We're in the midst of planning a big hardware infrastructure upgrade. We've already got a few 1u systems from starbox.net, and they're okay, but we're looking at different vendors for this big upgrade.

We were just about ready to buy from Penguin Computing, but they want 10-12 working days to ship us anything (we're ready to move fast), and they don't offer any breaks on shipping (even on orders of $10k+).

We really like the configuration system at http://www.qsol.com ... I can't find anyone on the net talking about their hardware or sales/support though.

Anyone have any experience with qsol.com linux servers or have a recommendation of a different vendor? We need to be able to play with configurations on a website (please no bobs-cheapie-servers.com), and we're not interested (this time) in building a box from components.

Thanks!

Have you considered Dell? They always have specials on their servers (right now it's save $300 off servers and free ground shipping on all servers). Sure, it's not much for 1 server, but when you order 5, the value adds up. Also, from _my_ experience, their sales and support is great (for small business -- for consumer it's a bit different, but still not bad at all). Plus, their 3 year parts Next-Day-Air support is a great plus. You can upgrade that to as much as 4-hour replacement I believe (use the savings on the server and shipping to buy the fast replacement).

I'm considering purchasing their PowerEdge 1550 1U server in the near future to add to the PowerEdge 1400 that I currently have (not the 1400SC -- those are new and aren't half as good as the original 1400's).

Yes, we've looked at Dell. Our first impression, though, is that we can get a server with identical hardware stats for about 40% cheaper at other vendors like Penguin or Qsol.com. Am I missing something?

I have to admit the next-day delivery, service and support associated with the Dell name are enticing though.

Originally posted by magnafix
I have to admit the next-day delivery, service and support associated with the Dell name are enticing though.
That was the main reason why we went with Dell for this server. Another reason was when I called the Salesman to get a "phone price quote and possibly purchase on the spot," he quoted me a price $150 cheaper for the exact same hardware on their site. Along with that I got the $300 off deal (paid ~$100 for 2nd-day air shipping). I got the box in about 3 days (wow).

Just my experience though. Subject to change from salesperson to salesperson. :)

A Vendor in Germany:

www.daemo.de/server

Best regards
Wallker

Hiya,

We use an excellent company in New Jersey called Compunite for all our rackmount servers, there service has always been excellent and Im sure they'll do you an excellent deal price wise.

They have also been fantastic at responding to hardware problem calls in the middle of the night a few times .

http://www.compunite.com

Give them a ring and speak to Steve.

I have dealt with Dell on a number of occassions for equiping the scientific computer cluster at a nearby company. The client purchased 4Poweredge 6400, 4 Poweredge 4400, and 8 2450's. They also helped us with integrating a third party RAID system and getting the networking setup. When one of the drives in the RAID crashed, they had another one to use overnight after making a phone call at 4 PM.

We used to have several computers that were custom built from a local supplier -- they always gave us problems. The nice thing about dell is that the computers are highly consistent from box to box, which was extremely important when hooking the 8 2450's into a clustered server enviroment.

Dell may be a bit more pricey but their service is excellent. I would crank some hard numbers including tech support options and if you had to pay a tech if you went with a different company that offered less support.

I am sure there are other great companies out there. But using Dell also gives you a nice marketing strat. as well -- Instead of "RedHat Linux Box" you can say "A Dell-powered RedHat Linux Server" to the tech savy this will not make a lot of difference but to the causal user the Dell name will carry siginificance.

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