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HARDWARE
You demand performance and reliability – so do we. That is why we sell and service the best computer equipment available for the money – Servers and workstations from Hewlett-Packard and IBM.
In years past you had two choices – either a "clone" machine custom built to your specifications or a "name-brand" machine designed to fit the majority of the masses.However as technology continued to grow at an ever-increasing rate the product life cycle of clone parts grew shorter and shorter. Eventually It got to the point where individual components would reach the end of their product life and be replaced by the manufacturer with something else, often significantly different, before we could complete hardware and software compatibility tests. This made it impossible to build consistency into our products, since a machine that we sold one month would be built out of different parts than a machine sold the following month. With the inconsistencies we found increased support costs for both us and our customers, and warranty service became a nightmare because you could never depend on having an exact replacement for a part.
We started doing cost-analysis, and found that even though a "name-brand" machine may be more expensive, the support costs were actually much less and the total cost of ownership significantly less than clone machines.
We evaluated and field-tested a number of products, and eventually switched over to Hewlett-Packard workstations and servers because our testing showed that the products were clearly superior. We added the IBM product lines in 2006.
Many clone builders will try to tell you that a tier-one server is proprietary, and that it is hard to get replacement parts. They are only half-right. A real server uses proprietary architectures because it is the ONLY way to engineer in and guarantee reliability. However, getting the proper replacement parts is usually much easier with a tier-one system than a clone system, because tier-one manufacturers keep the parts on-hand. We can easily get you a hot-swap hard drive or fan assembly for an HP server built 7 years ago, but a clone builder is going to be hard-pressed to find a hot-swap hard drive tray for a machine assembled the year before.
Years ago tier-one servers were closed architectures. Today, however, we can customize a tier-one server to a customer's exact needs. You can get the exact mix of case styles, processors, memory, and storage options that you need for your application. You get the advantage of customization while keeping the reliability of a proprietary system.
Most clone servers are nothing more than a workstation with a large hard drive. Those who build them do not have the resources to test and certify the equipment. Even if a clone's individual components are on the operating system vendor's hardware compatibility list, it does not mean that there will not be hidden incompatibilities between the various components themselves. When clone-builders attempt to add high-availability features such as hot-swap hard drives or power supplies, the resulting system ends up so proprietary that replacement parts, even from the manufacturer, may be impossible to get a few months down the road, let alone a year or two later. You immediately loose the non-proprietary advantage of a clone system, leaving absolutely no remaining advantages. Characteristics such as air flow, if considered at all, are an afterthought to most clone builders. Many even make critical design mistakes such as using IDE hard drives in servers. A reliable server uses SCSI drives, not IDE.
Some companies try to get the best of both sides by purchasing mail-order equipment. Many mail-order systems are backed by on-site service, but you immediately loose the aspect of local support. Sure, if a hard drive fails in a mail-order server that is still under warranty they may send someone out or ship you the parts to replace it, but once they put the part in and close the cover their work is done. It is left to you, the end-user, to load the operating system, restore files, and make it work again.
We support what we sell. If a hard drive fails on an in-warranty server you purchase from us, the manufacturer will of course pay us to come out and replace the part, but the technician that does the work will also be qualified to restore the operating system and get you running again. Your total downtime will be less, thus lowering the total cost of ownership.
As a service center we still have access to parts even after the product goes out of warranty. Getting replacement non-warranty parts from a mail-order company, even one as large as Dell, in a timely fashion after the product is out of warranty can be extremely difficult.
When you buy a tier-one server from Technology Specialists you get the security of knowing that the warranty is backed by the strength and size of international corporations, can be serviced anywhere in the United States, Canada or beyond, and it doesn't end with just us.
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