Lets say you win a free server. You win it and own it. All the specs are the same, What brand do you decide to get?

If all the specs are the same, does it really matter what brand it is? What matters then are 2 things - price and customer service.

I always build my own servers, well 9 out of 12 servers I have I build my own ... It used to be that I can save some money (espeically for the high end servers), but now for the low/medium end server the money saved may not worth the extra effort spent (not to mention you have to provide the warranty yourself).

But I still vote to "build my own server" simply because I like doing it! :D

cheers,
:beer:

Originally posted by haji
If all the specs are the same, does it really matter what brand it is? What matters then are 2 things - price and customer service.

The quality of parts the company uses, the way the company puts it all together, ect.
Some cars have the same specs of a mercedes, but the mercedes is probably built better ;) .

Not really correct ... When I build my server, I always get the best parts out there. In fact I am using same parts as other brand-name servers have. What's really difference in price between servers is support, not necessarily hardware parts, since hardware is pretty much standar nowadays. Unlike Mercedes/Ford that manufactures their own engines separately/differently, Dell does not manufacture their own hard-drive nor their own motherboard ... Again, it's all about support/warranty/overhead-cost (well, not necessarily the only reasons).

cheers,
:beer:

IBM makes their own hard drives :)

Originally posted by rewdog
IBM makes their own hard drives :)

Ah yea ... but that's about it (well probably motherboard)...
I know that IBM Netfinity 4000r is made by Network Engineers, the same company that also makes VALinux 1000 ... Case, Power Supply, Motherboard, CPU, CPU FAN, Memory, etc are all standard ...

Sun, on the other hand ... makes everything themselves, I believe ... from HD to OS, from Case to CPU ...

cheers,
:beer: