Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 08:43:08 +0200 (CEST) From: Wojciech Puchar <wojtek@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> To: Karl Vogel <vogelke+unix@pobox.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: What server hardware are you buying from the big companies these days? Message-ID: <alpine.BSF.2.00.0906090835530.4571@wojtek.tensor.gdynia.pl> In-Reply-To: <20090609024340.5F7AABED8@kev.msw.wpafb.af.mil> References: <20090609024340.5F7AABED8@kev.msw.wpafb.af.mil>
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> We have three SuperMicro blade servers. One's worked like a champ, and > the other two died. The vendor we used tanked, so no warranty support. > > I got two IBM X3400 boxes to replace the SuperMicros; the drives were > OK, so I got empty enclosures plus some rails, stuffed the drives in, and > installed FreeBSD-7.1. My only problem so far has been a BIOS issue, but > IBM site-support has been great. > > -- from posts here about branded hardware including you, i see that i do right things. i just buy parts and make computer from them, not only it's cheap, but it have similar reliability as expensive branded ones. Usually DIY computers fail within a week or not at all, similar to branded ones. My advice for anyone who needs new computer, but don't need super-ultra-high-end new core i7 or whatever. Buy second hand branded hardware from ebay (allegro in poland). It's usually hardware that was used in offices and replaced by more "modern" ones. It's already tested!!! You could get high-end PIII with 512MB RAM for $30 at most, the only thing you may need to add is larger drives, but 20GB isn't uncommon. P4 with 1GB RAM and 40GB drive is for 60-70$ here. All this branded second-hand hardware have nice and small desktop cases, are usually quite silent and just works out of the box. For good software like FreeBSD, PIII/1000 is already lightning-fast. And from what i read on that list, 90% of your servers run quite simple task that even Pentium 100 will do.
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