Hello, Habr! Judging by our previous articles, the question of choosing a server in the context of economic stagnation is clearly not the least in it circles and in any other field. Today we will touch upon a burning topic. We often encounter disputes among the adherents of the Troika and Supermicro - which is better. Also often we hear the question - why buy expensive vendor servers, if there is a budget Supermicro. Often faced with these disputes, we prepared a small comparison about the features of the products of the Big Three vendors and the proven Supermicro and offer to understand the pros and cons of both sides.

Three whales - why we love them

• Reason # 1: Reliability - We won’t be fooled and frankly - reliability is a fad for all three vendors - HP, DELL, IBM. It is reliability that subordinates all the other pros and cons of these servers. And it is precisely for reliability and reliability that we all love them so much, and they have rightfully taken a leading position among Tier1 manufacturers. By purchasing the server of one of the above manufacturers, you acquire an unbreakable iron, the purpose of which is to serve and protect the work as long as necessary;
• Reason number 2: Service and support - In an emergency, the bill goes for minutes and a simple server is fraught with losses. Therefore, another indisputable plus of the “Big Three” is a guarantee with service at the server installation site + detailed documentation + support line. Sometimes, for the opportunity to do this in a matter of minutes, many are ready to give whatever they want;
• Reason # 3: Accessories - There are also no questions about the quality of accessories for HP, Dell and IBM servers. All these are specialized server solutions with a very long resource, which have passed preliminary certification and testing;
• Reason # 4: Hot swap - Almost all HP, DEL, IBM servers have hot swappable components such as power supplies and hard drives in the basic configuration. Even entry-level servers can optionally add this feature;
• Reason No. 5: Corporate options - Remote installation of the operating system, remote monitoring of updates, including BIOS, an abundance of sensors that monitor all aspects of the server and other iLO, iDRAC and IMM - all this greatly simplifies the maintenance of these machines and the life of the system administrator;
• Reason 6: Scalability - Each server of the Big Three is flexible and has many upgrade options without unnecessary compatibility issues, since, again, the hardware of large vendors is standardized;

Why we do not like the Big Three

• First, for the price - For pleasure, as well as for high quality you need to pay. In the case of HP, DELL, IBM servers, paying is pretty good. Which, of course, few are happy with;
• Secondly, for the limitation - Alas, but getting the perfect server in stock, for example, HP specifically for your tasks, is almost impossible. As experience shows, most stock solutions have either excessive or insufficient productivity, but not the golden mean. This again leads to unnecessary spending;
• Third, difficulties with components - Only components that have passed the manufacturer’s certification with the appropriate marking can be installed on the Big Three servers. And this little detail spills a penny .;
• Fourth, response under warranty - Under the terms of the Big Three guarantee, a point is specified for the distance from the official service center, as a result not everyone can use the service at the server installation site;

SuperMicro - 3 reasons to fall in love

• Reason No. 1: price - Here SuperMicro is the full antipode of the Big Three. Compared with the new HP, DELL, IBM, these servers are significantly more affordable;
• Reason number 2: the constructor - SuperMicro - these are designers. And you, using any third-party components, can "sculpt" from such a constructor whatever your heart desires. So, you really can get the perfect server to solve your problems;
• Reason number 3: a wealth of options - In this regard, SuperMicro, perhaps ahead of the rest. The choice of options for enclosures is huge, including a 4-server solution in a two-unit server, as well as other forms of factors that HP, Dell and IBM cannot boast of;

Objective Cons SuperMicro

All the disadvantages of these servers are direct consequences of their merits. And the most important of them is often lower reliability than the products of the Big Three. Although this issue remains controversial, as SuperMicro products are a very solid workhorse and the opinion on reliability is purely individual.
But you can not argue with another drawback of this brand. And this is a poor quality service.
The fact is that SuperMicro has no representative office in Russia. So, all the warranty obligations and server maintenance issues are undertaken by the distributor. Needless to say, in what kind of delay of time does this often result in?

What is the result?

But in the end it turns out to be an ambiguous situation. On the one hand - reliable servers of the Big Three, to which, perhaps, there are no questions on quality, but with a high price. On the other hand, quite good SuperMicro servers, though without a glorious history, but with a very affordable price and many options for execution and content. Agree, the choice is not easy.
But, often, SuperMicro are used to solve non-critical tasks, as backup machines, although on the other hand, many companies have the entire IT infrastructure on this manufacturer. Well, the Big Three servers work where compromise is unacceptable.

How things are changing in the market of restored servers

You, of course, are already aware that we specialize in server recovery . Therefore, let me add our “5 kopecks” to this review.
We are engaged in the restoration of the Big Three servers - HP, IBM, Dell. Our refurbished servers are distinguished by:
- The price is 20-70% lower than the new solutions
- 3-5 years of warranty
- Maintenance and repair on the client's premises.
- Reliability
- The maximum age of our restored servers is 4 years, the average is 2 years.
What does it mean? At the very least, we offer our customers restored HP, Dell, IBM servers with impeccable reliability and high level of support at a reasonable price. If the question is: why buy HP, Dell, IBM, if there is SuperMicro, then we will put it differently. Why buy SuperMicro if there is a refurbished HP, Dell or IBM at the same price.

Where are the refurbished SuperMicro?

Not with us. We do not deal with these machines. Why? The main reason for this is the lack of standardized iron from the manufacturer. This does not allow us to give a full guarantee on such servers and carry out their repair on the territory of the client.

Which servers do you prefer and why? We are interested in learning about the experience of using this or that vendor, so share your opinion in the comments!