Question about a server box.

[Elochai]

I got an old Dell PowerEdge 1750 that I picked up a few years back for $150. I have upgraded the ram from 2 GB to 4 GB.

I only use this for testing really because I can't keep it running in the apartment. It to loud and puts out a high volume of heat. The funny thing is, I still see this model going for $150 - $300 on eBay. I been thinking about selling it and using the money for a newer one.

I got access to the basement in the building and can put it down there and run internet from powerline network. It will only get 35 Mbps but that's more then enough for it on my 75 Mbps network.

Thing is, if I sell it and want a new one, I'm gonna need a 1, 2, 3, or 4U. I can't use any blades as I don't got an encloser. So it got to come with all IO ports and power cord port.

John if your selling any, what the lowest price you give on a low spec one ?

Also have you ever thought of doing a rent to own deal here at NFO where you let people rent the space and bandwidth at the data center and then bill them so much a month as well for an old server for so many months until they own the server. I seen a few people do this, once they own the server after renting for so long, they can keep it in the datacenter for the rental cost of space and bandwidth or have it shipped out to them for a shipping fee.

Elochai

[rustydusty1717]

Here's what we just put in at a medical clinic. Nice HP blade, and I'm not sure what you are talking regarding enclosure for a blade. It simply sits on rails just like any standard machine.

[rustydusty1717]

Here's the one we did months ago at a Corporate real estate company in Calgary, AB, Canada

[Elochai]

Rusty,

Maybe it not all but I have had bad luck with blade servers. I was going to sell my 1U Dell PowerEdge 1750 and buy a Dell PowerEdge 1855. It was a very good price for the specs and the person selling must not of know it cost more then $15 to send it from the USA to Canada. I didn't have much time to click buy now becoe someone else does as it was only just listed a min ago and surly someone would buy it faster then I could look into it more.

Server listing never said anything about it being a blade server. It showed the front which look like this:



I thought I was getting a server 1 up from the 1U 1850.

After looking into it now that I know it safe with me and no one else was gonna take her at such a cheap price. I found out it was a blade server. Guess what, it does not have any standard IO ports; no power plug port, no network RJ-45 port / card, not even A serial port, heck it dont even got a PSU. What it does have is funny looking plug ports in shapes of squares. That looks like this:



Why ?, because in order to use these blade servers you must have a blade encloser. And every part needed from, PSU's and Network cards had to also be installed in one of these enclosures. These enclosures are not cheap and must have a 240 volt outlet.

This is the encloser I would of needed.



So because of this, I rather a 1 - 4U server then the risk of a paper weight. Good news is, I worked out the deal as the poor guy didn't want to ship it. He found out how much it was gonna cost him. $15 shipping turned out to be $75.

Anyway I don't say John got anything old in my price range yet. I'd go $200, and around Christmas I'd go $350 - $400. But I rather a rent to own deal as it cut server cost in the long run I'd say.

Sorry for any typos but typing on an iPhone in phpBB doesnt work well for me.

Scott

[rustydusty1717]

I guess what you call an enclosure, I would just call the chassis. The chassis, or enclosure as you said is definitely a critical part of a blade. I have 4 - R410's being pulled from a rack in a month or two, and I doubt I will be keeping any of them. As far as price, I haven't even thought about it, nor have I asked the client what they want done with them. They are phenomenal machines and are already configured with esxi 5. Moving them to a blade array, as it's an easy solution and a consolidated one. Both of which, every client likes to see. We haven't had any issues with any blades, other than issues you would have with any standard rack mounted unit. If I was to suggest a nice quiet 1U that has good power, plenty of room for additional memory, I would suggest the poweredge 1950. It's extremely quiet compared to any other 1U I've ever worked with. I personally own one and had it sitting in my office for a few days and barely noticed it running.

[Elochai]

Ya, im just going by what Dell calls them. To buy a 2nd hand one with nothing in it, it would cost me $700 plus I have to then buy the network adapters and PSU for it. Plus get rewired for a 240 V outlet.

Blades are simply not for me. I was wondering at the 1950 but was thinking higher then that. My 1750 sounds like a jet is in my apartment. Seeing I only been using it for testing, I should just sell it. I can do testing in virtual system setups. Heck after my new build for my PC I won't need a server on site. But off site would be nice for bandwidth setup. They don't got fiberOP in my town yet, just in the city. Once they get firbeOP here, then I will be all set. 30 Mbps up and down by Firber to the back bone of the island all for the same price as what I pay for 75 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.

[rustydusty1717]

For testing, the 1950 is more then sufficient. Any 1U that supports up to 32GB, 8 DIMM's is still plenty for daily use, and definitely enough for testing. Getting anything more than that is extremely overkill and a waste of money. Like I said, I have some R410's coming out soon that you could be sold, but they definitely won't be sold for $200. I would never run anything in an apartment, let alone a house. I was tempted not to even do it in my house, which is 1800SQFT per floor. Luckily half of the basement is unfinished so I could get proper AC in place to keep the room cool enough.