Blade and rack servers purchase Guide

Server blade servers and rack servers are the mainstay of the data center environment. They provide the necessary processing functions for the dramatic increase in workload. However, no matter which type of server you want to purchase, you must include several key points in the purchase list before purchasing or installing new devices.

Ken Hostetler, product management director of Silicon Mechanics, provides some wise advice to solve some problems you may encounter when looking for the storage servers that best suit your enterprise.

Ask questions about every vendor you are considering. Hostetler said: "If you are not an excellent technical skill, you can ask questions. Excellent vendors hope to install the appropriate system together with you. If you feel that the vendor has no time to ignore you, find a vendor that has time to ignore you. You can look around. Search on the Internet and visit the vendor's website to see which provider provides comprehensive products and professional services to meet your requirements. Ask colleagues, acquaintances, professional networks, and anyone who has purchased servers ."

Hostetler also said that you must ensure that the vendor provides a reasonable price range and configuration options, "and do not desperately sell you the so-called all-in-one solution ". In addition, consider which type of management tools are integrated and the redundancy level. If you need to ask some basic questions to potential vendors, you can try to ask the following questions: Is your company an independent vendor or a subsidiary of another company? Where is your company located? What kind of customer reviews can you provide?

Complete Budget Planning

According to Hostetler, careful budget planning is not just about careful calculation. In addition to determining which vendor has the lowest total cost of ownership, you should also pay attention to the compatibility with the operating system, workload distribution, and network constraints, the goal is to "consider both the purchase cost and the power consumption and cooling requirements for future procurement when preparing a budget."

Other considerations for budgeting include preventing remorse after purchase and taking into account hardware support. Hostetler said: "Beware of proprietary solutions. Such solutions seem to be easy to use, but they are much more expensive, providing features and features that you don't actually need. If these solutions meet your needs, they are good, but if they are not suitable, they are just costly. Servers designed with common hardware may be more suitable for your needs and budget ." Hostetler explains that you may need to reserve a certain number of support personnel to maintain the hardware, or you can sign a 24/7 on-site service contract.

Consider whether new hardware is suitable

Unless you build a server room from the ground up, you may need to add another layer for the entire architecture. This may lead to another opportunity to ask the vendor some tricky questions about the key features of your hardware. Hostetler said: "You can take the opportunity to figure out whether the driver corresponding to the aging hardware inside the Enterprise will cause conflict, rather than asking again after the problem has been solved after the money is bought ." Do not ignore scalability to ensure that the server can be optimized in the future. If you plan to expand the network or system in the future, pay more attention to scalability.

Procurement list

Budget the required features rather than just for the budget. With a clear understanding of the hardware specifications, you can prepare for the workload requirements of new servers.

Actively communicates with the manufacturer. No matter how many questions you need to raise, make sure that the vendor fully understands your specific requirements. Reliable vendors should be able to meet your specific customization requirements.

Ensure compatibility with new and old hardware. Check the existing hardware assets and determine which servers are suitable for your server chassis.

Get necessary support. When you are at a critical juncture and are facing unexpected system shutdown, you need to back up the data as soon as possible. Do not be perfunctory in terms of internal staffing or round-the-clock support services.

Key terms

Converged infrastructure:IT is an IT architecture. The input/output, network, switch, and storage of the blade server are managed in virtual mode.

Core:The core consists of multiple independent integrated circuits that execute program commands.

Scalability:Rack servers with Scalability allow data volume growth and support additional resources.