>The new server from PCNut is being looked at for a client rather than my standard server recommendations. They already have a number of low-end servers from da Nut, and before dropping the money on an equivalent NetFinity, they want some numbers. So I'll set it up here and WebCat it to death.
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>I don't tend to recommend buying mission-critical systems from a small vendor where you aren't willing to stock spares and do your own support.
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BTW, they just proved themselves as the exception to the rule for small vendors; a client has been using one of their server boxes, and their local hardware consultant has been blaming the hardware for all the trouble; he did some very non-optimal things in terms of installing their RAS and fax server stuff, and probably screwed things up himslef. he's been making excuses about the box being a problem for weeks, called the board (an Asus P2B-S) a piece of crap (it's one of the best BX boards on the market IMO) and said if it were his they wouldn't have this problem. He's sold on DTK, not a favorite vendor of mine...

The client is flying me down to take care of the problem. I called PCNut, explained what was happening, and PCNut is shipping down a tested replacement motherboard via Fedex; if it is a defective board, puling and replacing the board will be an hour's work. The local vendor could have dropped in any equivalent ATX 440BX chipset motherboard with an Adaptec 2940U2 SCSI adapter to prove out the problem, at any point in the past month, instead of billing for 25 hours of on-site service, first blaming the flakey, very unusual base SBS install (I did that, took mostly the default settings, and it's essentially the same as the other office's SBS install where they aren't having problems) and then the wierd, cheap low-end hardware. The local service guy had never called PCNut about the problem, or me to ask about the SBS install.

To summarize PCNut's rtake on it: if the motherboard is bad, I ship back the bad board, otherwise, we pay the shipping both ways. No begging or pleading needed. You can't do much better for mail-order service.

>>>I'm expecting a system in with one; a SuperMicro S2DG2 motherboard (dual Xeon/dual channel UW2 SCSI, 440GX chipset) system that I'm evaluating for a client for use as an application server under NT Server. Should be interesting; it's basically a beefed up high-end workstation from a custom integrator. We'll be comparing it to an IBM NetFinity box and an HP LH3 (read: beating the crap out of it) and it'll probably hang around for a few days after the testing so that I can try it as a workstation.
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>>>The last two NT servers we put in at Weatherhill are boxes from PCNut; essentially the same box I run here at home for my NT Server (P6DGS motherboard, dual PII/450s, Adaptec 7895 chipset (dual channel UW SCSI) with the Adaptec RAIDPort adapter), and they've been super stable under a wide range of loads. I don't recommend this approach to most of my clients. If I weren't doing the support myself, and couldn't be assured of available identical spares, I wouldn't even look, since the main interest is having a server that stay up and running even when I'm not around to perform the necesary ritual sacrifices.