Rudi Ahlers wrote:
I got the components cheaper from another supplier / importer / retailer than from Dell directly. And really, how can KingMax RAM or Seagate HDD's from one supplier be better than from another supplier? I only use the recommended types, i.e ECC (non registered), and Seagate RAID edition SATAII HDD's.
I dunno about Dell, but most vendors, their own 'branded' hard drives have customized firmware thats been tested and validated to work in all their various raid systems.
its a lot of little things. a Sun 72GB SCSI drive will always be an exact size, no matter what "72GB" drive is in it, while a whitebox generic drive from the same OEM(seagate/hitachi/etc) might be 50MB bigger or 10MB smaller or whatever. this really matters when you replace a raid drive. raid controllers in particular interact with hard drive firmware in some rather complex and subtle ways, and the drives really need to be tested and qualified for a specific application. as an example, a seagate ST3100xxxx drive might have 100 or more variations, indicated by different part numbers (the 9L9005-xxx number in the case of Seagate) to meet specific OEM requirements. mix and match the generic 'whitebox' versions of the drives in systems, and you're the one doing the qualification testing in production.
Memory has a lot of little specs that aren't readily apparent, and "DDR2-533 Registered ECC" can have differing CAS timings, different voltages, and even if all that is identical on paper, may or may not work reliably in a given system due to timing subtleties.. The HP or Sun or whatever ram has been fully qualified to work in their systems and most importantly is supported by their field service people. The stuff you get cheaper at mom-n-pops compuRus, who knows, you're the one doing the 'qualification testing' on your production systems.
since you've mentioned dell, I'd have to say, in my personal experience, Dell's are the cheapest and least reliable of the brand name servers... their field service in the US at least is decent, but they have a far higher 'infant mortality' rate than about anything else I've used (mostly HP, Sun, IBM).
your supermicro vendor, he doesn't want anyone elses parts in the system he sells and warranties because he doesn't want to be be responsible for fixing ensuing problems. he's selling stuff he knows works, he knows meets the specifications, and that he's warrantying and supporting. If you bought a new Volkswagen, then installed an aftermarket camshaft, and the engine eats a valve, you're not going to expect Volkswagen to repair the piston damage, are you?
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