Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.chips,alt.comp.hardware.amd.x86-64 (
More info?)
On Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:04:37 -0500, Tony Hill <hilla_nospam_20@yahoo.ca>
wrote:
>On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 03:34:39 -0500, George Macdonald
><fammacd=!SPAM^nothanks@tellurian.com> wrote:
>>On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:06:01 -0500, "Carlo Razzeto" <crazzeto@hotmail.com>
>>wrote:
>>>Eh, I'll believe it when I can actully buy an Opteron server on dell.com.
>>>Till then, they're probably just playing the "Intel give us better prices or
>>>we'll sell AMD" card.....
>>
>>There was strong evidence a few months ago that if you twist their arm,
>>Dell *will* do an Opteron system for you - somebody at Dell made a mistake
>>with the Web site and it appeared as "available" for a couple of days.
>
>It's not really so much that they will sell you an Opteron *system*
>(though they might on a contract-basis, ie if you contract Dell for a
>super-cluster of 1000 Opteron servers, they'll probably be more than
>happy to rebadge some servers for you), but a few months back they DID
>sell Opteron processors.
Yes it was a system... by all accounts.
>The reason for this is actually much more simple than many people
>believe. Dell (and HP, and IBM, and all other big OEMs) will sell you
>a support contract for damn near anything if you pay them enough money
>(hint: do a search on "multivendor support"). If you're willing to
>pay the big bucks, Dell will provide you with support for your HP
>DL485 Opteron server. As such, if one of your chips goes bad, Dell
>needs to have a way to get replacement Opteron processor to you.
I was *not* talking about Opteron processors - this was a full blown
Opteron system.
>The reasons why you would want Dell supporting your HP server (or vice
>versa) are a bit more complex, but all basically related to having all
>your support contracts handled by one company. ie your company might
>have 300 Dell servers and one odd-ball HP server... rather than having
>a whole other contract with HP for support for that one server you
>could just role it into a big, company-wide contract with Dell.
>One-stop shopping.
I've paid my share of err, "service contracts".;-)
>Of course, the moral of this story is that it's quite a different
>story to have some Opteron processors available to people with
>contracts vs. selling a full-fledge Dell-branded Opteron server.
I did not personally see the Web page so only hearsay but the story goes
that Dell actually had a page showing an Opteron Server configuration which
was publicly "browsable"... until the "mistake" was caught. I believe it
was when you were on NG hiatus... early 2004?? This "configuration" was
said to be a one-off for some Dell customer who insisted that they wanted
an Opteron server... for whatever reason. IOW the gist was: if a customer
said, at that time, "I want a server with x86-64 capability and will take
my business elsewhere to get one" Dell was err, malleable. It could be
folklore but I was convinced by the story at the time.
Rgds, George Macdonald
"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??