Ad: Download FREE Network Management Software from Spiceworks

Networking Discussion Thread
Unsolved
Views: 4813

Permalink

Mar 21st, 2006

Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Expand Post »

My dads business is buying one of these. Is it a good server? Does dell rip you off with this?

Similar Threads

Server vs. CPU in Windows NT / 2000 / XP

EriCartman13

Reputation Points: 10

Solved Threads: 1

Junior Poster

Offline

114 posts
since Apr 2005

Permalink

Mar 21st, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

They're OK servers.

You certainly won't be using one of these for an entire enterprise operation, but if you need a server with good service capability, and you're cost-conscious, then it's pretty good.

Looking at the 1800's specs, it can be pretty beefy, though. Max 12GB RAM, up to 2 Dual Core Xeon processors, and RAID capability. That's pretty good-- I've worked a good bit with that particular chassis, and it's pretty solid-- good cooling, and it's pretty easy to work in. I'd say it's a fair bit more attractive than the SC series of servers. Not that those are bad, but they're fairly entry-level compared to the rest of the lineup.

alc6379

Team Colleague

Reputation Points: 186

Solved Threads: 147

Cookie... That's it

Offline

2,519 posts
since Dec 2003

Permalink

Mar 22nd, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Thanks a bunch. Yea since my Dad's business is not very big, probably only going to be about 10-15 employees in the near future, he did not need something to powerful. It is going to be sweet.

EriCartman13

Reputation Points: 10

Solved Threads: 1

Junior Poster

Offline

114 posts
since Apr 2005

Permalink

Mar 23rd, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Quote originally posted by EriCartman13 ...

Thanks a bunch. Yea since my Dad's business is not very big, probably only going to be about 10-15 employees in the near future, he did not need something to powerful. It is going to be sweet.

Heck, if that's the case, an 1800 might be over kill. One of my consultants runs a Poweredge 800 with a 3.2ghz Xeon, 2GB RAM, and that is almost over kill for 10-15 users.

alc6379

Team Colleague

Reputation Points: 186

Solved Threads: 147

Cookie... That's it

Offline

2,519 posts
since Dec 2003

Permalink

Mar 23rd, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

I said in the near future. Could expand bigger. They were using a computer as a server that was set up and that was just not cutting it. I mean what if they lost all of there data? Plus it makes you a little more "professional".

EriCartman13

Reputation Points: 10

Solved Threads: 1

Junior Poster

Offline

114 posts
since Apr 2005

Permalink

Mar 27th, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

My advise from experience, is that what you do now, will have an effect later on. Once your Dad finds out how useful the server can be, no doubt they will use it more, for file storage, or email exchange. Then use it as a domain controller, and the business will become reliant on this server more and more through an expansion of the possibilities. Thats all good, until the server breaks.

To cut to the chase, if his company can afford it, better to get two servers now, and future proof any contingency. If they had a tape back up, even better.

MartyMcFly

Reputation Points: 16

Solved Threads: 17

Practically a Master Poster

Offline

675 posts
since Feb 2005

Permalink

Mar 27th, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Yes we got a tape backup. But I don't think he could afford 2 servers. But the backup should be good enough right?

EriCartman13

Reputation Points: 10

Solved Threads: 1

Junior Poster

Offline

114 posts
since Apr 2005

Permalink

Mar 28th, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Well the tape backup will be fine for keeping backups of data, and restoring against a software problem, and it is unlikely that a new server would actually breakdown, so you most likely will never need that second server.

It's just risk management. If the business begins to rely upon the server, then it would be good to have a second, incase the primary server has any problems. If he can't afford a second, then it is a case of running with that risk, albeit a fairly small risk. he should just keep an eye on how dependant the business becomes of the server, and keep track of the risk associated with not having a backup if it goes wrong. It all depends on the business anyway, and how they do business.

The worse that would happen, is downtime for the period that the server is fixed. As long as they plan for what they would do whilst that service is not present, it would be ok.

MartyMcFly

Reputation Points: 16

Solved Threads: 17

Practically a Master Poster

Offline

675 posts
since Feb 2005

Permalink

Mar 28th, 2006

Re: Dell Server PowerEdge 1800

Quote originally posted by MartyMcFly ...

Well the tape backup will be fine for keeping backups of data, and restoring against a software problem, and it is unlikely that a new server would actually breakdown, so you most likely will never need that second server.

It's just risk management. If the business begins to rely upon the server, then it would be good to have a second, incase the primary server has any problems. If he can't afford a second, then it is a case of running with that risk, albeit a fairly small risk. he should just keep an eye on how dependant the business becomes of the server, and keep track of the risk associated with not having a backup if it goes wrong. It all depends on the business anyway, and how they do business.

The worse that would happen, is downtime for the period that the server is fixed. As long as they plan for what they would do whilst that service is not present, it would be ok.

Of course, you could get the best of both worlds-- RAID1 or RAID 5 with hotswappable drives, tape backups, dual NICs, redundant PSUs, ECC RAM, etc. About the only thing that could take you out is a motherboard failure-- with the new Dual Core Xeon chips, you could probably even lose a CPU core and still be OK. It's more expensive than 1 "plain old" server, but if reliability is important, you can get that, even in a single server, it just costs more.

alc6379

Team Colleague

Reputation Points: 186

Solved Threads: 147

Cookie... That's it

Offline

2,519 posts
since Dec 2003

This thread is more than three months old

No one has posted to this discussion for at least three months. Please let old threads die and do not reply to them unless you feel you have something new and valuable to contribute that absolutely must be added to make the discussion complete. Otherwise, please start a new thread in this forum instead.

Previous Thread in Networking Forum Timeline: log on details

Next Thread in Networking Forum Timeline: Key port Not responding.

DaniWeb Message

Cancel Changes

User Name
Password