With thousands of computer retailers, where do you buy your hardware and servers? We're looking for a good computer retailer that we can buy customized systems/servers from. Competitive prices, online customization, fast support, volume discounts (for OS software as well), a good software selection, all that good stuff. This will be for dedicated servers as well as in-house servers. Mostly midtowers - we don't have a need for rack mounts.

I buy my server(s) from Dell. They offer some pretty good computers (rackmounts), with some good options. Some people don't like them because they're not especially cheap ... but as major retailers go, they are on the cheaper end.

I was wondering basically about online computer shops, such as those listed at http://directory.google.com/Top/Computers/Hardware/Components. Dell is great but you end up paying for the name.

tried local wholesale shops?

few things I can think of are..
save on shipping..
can get items replaced quicker..
can view their inventory, and not worry about backordered companies..

theres more.

I've bought from a couple of places.

www.qsol.com was great for a very high end server (Dual Xeon). Joe was very helpful. The server came with a bad RAID controller, and he helped me get it quickly fixed.

I've also had good luck with http://www.interpromicro.com/ I've worked with Bensen there. You can get a lot of pricing from their on-line system. If I want something custom, I just email Bensen.

The third place I've delt with is http://www.btoonline.com/ (Built To Order). I have to call/email in a spec and then they get back to you quite quickly with a quote.

Warranty from BTW was quite excellent. I had a problem with a new server and noone could figure out what it was. The overnighted (Sat. delivery) a new motherbord, cpu etc. so we could figure it out.

I hope that helps,

Frank

we buy our POWERFUL servers from Dell (and a few from gateway when the price was right)
when it comes to lower end machines, we order parts from either a specific local computer shop, newegg, or tcwo...

supermicro.com is also ok... for server cases I suggest servercase.com

Originally posted by bwho
tried local wholesale shops?

Yeah, there's not much local around here.

Thanks for the reply ffeingol, I'll check those out.

Try eBay (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&query=server&from=R8&ht=1&st=2&category2=11211&Top10=&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&catref=C1)

You can usually get some really good deals!

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=auctionwatch-ars2

Has some good pretty good deal on Penguin Computing Servers


http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=thisoldstore

Has some good deals on Dells keep checking them this week when they post more auctions.

Like complx.net I check TCWO (www.tcwo.com) first because they are local. If they don't have what I want then I will check Newegg. I can usually find what I need at one of those two places.

Andrew

I have wholesale accounts with large wholesalers like TechData etc... I build the servers here, its a LOT cheaper. Try to stay away from Compaq and Gateway. I have never had good experiences with their eq.

aNc

Originally posted by Andyc
Like complx.net I check TCWO (www.tcwo.com) first because they are local.

I just had a bad mobo from TCWO. A buddy of mine did also. Two bad mobo's is not a good sign.

The also wanted to charge me a 15% restocking for the defective mobo.

Frank

I just had a bad mobo from TCWO. A buddy of mine did also. Two bad mobo's is not a good sign.


Are you sure they were defective? I'm not saying you are one, but many 'newbie' PC builders think they have a defected mobo because it doesn't POST. Usually, you should be able to return it for an exchange or activate the warranty.

For me, I use both NewEgg.com (very reliable and cheap), and from time to time... eBay.

I build my own servers, and you should too. It's easy to do, and it saves me ~$500 if I buy from Compaq, Dell, etc.

I don't want to get this off topic, but I'm sure it was bad. The board had 2 slots for memory sticks. In one of the slots it would only see 1/2 the size of the memory stick.

I've built numerous servers and have proper gounding pads etc.

Frank

MWAVE.com and NEWEGG Also Compute-aid.com for rack cases, or AMS cases from newegg.com

Oh yeah for memory, hds, mobos, and cpus,

http://www.Memman.com/

Has some of the best prices and the absolute best customer service!:D

Originally posted by vhedesigns
Try eBay (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?GetResult&query=server&from=R8&ht=1&st=2&category2=11211&Top10=&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&catref=C1)

You can usually get some really good deals!

eBay is good for certian things, but there's no way I'd get a mission-critical server off an auction. :)

Okay maybe I'm wrong but why wouldnt you buy a dell server that is a couple months old and still has a great warranty and save yourself $$$$.

The auctionwatch seller had a lot of great servers up there a few months ago and a friend of mine picked up abour five of them and they have been running flawless everysince.

And last but not lease if you have seen some of the Sun/eBay ads you know that Sun sells most of its off-lease and factory refurb. products on eBay so they are probably good quality too.

Save some money on a good server, and buy it used.

Just my 2 cents.

I understand what you'e saying. It would just make me nervous running a used machine for a server. If a client's site or Email goes down due to a hardware problem I don't think it would matter much to them if it still has a great warranty. :) The money isn't an issue, it's the reliability - but that goes for whether I buy new or used, components or complete servers.