Fathi Ben Nasr <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
[snip]
>Can someone help me choose between this servers, which is, especially
>from the hardware point of view, the one that is technicaly superior to
>all the others ?
I'm not sure there is a clear-cut winner in technical superiority. I'm
guessing they'll all be about the same. Do you have any experience with
either brand? Sometimes that can be helpful when troubleshooting hardware
or if you need spare parts.
>These servers are:
>HP Netserver LH4
>IBM Netfinity 5500 M20
>Compaq Proliant 5500 1P/4P
>Compaq Proliant 5500 2P/4P
I don't have any experience with the Netfinity line, but I do have an older
model NetServer (LHPro - a dual 200MHz PPro) here. We have primarily
Compaq's on the desktop here, but I went with the NetServer for the
following reasons:
At the time, neither HP nor Compaq were "on the Linux bandwagon" so to
speak. I was able to talk to a pre-sales engineer at HP who gave me
specifics about the on-board SCSI card and video chipset, so I could verify
that Linux would run on the hardware. I was unable to get any definite
answers from Compaq at the time. (This may not be much of an issue anymore
as I believe all 3 vendors now offer Linux pre-configured.) Our commercial
Unix boxes are HP's and I knew their RISC boxes, hubs, switches, etc. were
pretty bulletproof. I was hoping the same was true of their NetServer
line. This has proven to be the case thus far.
Although I'm very familiar with Compaq on the client end, they sometimes
tend to use "semi-proprietary" hardware which isn't always supported by
Linux. (Their soundcards spring to mind.) Again, this may no longer be
the case, at least with their server line.
I liked the NetServer's front-mounted hot-swap drive trays. I've been able
to successfully remove a device from the kernel's SCSI table, remove the
drive, replace it with another and add the new drive to the kernel's table
without powering down! This may be possible with offerings from IBM and
Compaq as well.
I *may* have been making somewhat of a statement at the time, as all
NetWare & NT servers were running on Compaq and all Unix servers were HP,
but it's hard to tell. <grin>
Finally, the LHPro was being discontinued and I was able to get a good
price on it.
That said, I do have a smaller server at another building running on Compaq
desktop-class hardware, but it doesn't really need to be any beefier. I
wasn't able to get the soundcard to work, but it doesn't really matter on a
server.
HTH
-Eric
Eric Sisler
Library Computer Technician
Westminster Public Library
Westminster, CO, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Linux - don't fear the Penguin.
Want to know what we use Linux for?
Visit http://gromit.westminster.lib.co.us/linux
--
To unsubscribe: mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe"
as the Subject.
