New Server for a Charity

[badall]

Hi guys I volunteer at a charity doing desktop support and my colleague who manages the server (currently hard at work building a internal website and databases for various things) has tasked me with sourcing the new server to replace the ageing dell we have.

The Manager asked for a few options like cheap, normal, expensive (not as easy as thought it would be). We aren't a big charity 20-30 users we use SBS2003 at the moment but with the new server we will be upgrading to SBS2008 x64 (we got a free upgrade)

I have tried all the usual suspects but most seem to either have no price, are a bit high priced, have the microsoft tax (being a charity we get a massive discount on software)

His vague spec was:

Quad core (if possible)

32GB Ram

1-2TB HDD

[helpifIcan]

MIght help people to better assist you if they knew your location.

[-Alex-]

Might also help if we knew what the server was for (sounds like it's your DC/fileserver?)

[C:Amie]

Get on the phone to Dell, tell them that you are a registered charity, currently have Dell, "would like to stay with Dell if they make it worth your while" and need an OS free solution. Give them your spec and see what the account manager can come up with.

You will find it hard to get special charity pricing information in the public domain from any vendor.

[badall]

sorry it's use is main file-server / exchange server as sbs makes it a cheap option not having separate machines for everything, my location is the UK in the Midlands, It hadn't occurred to me phone them I will give them a call when I get in the office tomorrow

[-Alex-]

I don't really want to share this link publicly, because it's a f'ing goldmine, but seeing as 'it's for charity', I've PM'd you a link to an auction website for when UK companies go bust. There's regularly servers on there, albeit used. I picked up a server cabinet, complete with 8x 4U quad-core Xeon servers, pull-down TFT & KVM and a couple of switches in it for ?800 just a few weeks ago from there. PC's are constantly going for about ?25 on there too, if you're in short supply of any.

Other than that, if the servers must be new, Dell (or another brand-name manufacturer) is your best bet. As everyone's said though, tell them that you're a charity.

Good luck mate! :)

[n_K]

I don't really want to share this link publicly, because it's a f'ing goldmine

*waves fist repeatidly*

*continues to wave fist*

...

*still waving fist*

[-Alex-]

*waves fist repeatidly*

*continues to wave fist*

...

*still waving fist*

If everyone had the link, I wouldn't get my shiz so cheap.. sorry! :p

[n_K]

Haha!

Quick question about that site then; any cheap ECC DDR2 5300 on it, sticks of 4GB or 8GB?

[-Alex-]

Haha!

Quick question about that site then; any cheap ECC DDR2 5300 on it, sticks of 4GB or 8GB?

To be honest with you, any 'loose' items (i.e. RAM/blank discs/contents of an IT Manager's cupboard) are usually sold in one lot. So I doubt you'd find something as specific as this. Also, their descriptions/titles are not fantastic, since it's not IT guys listing the stuff, it's just 'Joe Bloggs', so to find something useful, you'd usually have to go through the pages and pages of cars/trucks/big bits of machinery, just to get to the IT bits.

I did a search for DDR2 anyway though - the only thing that came up was this:

Also did a search for RAM, but this had the opposite effect... 11 pages of results... everything from single PC's to industrial cream pasteurisers.

Sorry mate, I just can't share the link...

[n_K]

Lmfao! 'RAM`d' more like :p

No worries, thanks for searching.

[-Alex-]

Y'know what, sod it, I've had my profit out of it and I'm moving to Norway in 5 weeks, so it won't be any use to me there.

Have fun guys: bidspotter.co.uk

I'll say what I said to the OP in PM, this is for when companies go bust (usually), and as such, it's generally the entire contents of the company that gets listed on 1 lot. So when you go through an auction lot, it might look like it's all machinery/industrial stuff for the first 15 pages, but go to the last few pages and that's usually where all the IT bits are.

OP, sorry to hijack your thread!

[farmeunit]

We started buying servers from http://www.servermonkey.com/

They are used, but very good shape, and you can customize.

[threesixtyflip]

Y'know what, sod it, I've had my profit out of it and I'm moving to Norway in 5 weeks, so it won't be any use to me there.

Have fun guys: bidspotter.co.uk

I'll say what I said to the OP in PM, this is for when companies go bust (usually), and as such, it's generally the entire contents of the company that gets listed on 1 lot. So when you go through an auction lot, it might look like it's all machinery/industrial stuff for the first 15 pages, but go to the last few pages and that's usually where all the IT bits are.

OP, sorry to hijack your thread!

Is that site actually legit?

[-Alex-]

Is that site actually legit?

Very much so. They put the addresses of the goods on each of the lots, so you can drive down and take a look at the stuff before you bid. You can make a killing on some of the stuff on there. Saw a 2006 Porsche 911 with 21,000 miles on it, and full service stamps go for ?8,500 last week!

[ShMaunder]

Very much so. They put the addresses of the goods on each of the lots, so you can drive down and take a look at the stuff before you bid. You can make a killing on some of the stuff on there. Saw a 2006 Porsche 911 with 21,000 miles on it, and full service stamps go for ?8,500 last week!

Looks a good site. Bookmarked. However, their 2001 site design could do with some love.

Woops, derailed the thread totally. Yea, as others have said - always phone suppliers as you can negotiate prices/deals. We had to do this when I used to work in a school.

[badall]

We went with a HP ML330 G6 it has all the bells and whistles the IT co-ordinator wants and some and we can add extra ram and a second cpu at a later date if we need it