A sun-service guy & must buy Sun disks only. REALLY? Hard to believe!
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From: chuckers on 30 Jul 2010 02:35 On Jul 30, 3:27 pm, dkco...(a)panix.com (David Combs) wrote: > This sun-service guy I was talking to told me that if I > wanted to add more disk, I had to get it from Sun ($$$!), > not straight from Seagate, say. > > Something about sometimes Sun periferals working slightly > different from the "non-sun" one from the very same > manufacturer? > > He said that he'd NEVER seen a case where people installed > non-Sun-marked disks to a Sun computer. > > Sure makes no sense to me, especially when you don't have a > Service contract. > > ------ > > Same re additional mamory. Said you can't just go to > eg Kingston, and stuff their stuff into the memory slots. > > Nope, he said, had to be SUN memory. > > ----- > > True, False. Or just sun conning everyone, terrorizing > them to buy only Sun products. > > Thanks! > > David False. The stuff *will* work. However, getting Sun to support it after the fact is another matter entirely.
From: Doug McIntyre on 30 Jul 2010 09:30 dkcombs(a)panix.com (David Combs) writes: >This sun-service guy I was talking to told me that if I >wanted to add more disk, I had to get it from Sun ($$$!), >not straight from Seagate, say. This is true for almost all Enterprise equipment vendors. If you want to add disks to EMC, NetApp, Dell, HP, IBM, etc. etc. You must buy their own labeled disks. In many cases, the vendor writes their own custom firmware for the disk, and their controllers look for that firmware and won't work without it. Sun has been one of the most lenient about it, letting you add just about any disk, its only the support end that would refuse to support you when you bypass them. In the past, for Sun and Dell, its been more about its just about impossible to buy the proper sleds directly from them, so you'd have to go to 3rd party resellers that may have some stockpiled. If they had just come out with a new sled design, then it'd be almost impossible to get it without buying the drives direct. But once its been in use for some time, then they tend to be easier to get 3rd hand. Now, Dell has gone the route of custom firmware as well for their higher end controllers, whereas EMC and NetApp have required custom firmware for just about forever. Memory, SFPs/GBICs, etc. etc. Almost all equipment vendors want to lock you in.
From: ITguy on 6 Aug 2010 19:18 > Newegg/com isn't coming on-site in 2 hours to replace a failed drive in an > array. > > Sun or HP will. If grandma is in charge of running the array I could understand springing for a support contract. Just about anyone else would be able to replace basic parts in less time than it would take for the vendor to respond, and at huge cost savings. Even with support contracts, there is no guarantee of equipment repair or service recovery - only a commitment to have someone on-site working the issue. Maintenance contracts are a lot like the extended warranties pushed on just about all products anymore. They are enormously profitable for the issuing company, and rarely ever benefit the consumer. Fortunately for the big vendors, many organizations think there is enough value in the contracts to justify the cost.
From: Richard B. Gilbert on 6 Aug 2010 20:17 ITguy wrote: >> Newegg/com isn't coming on-site in 2 hours to replace a failed drive in an >> array. >> >> Sun or HP will. > > If grandma is in charge of running the array I could understand > springing for a support contract. Just about anyone else would be > able to replace basic parts in less time than it would take for the > vendor to respond, and at huge cost savings. Even with support > contracts, there is no guarantee of equipment repair or service > recovery - only a commitment to have someone on-site working the > issue. Maintenance contracts are a lot like the extended warranties > pushed on just about all products anymore. They are enormously > profitable for the issuing company, and rarely ever benefit the > consumer. Fortunately for the big vendors, many organizations think > there is enough value in the contracts to justify the cost. Now let's be fair. MOST of the time, the service guy shows up, replaces a disk drive, a fan or a memory DIMM, cleans up, and leaves! Yes, he costs an arm and a leg but if your business depends on that machine, he's worth it! Maybe you could do almost everything he does and do it cheaper. Maybe!! If that first technician can't handle the problem, he has a large organization behind him. He has a big inventory of spare parts. If the spares kit he carries doesn't have the part he needs, he picks up the phone and a courier is dispatched to bring him the part(s) he needs. Yes, you COULD do all your own maintenance! Is it economical? Maybe! If it's your busiest season of the year and three hundred people who depend on the machine must fall back to paper and pencil until the machine is fixed, it's a disaster! Been there, done that!
From: Thommy M. on 8 Aug 2010 10:35
On 2010-08-07 01:18, ITguy wrote: >> Newegg/com isn't coming on-site in 2 hours to replace a failed drive in an >> array. >> >> Sun or HP will. > > If grandma is in charge of running the array I could understand > springing for a support contract. Just about anyone else would be > able to replace basic parts in less time than it would take for the > vendor to respond, and at huge cost savings. Even with support > contracts, there is no guarantee of equipment repair or service > recovery - only a commitment to have someone on-site working the > issue. Maintenance contracts are a lot like the extended warranties > pushed on just about all products anymore. They are enormously > profitable for the issuing company, and rarely ever benefit the > consumer. Fortunately for the big vendors, many organizations think > there is enough value in the contracts to justify the cost. My take is quite the opposite. If it's grandmas system you don't need a support contract, you can fix that rather easy. If it's complex system that is managing important stuff for many people or customers, then you really need that contract when you're hit by non trivial problems (and you will end up there from time to time). |