Who Is The Best Vender For Rackmount Unix Systems? 16
briansp asks: "What hardware vendors are people most happy with for rackmount Linux
servers? We've looked at IBM, Dell, VA Linux, and others, as well
as putting stuff together from parts. Important evaluation points
for me are: price, quality, reliability, support, and quick turnaround
on orders. Anyone have any vendors they've been particularly happy
or unhappy with?"
I like VA linux (Score:1)
*Not a Sermon, Just a Thought
*/
I Like IBM (Score:3)
We've got over 30 IBM Netfinity servers (3500, 3500M20, 5000, 5600, 8500, etc.) all of them bought in the last couple years. I'm a big fan of them.
Most of these servers replaced Compaq products. We've ran into problems with Compaq taking too long to deliver product and poor quality control.
The IBMs are fast and well built. There were some problems early on with Microsoft NT clustering not supporting SSA drives but that was resolved. (IBM and Microsoft worked together to get it fixed within three months. Not bad considering the players.)
I've got a mostly stock RedHat 6.2 install running on a 3500 and a really warped version of Debian running on a 5000. Our IBM hardware tech is well versed in Linux and has giving me a good feeling about IBM's support of Linux.
I may be biased, however. I've been working with IBM's RS/6000 products for many years and generally like IBM.
InitZero
Telenet (Score:1)
rolling your own (Score:2)
Rack systems (Score:3)
In general the VA Linux machines are great. documentation and quality control have suffered somewhat in their fast expansion, but they are still my first choice for linux boxen. We have several of the 4u units and three fullon (2u) servers.
The cobalts are OK for generic web/ftp servers, but they are lacking as full featured servers.
Dell has some great machines (including 2u rack units with dual pci busses). They are more pricey than VA Linux and the machines arrive with enough security holes to fly the Enterprise through.
The custom boxes that we have are in the form of a turnkey 32p beowulf. They are 4u cases that are basically the same as the older VA cases. The systems work great and were secure and ready to roll when they arrived (they were mounted in the racks had the net cables cut and bundled. Once the network was connected and the power plugged in, it was ready to run. These came from Paralogic. (www.plogic.com).
Sears Roebuck (Score:1)
Check Out LinuxSolve (Score:1)
LinuxSolve [linuxsolve.com] makes rackmount linux boxes for business & ISP/ASP apps. They take security seriously, and I believe they have a customized install. Check out their "configure your box" type interface. (No, I don't work for them.)
Build your own. (Score:2)
I just ordered my own system. I got a motherboard with an Intel 815E chipset, which comes with built-in video, sound, and sometimes even 10/100 Ethernet. All I had to buy was motherboard, CPU, RAM, HD, floppy, CD-ROM, and case.
I got a great deal on a rackmount case. Only $150 + $30 shipping at TechStore [techstore.com]. It's got 3 5.25" and 2 3.5" external bays plus 1 internal 3.5" bay. Most places want to charge you at least $300 for a rackmount case. This case is really quite nice too. I got most of my other components from Transcend PC [transcendpc.com].
VA Linux for price, components (Score:2)
The Fullon 2x2's are solid, stable, and well-built. Easy to set up, too. Turn it on, give it a root password, tell it where to find the gateway and DNS and what its own IP is (or tell it about a DHCP server) and it's running. Takes five minutes - more time to get the thing out of the box.
I'm also quite fond of the 1U high Network Engines boxes - VA has recently started reselling those. You can stack them 40 per rack.
Anyway, IMNSHO, YMMV, etc.
Re:Sears Roebuck (Score:1)
You can have my MAC tools after you pry them from my dead, bloody fingers.
VA Problems (Score:2)
We recently bought a 36 processor system from VA, and we get treated like they're doing us a favor by allowing such a small order.
We haven't bought a rackmount system from SGI, but we have bought Origins from them in the past, and their level of service is excellent. They even use the same mobos as VA, IIRC.
No, I do not work for VA, or SGI, or any hardware manufacturer/reseller/blah blah blah.
Bingo Foo
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Alpha Rackmounts (Score:1)
OT: why isn't this story on the front page?
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I use Cubix (Score:1)
www.dnuk.com (Score:1)
Re:VA Problems (Score:1)
Another VA fan. (Score:2)
We have a few rouge NT boxes, Intergraph and SGI, in the studio.
After buying all of this hardware and dealing with many companies on hardware support for various other hardware needs (tape backup, raid fileservers, routers, switches...) we know what we need and are willing to pay a premium for uptime (did I mention that we are H.A. We must keep the studio up.)
With this being said, we went looking for a render farm, willing to spend a decent amount of money. We looked at an SGI only solution, but the cost for high end graphics workstations to just render on seemed did not make sense. We thought about an NT solution about as long as it took you to read this sentence.
Linux was our natural choice. I started talking to different companies, all of them having rack mounted x86 boxes. Only a few came with Linux.
Because we are H.A., we needed not only a hardware solution, but a supported hardware/software combo. We were looking at 40+ machines now, a couple hundred in the future... more than what a person really wants to be responsible for.
This brought our choices down to a few companies. Of the companies, VA seemed to be the best deal, price or not. They had the support. They had the know how. They *were* Linux (ok... maybe an over statement).
After talking to VA, the local VA reps and all the people needed in presales meetings, we decided that VA would be everything that we needed. The price/performance/support ratio was in there favor.
When talking to VA, they gave us a list of other large 3D houses that were using VA as a rendering solution and set up phone conferences for us to talk to those that were running the systems currently. Only a company with a good product would act that boldly.
I have had few system problems with my machines. Those that I did have were dealt with on a high priority basis. When the network card drivers and the switches did not play nice, I recieved a phone call from somebody who knew what was going on... not some tech support jockey. We were able to get a working solution in a short period of time.
We had software that was supposed to work on our version of RH (6.2) that VA has slightly modified. Do to some problems, VA was willing to work with the software vendor to diagnos, debug and fix the problem.
After all is said and done, VA is well worth the price, regardless if it is a little higher than building it yourself or buying from an x86 vendor that ships with blank HD's or Win pre-installed.
They allowed us to implement a brand new renderfarm solution into an ongoing project with little downtime and hardship on our part. Now the company is banking on those boxes performing because our load of rendering is constantly increasing with multiple projects going on.