IBM vs Dell servers

DMag · 15th February 2008

Does anyone have a preference between Dell and IBM servers?

I'm thinking of Poweredge 860s:

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/pr...dt1&l=en&s=bsd

Or IBM x3250s:

http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/uk/x/h...250/specs.html

Though the IBMs seem to be quite a lot more expensive...

Also, any recommendations on getting low power consumption servers?

JamieBeeston · 16th February 2008

Dell R200, you wont find lower power on a branded x86 server

aXeR · 16th February 2008

Another vote for the R200's here too!

[inx]Olly · 16th February 2008

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SynergyWorks · 16th February 2008

Another vote for the R200. I've installed ~ 25 of them this year already, very nice units, although they do bring the "problem" of running out of space before power! - Not a bad problem to have mind you...

adamsmith · 16th February 2008

There really is no contest. The Dells come in at ~50% of the cost of the IBMs with discount. If you're running a business where hardware (or rather deprecation) is one of your primary costs then there's no decision to be made.

JamieBeeston · 16th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by adamsmith

There really is no contest. The Dells come in at ~50% of the cost of the IBMs with discount. If you're running a business where hardware (or rather deprecation) is one of your primary costs then there's no decision to be made.

Oh to have a time machine and travel back a year or so Smith

I've yet to meet anyone who anything -ve to say about the modern Dells.

oh.. wait... wheres Gold-y-locks-ing

adamsmith · 16th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

Oh to have a time machine and travel back a year or so Smith

I've yet to meet anyone who anything -ve to say about the modern Dells.

oh.. wait... wheres Gold-y-locks-ing

Oh certainly, 2-3 years ago Dell's low end offerings were tripe. I should know, we still have a couple!

But now, with the 860/R200, you can have a rock solid server with fantastic performance (albeit limited to 2 drives) which sips power for very little money at all.

JamieBeeston · 16th February 2008

You didnt like the 1425 or the 850s?

DMag · 16th February 2008

Cheers for the replies, it's great to get responses from people with first hand experience.

Anyone hazard a guess to what power consumption the following would have:

Dell R200
Quad core X3210 Xeon
8gb Ram
2x 1tb WD Caviar GP low power drives (7.6watt at idle each vs 14.2watt for a Hitachi 1tb)
3ware Raid card

JamieBeeston · 16th February 2008

Dell have an online power calculator.

Google for the Dell Datacentre Capacity planner and knock yourself out.

DMag · 16th February 2008

Cheers Jamie, looks like I'll have to rethink my spec somewhat.

Roll on renewable energy sources!

othellotech · 16th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

oh.. wait... wheres Gold-y-locks-ing

The R200's are the first budget Dells that are designed for DataCentre use, rather than as convection heaters for a block of council flats :P

The 3xx and 8xx series are p!ss-poor-performing rackmount desktops and best avoided. For the money, the SC14xx's were the best use of 4 cubic feet of landfill i've ever seen.

JamieBeeston · 16th February 2008

The r200's arent that much lower draw than the 860's

We've QuadCore 2.4 860's pulling .35-.4a a pop..

not 'that' bad really!

Dual QuadCore 1950's, over 20GHz of power, 8GB RAM, Dual SAS Drives, RAID, Dual PSU just over 1a!

othellotech · 16th February 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

We've QuadCore 2.4 860's pulling .35-.4a a pop.. not 'that' bad really!

Until you realise that with all that "oomph" under the hood it performs slower than a P3 866 Flexiserv ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JamieBeeston

Dual QuadCore 1950's, over 20GHz of power, 8GB RAM, Dual SAS Drives, RAID, Dual PSU just over 1a!

And in performance/£/KWh is still the best piece of kit Dell make.

Although I'm seeing ours draw closer to 1.3a - no problem at all in recommending them to people who need a badge on the front of a box.

There is a reason the 860's are £200 and the 1950s £1000 ....