This is an old revision of the document!
So, the Dell cluster (petal/swallow-tails) has run out of support January 25th of this year. As I found out when I called on 03/01/2010 with a hardware problem. So the question is what to do next?
The Dell hardware is now 3 years old, but still in good condition. The failure rate during those 3 years has included: replaced 4 disks, 2 system boards and power fans, and perhaps 8-10 memory sticks. Lets assume that stays the same for now.
Contacted Dell for renewal and received a quote for $60,000 for 3 years. Well, I'd rather have the monies.
Contacted SMS for renewal and received a quote of $28,250 for 3 years. Well, I'd still rather have the monies. They are not willing to come down.
What would it take to do-it-yourself? What is the expectation for hardware support?
In addition, if the NSF proposal “recommended for funded”, gets funded, would we even consider support on the Dell cluster?
So, based on the price information below
We probably should have one of each on hand. If a server dies, for whatever reason, the spare can be put in place, and more spare parts are generated (minus the failed part).
We probably do not need to be prepared to replace a failed MD1000 enclosure and can decide on that when it happens. We do need some spare disks ($750).
Power fans are the most likely to go, so purchase 10 of them ($500)? (That contains 4 fans for the servers in the ehwfd queue which currently have a single power source, leaving 6 spares).
The DIY proposal is then to spend roughly $6,000 now. Or spend it when things go awry. OR downsize when things go awray. Petaltail and Swallowtail could take over each other's services but it would take time, and be disruptive if it is Petaltail. Rebuilding Petaltail would imply wiping Swallowtail, and afterwards, reinstalling/relicensing commercial software.
Collected on web circa early April 2010.
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 2950 | 2x Quad C 2.66ghz,16gb (hard disks?) | $1,800 |
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 2950 | two quad core X5355,8gb 4x146gb 15k | $2,350 |
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 2950 | 2x Quad C 2.66ghz,16gb 2x72gb SAS | $1,900 |
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 1950 | 2x Quad Core 2.66ghz,8g 2x146g 15k | $1,795 |
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 1950 | 2x Quad Core 2.66ghz,8g 2x72g SAS | $1,650 |
Ebay | Dell Poweredge 1950 | 2x Quad Core 2.66ghz,16gb 2x72g SAS | $1,950 |