Reluctant to recommend servers that aren't new?
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@Nara some of our customers use some of their savings to buy extra parts to have in the shelf. They can then swap out in case of a failure. That gives them even less downtime than having a 4 hour warranty.
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i usually buy them from tiger direct. or evertek. AST, Joy Systems. stuff like that.
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@scottalanmiller said:
You have to compare the cost savings of the refurb gear to the cost of downtime. Downtime is always assumed to be expensive but in an average SMB is actually very cheap.
For a SMB, perhaps. I work more with SME and Enterprise. For example, a 67-person service company pulling in $23M per year would be out about $88k for a day of downtime (assuming a 5-day workweek). They wouldn't be able to service clients, post new data, or take payments.
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@ryan-from-xbyte said:
@Nara some of our customers use some of their savings to buy extra parts to have in the shelf. They can then swap out in case of a failure. That gives them even less downtime than having a 4 hour warranty.
That could be handy.
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@Nara How do you handle that now? Even a 4-hour response warranty would result in a half day downtime.
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Our biggest hurdle is customers who have their servers hosted at a datacenter. The extra step of having to go to another facility makes a non-onsite warranty difficult to use.
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ryan, are you getting "chats"?
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@Hubtech I am now. I didn't know that was a chat request. I thought it was just telling me that you were online. I just received your request and will work something up. I am going over to my mother's for her birthday, so I won't be able to get you anything until tomorrow AM.
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@ryan-from-xbyte said:
@Nara How do you handle that now? Even a 4-hour response warranty would result in a half day downtime.
When possible, I get an extra server for N+1 onsite, or set up a server with a replicated copy offsite.
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@ryan-from-xbyte said:
Our biggest hurdle is customers who have their servers hosted at a datacenter. The extra step of having to go to another facility makes a non-onsite warranty difficult to use.
But since the equipment's in a datacenter, the power's generally cleaner, and the environment's favorable on the servers. Wouldn't that generally result in lower failure rates? Most datacenters I've been to have workbenches to do hardware work and space for customers or remote hands to get work done while they wait for a tech.
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@scottalanmiller how old of refurb PCs are you buying? or are they all factory defects that have been repaired, so not technically new, but no real age either?
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller how old of refurb PCs are you buying? or are they all factory defects that have been repaired, so not technically new, but no real age either?
We normally buy "off lease" so about three years old.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller how old of refurb PCs are you buying? or are they all factory defects that have been repaired, so not technically new, but no real age either?
We normally buy "off lease" so about three years old.
How much longer do you run them? We did this about 4 years ago, much to my surprise most of them are still in service. They all came with XP. All of them are slated to be replaced ASAP.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller how old of refurb PCs are you buying? or are they all factory defects that have been repaired, so not technically new, but no real age either?
We normally buy "off lease" so about three years old.
How much longer do you run them? We did this about 4 years ago, much to my surprise most of them are still in service. They all came with XP. All of them are slated to be replaced ASAP.
Six or more years. Desktops don't age like they used to.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Six or more years. Desktops don't age like they used to.
You run them for 6 additional years? When did you start that? Other than failure, what do you use as a measure to replace them?
Though I can't say much - we had desktops purchased in 1999 (Windows 98) that were upgraded to XP and the last ones were replaced in 2010.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Six or more years. Desktops don't age like they used to.
You run them for 6 additional years? When did you start that? Other than failure, what do you use as a measure to replace them?
Though I can't say much - we had desktops purchased in 1999 (Windows 98) that were upgraded to XP and the last ones were replaced in 2010.
Really don't see failure. We replace the spinning rust with SSD and they run great. I'm on one of the oldest desktops in the company, maybe the oldest, and no issues at all. Runs Windows 8.1 very fast. We add memory and good graphics cards and that really makes them scream. It's not a new gaming rig or anything, but I can do pretty much anything without the slightest issues. We would only be replacing them for performance concerns and we aren't running into those yet. My desktop isn't nine years old yet but will easily be when it gets replaced.
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Until recently I was a 6 year old Q6600 with 8 gig RAM. I was/am surprised how snappy it still was (yeah I too had an SSD and did have to replace a failed video card and power supply) I still have that machine and plan to use it as a lab box - now I need more space on my desk for another monitor.
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I run dual 27" off of my old system.
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@Nara said:
@ryan-from-xbyte said:
Our biggest hurdle is customers who have their servers hosted at a datacenter. The extra step of having to go to another facility makes a non-onsite warranty difficult to use.
But since the equipment's in a datacenter, the power's generally cleaner, and the environment's favorable on the servers. Wouldn't that generally result in lower failure rates? Most datacenters I've been to have workbenches to do hardware work and space for customers or remote hands to get work done while they wait for a tech.
The issue is not the space to do the work, but having to travel to the datacenter to do the work. We offer a next business day warranty which is great for those with inhouse servers or local access to the servers, but when it can be challenging if they have to travel an hour to get to the datacenter. Some datacenters will offer remote hands, but it may be an extra charge that they have to factor in when comparing their options.
We are starting to work out deals with more datacenters to include remote hands with hosting if we bring them customers. These partnerships will eliminate that issue.
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@scottalanmiller 9 years out of a desktop is amazing.
