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  • #2194601

    Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

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    by briwlls ·

    I’ve got my Microsoft Small Business Specialist qualification and I’ve got a line of customers ready to jump into SBS 2003.

    I run a Dell PowerEdge with SBS 2003 in my home/office, and I have a client running an HP Proliant ML350, both are working fine.

    Dell does not partner well and doesn’t offer me any streamlined tech support, although I have been recommending their desktops to my business clients for the last 7 years.

    HP has a partner program, but I’m not sure if that is just for financial gain for those systems you purchase of if they offer me preferred back-end support when using HP servers that I recommend to my clients.

    What are your thoughts on Dell servers versus HP servers.

    Please note, I know there will be those who say build-it or buy from some custom shope etc., but I want my client to have a good solid product from a reputable name i.e. Dell or HP. This way if I exit the business or the client terminates the relationship for whatever reason the next company or tech can’t say, ‘oh the last guy gave you a bad system.’

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    • #3089884

      Vote for Dell

      by tink! ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      I like them both, but prefer Dell as far as reliability in the workplace.

      We are currently using a Dell PowerEdge with SBS 2003. We used to have an HP Netserver. To compare the two would be comparing apples with oranges because the HP was archaic as far as computer standards go.

      But in my experiences, Dell has proven powerful and reliable in the workplace. HP appears to handle the same workload, but not necessarily as reliably or quickly.

      HP to me is more of a home computer [i](I do have two at home)[/i], and Dell is the business brand.

      • #3089488

        Dell Vote for Small Shops

        by bfilmfan ·

        In reply to Vote for Dell

        Dell servers will work fine for most small shops.

        HP is for large enterprise environments.

        • #3089422

          i gotcha

          by tink! ·

          In reply to Dell Vote for Small Shops

          I’ve never worked in a large enterprise so I’ve never actually touched a huge workhorse pc. So I’m sure you’re right. 🙂

        • #3089307

          Really?

          by navy moose ·

          In reply to Dell Vote for Small Shops

          My datacenter has several hundred Dell Power Edge servers. I work for a large multinational company.

          Personally, I think Dell tech support is fantastic. Dell equipment is reliable as hell. I’ve got a six year old Dell server, which is going to be retired soon, that has never been powered down.

    • #3084828

      Dell vs HP

      by mtosoc ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      Hello,

      Maybe I can be of assistance. I’m a reseller and actually partner with both Dell and HP. Dell only partners well if you can bring them 7-8 figures in revenue. I work especially well with consultants all over the U.S. who recommend Dell but can’t get the kind of pricing that we can offer. If you’re interested, let me know. I’m involved in your type of scenario every day and we did 12 million with Dell last year! I can be reached at 847-912-1321 and can give you all the details on the type of pricing we get as well as showing you how my other partners profit with our relationship with Dell.

      Tony

      • #3086324

        I agree, but also

        by cmeredith ·

        In reply to Dell vs HP

        We actually do only about a mid 5 figure a year business with Dell and have a great relationship. We normally do get a type of “special tech support” as we bypass tier1 support and go straight to people who actually help or just dispatches the parts we say we need for warranty.

        Dell works in both the SMB segment as well as the enterprise. I helped rollout an AD network that had over 300 Dell PowerEdges at 176 locations and 178 domains and over 600,000 users about 3 years ago and less than 1% have had any issues.

    • #3086242

      I work with both

      by brooks2 ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      I have worked with both Dell and HP servers across the product line from top end servers in large enterprises to small business servers.

      Putting the reseller, money making issues aside, I have found both to be adaquate but in critical situations where my customer has crotical uptie needs, I’ll take an HP every time. HP service (not talking support here, I’m talking service – fix it NOW). I have replaced flakey, troublesome installations (some of these were more implementation rather than hardware issues) with HP Proliant (the old Compaq line – not those horrible HP Netservers) servers and made the customer VERY happy.

      However, I have and will continue to work with both.

      • #3084256

        Work with Both

        by x-marcap ·

        In reply to I work with both

        The power consumption of the Dell brand is far more power intensive. The local power company reccomends Dell servers as space heaters. 😉 The Dell servers are power hungry…

        There is a great deal of difference in the server quality for the Proliant line is the best out there.

        The HP tech support is much better.

        For anything serious Buy HP.

    • #3084261

      HP ONLY

      by grimshiire ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      Dell’s customer service is fine for home use, not for corporate use. Even though I use Dell for my consulting business, at my real job, I would use nothing but HP. Their CS has always been superior & when it comes down to it, that’s all that matters: How a company stands behind their products.

    • #3084129

      HP – my friend – HP

      by kron ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      I have my own consulting company now for over 5 years and worked in IT for over 7 – HP tops in business customer and tech support. I have clients that have HP and Dell units and while Dell machines are good nothing beats excellent support. That?s what counts, especially with your clients; they want the problem solved not prolonged. HP in some cases has gone beyond tech support to make sure the problem was either fixed or resolved some how ? they have even followed up by calling me to get updated ? Dell has never done that – HP hands down.

    • #3268447

      Had Both

      by bschmidt ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      I worked at a place that had an HP server that ran fine. I left there to work at a place that had a Dell server that ran fine. Never had a problem with either. I’ve done support on countless numbers of both HP and Dell machines — can’t really say one is better than the other. Besides, it’s all the same Seagate/Samsung/Corsair/Gigabyte hardware anyway. Dell had seemed to be getting a little more proprietary with its equipment for a while (funny how Compaq was the proprietary hardware king) but I haven’t seen it in a while.

      Dell support can suck at times. I once had a 2 hour phone call to get a HDD replaced. But once you learn their language it’s easy. It got to where I’d call Dell Support, tell them “I’ve got this error code with this message and this diagnostics test gives that result” and they’d give me whatever I want without any questions. Never had any experience with HP computers (support on their printers blows though).

      I’d say get a couple of each and see which you feel best with. Pick one or two comparative models from each brand and stick with them, then suggest the best deal at the time.

    • #3268429

      Dell Severs versus HP Servers

      by jondoe2001 ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      All of our new clients are now using dell servers because we recommended it to them.. We have a lot of Dell Poweredge servers out there and a few HP Proliant servers for our older customer. The hardware infrastructure on Dell servers is magnificent but their technical support team puts you through a rigorous and time-consuming process before replacing parts. I think it’s senseless to treat technical professionals like end users. HP servers are reliable and their customer service is superior.

    • #3268428

      Reply To: Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      by graham_calvert ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      Having used both boxes it is personnel opion. It depends on a variety of things. To me I would choose the HP option over Dell. However the HP kit does cost more.
      However the HP kit seems to be that little bit faster, and if it is going to get racked in 19inch cabinets then the HP has a smallerfootprint on the cable managment arm. Also in my experience HP support is better and want to solve the issue quickly.

      Again this just my opion based on my experience with both vendors

    • #3268427

      HP for me

      by razz2 ·

      In reply to Dell Servers or HP Servers for Microsoft SBS 2003?

      Interesting comments here. I am a consultant that deals with
      mostly Small to Medium business. I have some clients on Dell
      and some on HP. I rarely see issues with either one that would
      make me pick a company based on MTBF. Support on the other
      hand, I have had great experience with HP in ‘almost’ every case
      and not the same with Dell but again the sample is not enough
      to judge maybe.

      The partner issue though is important here. I am a network
      consultant and do not do resale. I charge my clients for my time
      and consult them on what to implement and I will implement it
      for them. HP has an influencer program. I have a dedicated SMB
      sales rep and can save my client $$ over direct sales from HP or
      even a cdw price. Even with the savings to the end client HP pays
      me a commision and 1099’s me. There is no preferred service I
      am aware of, but I can have my rep get anyone the phone from
      storage guru’s to procurve specialist for pre-sale issues, and the
      after the sale response has always been good through the
      normal means.

      This program offers many tools to assist in the sale and support
      though.

      Dell does not have a similar program.

      Anyway, I always go HP but that is not because of horror stories
      with the Dell or the HP program. I simply have always been
      happy with them.

      As to custom built… not for me. I have argued too many times
      with a shop that they need to fix a station that died before it’s
      time and their response is the motherboard has a 5 yr warrenty,
      or the drive is 3 years etc. who has the time in a production
      environment to strip a motherboard out and mail it in. Give me a
      reasonable price on next business day or 4 hr response parts
      and labor and I am happy. No $$ from my client for me to solve
      the issue. The manufacturer does it.

      Steve

      • #2656754

        HP all the way

        by scott_freytag ·

        In reply to HP for me

        I work for a large surgery center and hospital consulting and management company. Whenever I go somewhere to look at servers for upgrade, or setup a new installation, I always use HP for proven reliability and support.

        We used to run all Dell PowerEdge servers coupled with Dell Optiplex computers. To put it short, I’ve had to replace EVERY Dell computer, as it died due to thermal errors. The PowerEdge servers kept getting slower and slower and slower, finally the main boards in the server would fail, and have been replaced in several servers.

        We’ve since then replaced everything with the ProLiant DL380 G5 series servers. Depending on your work environment, and since 50% of companies that lose data usually never recover, I believe using Dell in important cases is like shooting yourself in the foot. I’m sure others would disagree, but personally I’ve never seen a successful Dell installation. No wonder the previous owner is taking it over again due to lack of quality.

        I guess one of my old co-workers, working for Peacehealth in Oregon said it best when he said. “We only buy Dell’s. 5 Years ago I thought it was junk, and now I believe its even worse…”

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