Affordable IT: White Boxes and Used Gear

Your project requires a couple of servers and a new switch. You get some prices from your regular first-tier suppliers and quickly discover that your appetite exceeds your capacity.

So you ask your boss to increase your budget, right?

Wrong! Money is tight everywhere. It's time to look for less expensive equipment so you can have your cake and eat it, too. No-name servers (white boxes) and used networking equipment fill the bill when budgets are being squeezed.

Low No-Name

Systems integrators target their lowest-end white boxes at the home desktop market, and for good reason: Home users can more easily live with the instability of such equipment than their professional counterparts.

Ask yourself how much your business will suffer if your Web server decides to take the day off. The mish-mash of lowest-end no-name systems tends to cause incompatibilities with the server OS that are difficult to diagnose, resulting in spotty uptime. So, despite these systems' low prices, we recommend that you steer clear of their siren song, lest you find yourself dashed against the rocks.

The No-Name Everyone Knows

Intel certifies that its hardware components work together and that the various server operating systems run on each combination of hardware. It has assembled an international cadre of resellers and provides a slew of services to make sure the resellers can support the equipment they market. On a midrange system, you'll save $1,000 or more over a comparable system purchased from a first-tier server vendor. IDC estimates that close to 30 percent of all server purchases are of white- box systems.

Worried about selection? Intel provides the components for anything from 1U rackmount servers for single-processor Pentium 4 systems up to 4U quad-processor systems that use Intel's latest Itanium 2 processor technology.

Not big enough? How about a 7U system with room for internal expansion? Intel uses name-brand components (mostly its own), including Adaptec SCSI host controllers, and provides all the optional redundancy you're likely to need, making it a safe bet on the hardware side. The support issue is the unknown quantity (see "Premier Resellers" on page 64).

Watch Your Back

Some would argue that since you'll likely be dealing with a local reseller when you buy a white-box system, the support you get will actually be better than that provided by any of the first-tier server vendors because of the reseller's proximity. We think it's more of a hit-or-miss proposition, which is a reason it's critical that you do your homework before you buy. The mere fact that a particular reseller is near you doesn't make the business a good one.

Before you buy, ask lots of questions. Make sure the support terms the vendor offers will meet your needs, and get them in writing. Ask your prospective vendor for a few customer references. Talk to your network of systems administrators to see if any of them have experience with that vendor. If you hear bad things, walk away. Intel's reseller channel is vast--there are plenty of other choices out there.

Because these systems tend to be manufactured to your specs, you might be tempted to specify some of the components based on familiarity. Be careful if you do this. Intel certifies that its systems are compatible with a number of server operating systems based on a known and controlled set of components. If you throw a new component into the mix, you may not realize that you are also inadvertently introducing incompatibilities that negatively affect uptime.

Name Brands at No-Name Prices

If you're under pressure to buy equipment made by first-tier vendors but your budget isn't up to the task, then the used-computer equipment market is the place for you.

In case you didn't know, every piece of equipment you need is available on the used-computer market, including current models of routers, switches, servers and storage devices. You can buy this equipment safely from a number of reputable vendors that specialize in purchasing, reconditioning and selling used equipment. These vendors will also back your purchases with limited warranties and provide support. While it is true that such products will cost more than no-names, in the long run, these figures amount to only quarters on the dollar compared with buying the same type of equipment new.

For even greater savings, try buying used equipment through an online auction. The day we checked, there were at least 925 Cisco switches listed on eBay, the most well-known supplier of new and used anything and everything. All our purchases from eBay have worked out well, and with millions of transactions a day, we suspect that most folks are satisfied.

However, there's always a downside to online auctions: the risk that the seller won't deliver the equipment in the condition promised--or even at all. The stories of misrepresentation and outright fraud we hear lead us to the conclusion that as a buyer, you always need to do your homework and be wary of any deal that seems too good to be true. It probably is.
The Association of Channel Resellers
Intel Reseller Center
Intel Sellers referrals
Used networking equipment

Used equipment via bidding or outright purchase