For a long time, I tended to think that a lot of brand-name servers were overpriced, given that I could build one with similar specs for less.

After working with some Dells at work, I came to see that there’s good reason they charge more. There are a lot of nifty onboard diagnostic tools that don’t exist on “whitebox” machines. And now that I’ve got a Proliant under my bed* until it’s ready to ship out, I’m finding even more reasons to run “real” servers. I can monitor most server health, and even connect to an onboard “lights out” management card. (Though I’m yet to figure that one out. It looks like an option you have to pay for. Plus I need a second Ethernet drop under my bed.)

* The bed muffles the roar of the fans so that it’s merely annoying instead of unbearable. Yes, I’m monitoring the temperature.