Hi.Just need some advice really.Can anyone advise on who makes the best servers? We currently use Dell Poweredge but have found that their customer support has declined quite badly and as a result we are looking for an alternative.It will be used primarily as our development server.We were looking mainly at the following specs but any other ideas or suggestions would be most welcome.Thanks... Rack Mount Kit: Tower Chassis Processor(s)/Cache: Dual 700MHz Intel Pentium III Xeon processor, 1MB cache Memory: 2GB PC133 SDRAM (8x256MB 133MHz DIMMs) Backplane: 8 bay (splitable 2x4) backplane (1" drives only) 1st Main Bay Hard Drive: 73GB 10,000rpm 1.6" hot-plug Ultra160 SCSI hard drive Standard Features: Up to four Intel Pentium III Xeon processors, with 512Kb, 1Mb or 2Mb L2 cache System memory scalable up to 8Gb PC133 SDRAM (100Mhz FSB) through 16 DIMM sockets (must be populated in banks of four identical DIMMs) ServerWorks Enterprise ServerSet III HE chipset Floor standing mid-tower or 7U rack-optimised chassis NEW 8 bay (2x4 splittable backplane -1" drives only) as standard or 1x6 hot plug backplane (1" or 1.6" h/d) Dual integrated Ultra3 (U160) SCSI controllers Single Ultra/Narrow SCSI Controller Hot-pluggable redundant power supplies Hot-pluggable redundant cooling fans Seven hot plug PCI slots (2x64bit/66MHz, 4x64bit/33MHz & 1x32bit/33MHz) Embedded Intel Pro 100+ PCI Ethernet adapter Installation (per unit) standalone Processor(s)/Cache: Dual 700MHz Intel Pentium III Xeon processor, 1MB cache Memory: 2GB PC133 SDRAM (8x256MB 133MHz DIMMs) Backplane: 8 bay (splitable 2x4) backplane ( 1st Main Bay Hard Drive: 73GB 10,000rpm 1.6" hot-plug Ultra160 SCSI hard drive 48x Max IDE CD-ROM Internal Hard Drive RAID Configuration: RAID 5 - requires three or more hard drives of equal type/size Internal Tape Backup or Hard Drives (Media Bay): PV110T DLT1 40/80Gb internal unit (+ GBP £936) Media Bay Hard Drive RAID Configuration: No RAID 1st RAID or SCSI Controller Card: 128MB PERC 2/DC RAID Controller (channels: 2xINT, 0xEXT) (+ GBP £624) System: Microsoft Windows 2000 SP1 Advanced Server (25 CALs)

Build it! It's the only way it'll be exactly what you want with the quality you want... or have it built.

I'm also using powerEdge servers since several years and always have good tech support from DELL. It will be very difficult to find out a better support than Dell!! You can send problem by email and take a phone call. Since the last years, Dell made the best servers. Compare other's specs and see by yourself... Their direct sales ability is also a good advantage.