Purchasing Used Sun Servers Is a Wise Investment

The Sun Fire brand of servers was released in 2001 by Sun Microsystems, which would later be acquired by Oracle Corporation. This release was around when Sun Microsystems introduced its UltraSPARC III processors, so Sun Fire servers contained this processor until 2003. Over the years, a variety of processors have been included in Sun Fire servers including: the Intel Xeon processor, AMD Opteron processors, and the UltraSPARC IV dual-core processor. Unfortunately Sun Fire servers were officially discontinued in 2010, so businesses that want the benefits that these devices offer must purchase used Sun servers instead. This article will take a look at some of the benefits that are offered by these servers and why purchasing them used is actually a wise investment.

Sun Fire servers are valued because they provide a wide range of benefits and possibilities for business owners. The wide range of possibilities refers to the number of processors that were included in these servers over the year, and also the variety of operating systems that are available. Here are a few of the used Sun servers that buyers will find for sale:

Sun Blades: This blade system is designed to save time, power and money by taking up less space. These offer twice the memory and I/O capacity of competing blade systems.
Sun Entry Rack Mount Servers: This easy to scale, easy to manage, inexpensive device can be installed with any operating system or processor.
Mid Range Sun Fire Servers: Enterprise-class features and mainframe-class RAS are designed for mission-critical computing.
High end Sun Fire Servers: Similar to the mid-range servers but offering double the memory capacity and significantly increased I/O performance.
There are a number of options when searching for this particular brand, and they all offer their own set of benefits to consumers. The biggest benefit of all is that because these servers much be purchased used, they come at a substantial price discount. Many have a hard time accepting the price cut because they fear that the devices will be low-quality or unreliable. However, purchasing used Sun servers that have been refurbished can ease these fears.

Many sellers of used Sun servers complete reconditioning in-house, so they provide plenty of information to the consumer about the condition of key components and about which parts were recently replaced. This helps make the systems more reliable as customers are able to schedule maintenance in advance. They also get the peace of mind of knowing that the device will last longer thanks to the parts that have been replaced.

Used Sun servers that have been refurbished are also high-quality. These servers will be professionally cleaned and packaged in anti-static packaging, but only after passing complex diagnostic tests. Vendors will make sure that each component works properly and even pre-load necessary software to make sure that the device is able to run the server. As a result, the buyer receives a server that already has the software it plans to use loaded onto it, so that all the buyer has to do is plug in the server and go.

Buyers who are in the market for Sun Fire servers should invest in used Sun servers that have been refurbished to save money and still receive quality hardware.

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Used Dell Servers Have Experienced Many Alterations Since Their Origination

Servers are a core networking component to small, medium, and corporate business environments. Companies implement this hardware to manage the countless requests being submitted across their infrastructure. Used Dell servers can be employed to handle database, application, device, or service management requirements necessary to facilitate a high performance network of systems. The company is known for offering solid personal and business computing equipment. The PowerEdge series is currently in its eleventh generation with both the latest and discontinued models being available through quality resellers at a fraction of the cost.

Towers supply the value, performance range, and flexibility needed by small companies when initially implementing this technology. Blade solutions offer high density computing in combination with the most cutting edge performance technologies while rack designs provide a simple solution to companies using multiple servers in a limited space. Rack infrastructures are offered along with this server line for better space optimization and hardware consolidation. Countless models are easy to acquire in refurbished or remanufactured condition to meet a set budget or reduce the cost of supporting a legacy environment. They are a good option for any organization in need of duplicate testing or development environment systems.

Design Changes Move Several Products to a Used Server Status

The PowerEdge line, revamped in 2009, included five new models designed to better support advanced Intel processors. This new introduction pushed certain products to be sold as used servers. Each new generation offers improved processor support, more random access memory, and a larger storage capacity. The products released since 2009 easily meet the more extensive requirements of today's data centers. These additional features were added to the 2009 release:

Embedded Management Capabilities
Energy Efficient Properties
Enhanced Power Supplies
Increased Performance Features
Eleventh generation tower and rack form factors feature Intel Microarchitecture, DDR3 (Double-Data-Rate 3) memory technology, energy smart power supplies, improved design efficiency, a lifecycle controller, the Dell management console, and a unified server configurator. Virtualization features, new hard drive carriers, and improved rail kits were further changes included as part of the transition. The following models were discontinued with this changeover:

1900
1950 III
2900 III
2950 III
Energy Smart 1950 III
Energy Smart 2950 III
Discontinued models can still be purchased from a reseller as refurbished or used servers. Remanufactured products created by discontinued designs have typically never been opened but must be pushed out to make room for the latest models. Businesses seeking reduced costs can obtain a rewarding purchase when one of these products meets infrastructure needs.

Blade designs were also changed during this time to contain features such as the new Intel Nehalem architecture and DDR3 memory technology. Imaging on certain eleventh generation blades is not backward compatible. The M600 was the only blade to be discontinued from the eleventh generation release. An organization can purchase the latest equipment from resellers to lower infrastructure hardware costs. Newer designs support dual core processing, virtualization, and contain a fully buffered DIMM (Dual In-Line Memory Module) memory. Used Dell servers can deliver a cost effective fit with the characteristics necessary to have a high performance business technology infrastructure.

Used servers are offered when a manufacturer is ready to introduce advanced hardware. Specific changes to the PowerEdge line made various used Dell servers available at a lower price.

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Used IBM Servers: Advancing Infrastructure Technology to the Next Level

Three basic types of used IBM servers are available for business applications, and each has a specific role as an organization expands. A typical initial startup involves the incorporation of single or multiple towers capable of performing every task needed by a business. As data storage requirements and process counts increase, a company enters a turning point where tower units do not perform as necessary to accommodate the technology side of operations. This fork in the road provides two specific implementation directions: blades or racks. Both offer amplified performance and storage benefits; however, they are different in design.

A rack model has everything needed to operate stand-alone, whereas the alternative shares components to provide an energy efficient option. Each blade is stored in a cabinet where items such as the power supply and fans are used by every unit residing in it. A company choosing to incorporate this hardware design as part of their infrastructure is capable of reducing investment costs with used servers. Remanufactured or refurbished products have the same operational abilities, but are sold at fifty to seventy percent of what a new piece of hardware costs.

Used Servers: How do Blade Designs Benefit an Organization?

The design shares components to save space and minimize total power consumption. It has every element required for the computer label, but does not contain the individual parts necessary to operate on its own. The enclosure used to house this data storage option is able to hold multiple units and manages all shared services. Shared items between used servers include:

The Power Supply
Cooling Components
Networking Elements
Cabling and Interconnects
Blade technology is not as interchangeable as rack designs; however, these models have fewer limitations than rack designs in regards to the number of units stored in a chassis. The chassis selected for this model of used IBM servers completes every service not considered as a core computing function. Bulky components in alternatives prove to be inefficient and are space consuming. Various components are duplicated across each unit in a rack setup, causing servers to be larger and take up additional cabinet space. This duplication causes hardware to incapable of meeting its full capacity while component sharing puts each service in one easy to access location for increased efficiency. Blades can also be implemented to supply additional services to other units within a cabinet such as Fibre-channel access or routing services.

Buying used servers of this design helps a company gain the processing power and storage space needed to complete organizational processes at a lower investment price. Blades are an optimal choice for web hosting, clustering, use of virtualization features, and additional data center environment requirements. Each unit offers hot-swapping capabilities along with a considerable amount of scalability. A company can easily add power or memory as user workloads become more diverse or increase. Organizations receive the best performance when these items are implemented from the same vendor. Racks provide further vendor implementation flexibility as a company acquires new hardware or alters an existing infrastructure. Used IBM servers are a good buy since the manufacturer remains as a dominant shareholder in the blade market.

Used servers help companies obtain high quality hardware without making a large investment. The blade models of used IBM servers supply space and energy saving benefits to an infrastructure.

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How to Choose a Server Cabinet

There are many things to consider when buying a server cabinet, including size, weight, heat management and delivery. Many of these things can be kept secret by manufacturers, in order to keep prices high. However, if you know what you need from your server rack before you buy, you can save both time and money.

The height of most server cabinets is measured in 'u' sizes. This is a standard measurement for rackmount equipment, where one 'u' is equal to 1.75 inches, or 44.45mm. Usually, 1u is equal to a 24-port patch panel or switch. The height measurement indicates how many units the cabinet can accommodate, and the most popular height for a server cabinet is 42u. They can range from 17u to 49u, although other sizes can be made on special order.

When considering the height of your server cabinet, you should first total up the height of all the equipment you intend to put into it. If you want to put in equipment which isn't rack-mountable, you should include the size of this, as well as the shelving it will sit on.

Once you've measured the size of your equipment, it's a good idea to factor in some space for expansion. This will help you avoid spending more money on replacing your server cabinet in the future.

You should also consider the space in which you intend to keep your cabinet, as, while internal measurements are standard, external measurements can differ between manufacturers. Your choice of adjustable feet, castors or plinth will need to be taken into account.

The width of your server rack will either be 600mm or 800mm, depending on how much cable management you require. This should also be taken into account when positioning your equipment.

The weight of your equipment also needs to be calculated, especially if regular additions will be made. Different cabinets have different load ratings, and it can be easy for the amount of weight to creep up if it goes unchecked.

Server cabinet depth has changed recently, as server manufacturers have been making cabinets which are shorter in height, while a lot deeper. 800mm was once considered as large, however 1000mm is a common size and 12000mm is also available. When thinking about the overall depth of your cabinet, you will also need to consider the width of the doors, which will need to open in order to access the rack.

As your equipment can generate a lot of heat, ventilation is required to ensure everything functions correctly. Heat can also be managed by fitting mesh doors which allow greater airflow through the cabinet.

Finally, when considering delivery, make sure you have enough space to manoeuvre your product into its desired space. The location, as well as the route through the building to get to it, will need to be taken into account, along with the size and weight of the product.

By following this guide, you will be able to choose a server cabinet that suits both your equipment and your home perfectly.

About Microbite:
For additional products, including Blade servers and Thomson routers, visit Microbite.

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Servers - A Tale of Two Technologies

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Dickens was describing London and Paris during the French Revolution. But in today's world, it is an apt description of the IT industry during the virtual revolution.

For the worst of times, we need look no further than the server industry, which reported another disastrous quarter earlier this week. According to IDC, worldwide shipments dropped some 26.5 percent year-over-year in the first quarter of 2009, with all of the major vendors showing double-digit revenue drops. Overall, the industry shipped only 1.49 million units, the largest decline in five years, with revenues down nearly a quarter to $9.9 billion.

The source of all this woe is the one-two punch of the recession and virtualization, which dampens the demand for new hardware through higher utilization of existing machines. While this may be good for capital budgets, as well as the environment, it's proving to be a real burden for the server industry, which had long counted on a steady refresh rate to keep its coffers full. The decline was most keenly felt in x86 devices.

IDC is also reporting that the picture seems to be the same for the second quarter so far, although they are predicting a tepid rebound by the fourth.

To their credit, many of the top server vendors are not trying to push back the tide but are actively embracing virtualization and other advanced technologies designed to produce more efficient hardware platforms. IBM, for instance, is gearing up for a new server line that takes advantage of Intel's forthcoming Nehalem-EX architecture that features up to 64 cores across eight processors. Although the system is likely to be expensive, it could do the job of multiple blade servers through its ability to handle up to 128 individual threads. The chip itself also provides 16 memory slots per socket and four QuickPath interconnect links for processing large amounts of data in tandem.

Now for the best of times. All of this virtual and multicore activity is clearly a boon to the networking side of the house, particularly wide-band solutions like 10 GbE. Dell'Oro Group reports that the 10 GbE market rebounded in the first quarter, following a decline in the fourth quarter of 2008. The company did not release any numbers from its Network Adapters Quarterly Report, although it did say that Intel is once again the new leader in adapter card revenue and port shipments, while Broadcom retained the spot as leader in silicon controllers.

This all makes perfect sense, of course, because as more and more data starts to run through fewer and fewer hardware devices, the focus of data center performance shifts from raw processing power to network agility and speed. Going forward, as cloud technologies allow enterprises to shift resources on a global scale, the question will no longer be "Do I have enough power to handle all this data?", but rather "How can I get this data quickly to my various end-points?"

And in this vein, there doesn't seem to be anyone interested in slowing things down. Mellanox, for example, just unveiled a 6-port, multiple-protocol 10 GbE physical layer that lays the groundwork for a new generation of high-density, low-power switches and pass-through devices. The PhyX supports all 10 Gigabit Ethernet physical layer functions and can be field-upgraded to FCoE with 2, 4, and 8 Gbps Fibre Channel gateway service without hardware modifications.

With such precipitous changes in data center hardware buying patterns, many wonder if things will ever get back to normal. While sales and revenue figures have fluctuated over the years, the hard news this time is that these changes look permanent. Once the recession is over, server sales should pick up, but they will be nowhere near previous numbers because those low utilization rates are gone forever.

The new normal will be relatively low server activity and increasingly fast networks as enterprises position themselves for the cloudy/virtual decade to come.

Read Art's article, "The Three Factors Shaping the Future of the Data Center" - http://bit.ly/LQD6h

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Importance Of Cable Management While Handling Server Racks

Since a single server is used for processing and transmitting large volumes of data, utmost care should be taken in managing server racks. Proper handling of cables is useful in tracing their path easily when required.

What Are Server Racks?
Server racks are an integral portion of modern network rooms which are extremely essential for running an organization or company smoothly. They play a crucial role in storing the large number of devices that are necessary for the proper functioning of a network room. This allows you to save a lot of valuable space which can be utilized for other purposes. However, improper handling of these racks can damage the wires and devices completely and stall the functioning of the entire office. This calls for the need of efficient rack management tools and techniques.

Importance of rack management

Improper loading of the racks may give rise to different kinds of undesirable accidents such as sparks and tangled cables and wires which can result in confusion and a reduction in productivity. Server racks assist in cable management by bundling the cables at points so that their paths can be identified easily whenever necessary. The computing devices loaded on these racks generate a lot of heat when operated in a combined manner. Thus, effective heat dissipation tools should be used along with the server racks.

How to manage racks?

Having a sound knowledge of the dimensions of the rack allows you to make a decision regarding the types of hardware to be installed. For example, it is advisable to use servers which are deep and have perforated rear and front doors for dissipating heat conveniently if you need to use blade servers. A proficient rack management system is one which is capable of maintaining the servers at the desired temperature. The presence of adjustable rack mounts in certain racks allows you to load servers of different sizes proficiently.

Proper ventilation systems need to be installed in any kind of rack for maintaining the network room at the necessary temperature level. It is advisable to purchase racks which are equipped with perforated doors or have the provision for loading fans on the upper panel. Allocating correct amount of space to each device placed on the tack is extremely important for achieving an efficient performance. A planned and proper placement is also useful in accomplishing faster and better access to the tools when required. Proper cable rack management is considered to be one of the most important tasks of handling a rack efficiently. Efficient management of the large number of cables is extremely necessary for transmitting data properly.

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