[GTALUG] Dell servers for cheap

[o1bigtenor]

On Tue, Apr 9, 2019 at 1:32 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk
<talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
>
> | From: Stewart C. Russell via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
>
> | via Seneca:
>
> Thanks.  I always like to hear about this kind of thing.
>
> | == Dell PowerEdge 2950 servers
> |
> | - quantity available: 22 units
> | - some with 2x dual core processors, others with 1x dual core processor
> | - 4GB RAM (8x512MB; only a few have more RAM)
> | - some have PERC RAID controllers
> | - rack mounting rails included
> | - a few fibre channel HBAs may be available
> | - limited quantity of sleds for Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drives are available
> | - specs: https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/2950_specs.pdf
>
> I think that the newest processors that these could have were
> discontinued 10 years ago.  And they take a lot of power.  For
> example, the Xeon X5365 (pure guess at a best case) takes 150W by
> itself.
>
> Beware of noise.  Rackmount servers are best kept in server rooms.
>
> 4GiB RAM is a little light these days, especially for servers.  Memory
> is FBD (not consumer stuff).  There are no free slots.  Replacement
> memory might well be cheap on ebay or kijiji since it is well past its
> prime -- I haven't looked.
>
> SAS drives are expensive and there's probably not much to recommend
> them for our home labs.  Consider: 73GB SAS drive for $20 vs. a 120G
> SATA SSD for $24.99 (current Newegg.ca sale; $4.99 shipping).  I think
> that these boxes can only support SATA with an added controller.
> ---

I bought one a couple years ago, not quite as cheaply as listed previously
though, and can add that it is possible to put a SATA drive into the bays
you are limited to a hard 2 TB limit (would guess that its related to 32 bit
access somehow).

Regards