I read that this IBM xseries should be good servers for hosting. Other than Dialtone Internet, does any other company carry them? They seem to be pretty well priced for the features...any comments?

IBM Global Services uses them, of course! ;)

OK, IBM Global Services qualifying requirements for customers are quite high (I would be surprised if it will be less than $100K a year), but many of their partners will host smaller guys.

Probably the best thing to do will be to obtain a list of IBM hosting partners. Start here: www.ibm.com/services/webhosting. Post us the list, if you get it (I wasn't lucky).

Actually, Dell PowerApps perform better in lab tests than the IBM systems.

Also, most articles that I have read comparing the Dell, IBM, Compaq and others; Dell always wins hands down for performance and features/cost.

Dells quality has gone down hill as of late of course their prices have gone down too

We have not experienced a drop in quality.

Yes, they have lowered prices but that is to gain a more of a marketshare on servers over Compaq. All computer makers have dropped prices.

guys, I used Dell and IBM servers! and I can say that IBM servers are the best, and dell ones are just a joke!

I am very sure that dell pays a lot of money to those "PC Mag." and other so called "labs".

if you need a server, you have two choices, IBM and HP

JMan, that's not very informative. I live on Purdue University campus, well know with MIT, and other tech schools. The school has large amounts of servers (1000+) and I don't believe we seen anything that would sway us either way, ibm generally has a good name in quality, but I seen more than my share of crappy ibm servers...

but that doesn't mean anything! you see, I am not the best person to talk about this subject, all what I am going to tell you is what I have experince with it. I used the following servers :

IBM, HP, SUN, Dell and many others( mostly without a name, "home made" :D). and I will rank them as following :

SUN, HP, IBM, "home made", and finally, the bottom of the list is Dell. by the way, check our web site and you will see that the only Ded. servers we offer are Dell, not because we like them, but people want them.

I am not saying they are bad! but don't tell me that Dell servers are better then IBM or HP because you saw a lab test at "PC Mag." that say Dell beated other Servers.

I can tell you to check this page : http://netserver.hp.com/netserver/products/performance_lp1000r.asp?pid=lp1000r&pid2=lp+1000r

but, you know, I don't trust those lab work! I have to work with those servers to see which one is the best. and I find out that the best PC servers you can get is IBM and HP. this is what I think, and I might be worge.

Who said anything about PC MAG? I don't read that one, mostly trade publications. That is where I see the product tests and comparisons.

HP and IBM do make some cool servers, but for the price/performance/features Dell wins every time.

I have to agree that Dell offers the best price to performance ratio. My group is responsible for managing 100+ Compaq servers, and we have the worlds largest winfarm of 300+ servers in Downtown Dallas. All of the Winframe machines are Dell because they offer the best price to performance ratio. I have worked with Compaq systems more than any other servers but If I were to go out and buy servers with money out of my own pocket. I would buy DELL if I didnt build my own. Cant beat their price. The main thing that the Compaqs have on Dell is lights out management with the remote insigh boards. I dont think the DRACs have quite matured enough to unseat compaq in that arena. We currently are able to reinstall the OS on Compaq systems located in our remote markets if needed. Im sure Dell will catch up to Compaq and HP in that arena soon. :)