<<Wirt's small business examples are probably not using a high-end
NetServer as their standard of comparison;  they're looking at something
lower down on the scale.  Note that NUWC-KPT just took delivery of some
pretty nice Micron PC servers;  think the base price was something like
$7K... although think they were going to add some more memory after
receipt;  and that price probably includes a pretty good GSA
discount....>>


I suspect that they're going to add more than that....

As a reality check, Micron's current "Vetix Lxi" server lists for $4599.
That price includes one 200MHz PPro CPU, 64MB RAM, one 4GB hard drive,
integrated video, SCSI, and 10/100 Ethernet, plus a 10-user copy of NTS4
and an "uninstalled" (huh?) copy of LANDesk Server Manager. It also
includes one year of next-day on-site hardware support and three
OS/Network support incidents.

It does *not* include:
 Power-source backup, i.e. a UPS
 Power-distribution backup, i.e. redundant power supplies
 Storage backup, i.e. any type of RAID
 In fact, basic backup; the base "server" has no backup device (DDS,
Travan, MO) of any kind.
 System installation or setup

Adding these items costs as follows:

 Additional 64MB RAM (128MB total) - $480
 700VA UPS - $389
 Travan TR4 backup drive - $259; or DDS2 for $749
 Second 4GB disk drive - $800
 Server setup - $799
 Upgrade 1st year support to 4-hour response (8AM-5PM) - $299
 Pre-installed Oracle 7 Workgroup Server (certainly not *my* choice for a
database, but that's what Micron has listed) - $2075 for a 5-user setup
(the minimum allowed)

So, getting this $4600 server up to a truly usable and reliable machine
able to handle a few bumps, and with (oh, by the way) a database, more
than doubles the price. And it still doesn't have redundant power
supplies (not available) or hardware storage redundancy (available for
another $800 or so). By the time this machine is configured as something
that can be called a reliable, bet-your-business-quality machine, it's
going to be over $12,000.

Of course, some of these features that I claim are critical, or even
important, are missing from the 9x8 boxes too. "OK, Steve, how do you
justify insisting on them for the PC server but letting them slide on the
HP box?" Basically, it comes down to platform reliability; an Intel/NT
box is simply a lot more likely to eat itself, possibly taking your data
with it, than an HP MPE machine. For example: having gone through 3.1
power supplies on two machines in 3 years (the .1 was a failed fan), I
think redundant power is a necessity on a gotta-have-it PC server. But
I've never seen, or even heard of, an MPE box being down due to a failed
power supply (which means that the three of you who have had such
failures should now speak up). Similarly, how often to we run CHKDSK on
our MPE boxes to fix problems in the file system caused by errant
applications or inadvertent shutdowns?

Now, there are some definite problems with the $14,000 "starter system"
918 configuration: the 32MB RAM is probably inadequate for a "real"
machine, as is the 2GB disk (I wonder if that has been/is being changed
to 4GB?). But I still think that the 918 is within a few kilobucks of any
legitimately-comparable PC-based server, rather than twice the price.

Steve