[TriLUG] Purchasing a Linux cluster

[Michael Winslow Czeiszperger]

On Tuesday, December 3, 2002, at 07:20 AM, Janyne Kizer wrote:

> That's a really good point.  We are rolling out Dell servers with Linux
> on them and when we have had to call them regarding hardware problems
> they are pretty thrown when we say that we are using Linux.  The really
> seem to want to support Microsoft products only.  If you are going with
> their Gold support, it should be fine but then you'd probably end up
> paying more than you would from another vendor.

That's strange. My company bought 9 Dell servers about 1.5 years ago 
with no OS on them at all. (They wanted an extra $300/each to install 
RedHat or $600 extra each to install Windows 2000 Server.) When one of 
the machines had a disk crash there was no problem with their support 
line regarding the OS.

This was with their "free" included support, i.e. we didn't have a 
support contract. Luckily we haven't needed their support people after 
that so I don't know if that one experience was a fluke or not.

___________________________________________________________________
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         -- michael at czeiszperger dot org, Chapel Hill, NC