Rack vs. tower servers

Anyone have experience / opinions regarding rack design vs. tower servers
specifically Dell's. We are starting to look at more and more servers at a
site. Rack starts to look pretty good. Multiple towers start to get
cluttered. Am I losing performance?

The perfomance is the same. Rack is more compact and useful.

--
Dmitry Burtsev [(E-Mail Removed)]



"Bret" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Anyone have experience / opinions regarding rack design vs. tower servers
> specifically Dell's. We are starting to look at more and more servers at
a
> site. Rack starts to look pretty good. Multiple towers start to get
> cluttered. Am I losing performance?
>
>

As the previous post said rack and tower servers are exactly the same, the
only difference is the outer case that the innards of the computer
(motherboard, cpu, hard drive etc.) is stored in, is a different shape.

Rack mounted servers are useful to save space but require racks (funny that)
to use them to there fullest potential, adding to the cost. Whereas towers
can be put anywhere but take up more space.

"Bret" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:<(E-Mail Removed)>...

> Anyone have experience / opinions regarding rack design vs. tower

> servers specifically Dell's. We are starting to look at more and more

> servers at a site. Rack starts to look pretty good. Multiple towers

> start to get cluttered. Am I losing performance?

>

>

On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 22:41:11 -0500, "Bret" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>Anyone have experience / opinions regarding rack design vs. tower servers
>specifically Dell's. We are starting to look at more and more servers at a
>site. Rack starts to look pretty good. Multiple towers start to get
>cluttered. Am I losing performance?

Same thing, different case. Rackmount save space, are usually easier
to cable, and with a KVM switch they take up less desk space for
monitors as well.

Drawback is the cost of the rack, the added cost of rackmount systems
and if it's an issue, less upgradability due to smaller, proprietary
cases.

Jeff

Another potential issue is that rack systems typically have less expansion,
i.e. fewer PCI slots and fewer hard drive bays. They typically cost a
little more than the corresponding tower model as well. Many tower systems
have a tower conversion kit available, but obviously they take more rack
space than their rack-optimized peers.

Something else to keep in mind, especially if you're deploying a lot of
them, is the heat issue. Get a good rack and make sure your air
conditioning/air flow is good. Putting a lot of servers in a small space
tends to create hot spots.

Also, depending on what type of rack you buy, you can find yourself getting
away from the power strips that are frequently used with towers and going to
PDUs (power distribution units) and they can be a little spendy as well.

With Dell systems in particular, they charge for the rails separately from
the system itself - usually $150-ish. You'll need rails. Most other
manufacturers include them.

"Bret" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Anyone have experience / opinions regarding rack design vs. tower servers
> specifically Dell's. We are starting to look at more and more servers at
> a
> site. Rack starts to look pretty good. Multiple towers start to get
> cluttered. Am I losing performance?
>
>