're a large global account we get a good response with their silver support and quick escalation if needed.
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As size goes, I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum from Nick--we're a relatively small shop. I've only got a half dozen Dell servers, and only the most business critical of them has anything higher than "Bronze" support.
We've been putting them into place now for three years, and I have to say they've been extremely stable. On the few occasions we've had to deal with Dell's support it's been relatively fast and painless.
As for HP, the last time I dealt with their server support (about 4 years ago) I would definitely rate them higher than I currently do Dell, though things may have changed since--though I've dealt with their network support people more recently, and found the level of support to be just as good.
We've been putting them into place now for three years, and I have to say they've been extremely stable. On the few occasions we've had to deal with Dell's support it's been relatively fast and painless.
As for HP, the last time I dealt with their server support (about 4 years ago) I would definitely rate them higher than I currently do Dell, though things may have changed since--though I've dealt with their network support people more recently, and found the level of support to be just as good.
I'm only a Dell user, again relatively small, but on the 2 occasions I have had to call on server support they have been superb - UK phone numbers, smart guys on the end. A faulty power component in an important server (is there an unimportant one?!) saw the part being dropped off at 5am ready for the engineer who arrived at 7am, server back up by the 8.30am deadline I had. And as you say, for the price there is very little comparison, it makes a very strong argument.
Laptop support much worse IMHO, but you're not asking about that!
Laptop support much worse IMHO, but you're not asking about that!
NickFerrar
MIS
Yeah I have to day Dell shoot themselves in the foot with laptop/desktop support - it's the corporate decision makers that get burnt by this and when someone then suggests they buy Dell servers...
There really is no comparison in my opinion, Dell server support is much more professional and proactive than their laptop/desktop support (and we actually get priority queue/higher level support as standard on desktops/laptops).
There really is no comparison in my opinion, Dell server support is much more professional and proactive than their laptop/desktop support (and we actually get priority queue/higher level support as standard on desktops/laptops).
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I've got at last count ten Dell servers between 300's and 2650's.
All are fairly reliable machines and we do purchase Gold support on all. I'll explain why.
Seems the drives that Dell buys as of late aren't the most reliable in the world. So we run RAID 0+1 on half the servers and RAID 5 on the other half. If a drive goes south (In my year here two have done so.) I just demand Dell send me a new one.
If you're in a mission critical situation that Dell will send you a list of diagnostic steps to go through before they'll ship anything. This annoys me to no end.
Gateway on the other hand will ship you the part, no questions asked.
But otherwise the boxes are fairly bulletproof. Just make sure you know what you're getting.
All are fairly reliable machines and we do purchase Gold support on all. I'll explain why.
Seems the drives that Dell buys as of late aren't the most reliable in the world. So we run RAID 0+1 on half the servers and RAID 5 on the other half. If a drive goes south (In my year here two have done so.) I just demand Dell send me a new one.
If you're in a mission critical situation that Dell will send you a list of diagnostic steps to go through before they'll ship anything. This annoys me to no end.
Gateway on the other hand will ship you the part, no questions asked.
But otherwise the boxes are fairly bulletproof. Just make sure you know what you're getting.
A couple of Dell servers here. I have never used HP. But I consider that Dell prices are too high, what I do is buy only the necessary from them and then the rest buy it somewhere else and install it myself (2nd processor, memory) Like this you would spend 2 or 3* less.
Dell support....never been good for me I have bronze. But anyways their email solutions are a whole lot better. When you email them only the one who knows takes it, so you will always get a good response 100* better than phone support. Hardware issues, none at the moment, but if the issue arrises just test it with dell utility and they'll understand.
Dell support....never been good for me I have bronze. But anyways their email solutions are a whole lot better. When you email them only the one who knows takes it, so you will always get a good response 100* better than phone support. Hardware issues, none at the moment, but if the issue arrises just test it with dell utility and they'll understand.
NickFerrar
MIS
Some parts are pretty expensive form Dell but that reflects it's not their core business, we still buy additional CPUs/memory from them for existing systems just because the added convenience and lack of warranty issues far outweighs the small additional cost for us. When purcahsing new servers there's no way 3rd party CPUs/memory is 2-4x cheaper than getting it from Dell with the server, unless you're getting a very bad deal from them.
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