In the part 1 of this post, I talked about a cheaper alternative to buying vSANReady nodes which is to configure the system nodes by using the vSAN compatibility guide. I also showed the cost comparison of buying a vSANReady node from an OEM (in this case DELL/EMC) and configuring it from DELL/EMC’s website.
In this post, I will be sharing a much cheaper alternative to brand new servers and that’s certified refurbished servers. I know, I know most folks would squirm at this idea. However, you should be good as long as you do the necessary research, purchase maintenance packages and ensure that the vendor provides certified refurbished servers from the manufacturer.
Disclaimer: The use of refurbished servers in a production environment is a personal decision and you need to properly weigh the risks involved. I am not by this post recommending its use in production environments. I however think it is perfectly okay to use in a test environment.
Now, that we have the disclaimer out of the way, let’s go back to refurbished servers. There are certain things you need to do before you take the leap to buy refurbished servers. There’s a post on Spiceworks that covers how to reduce your risk when buying refurbished servers. You should check it out and ensure you have made the necessary considerations before selecting the vendor.
One vendor I have used multiple times is ServerMonkey and these are reasons I like and still use them;
- Cheaper prices
- Wide range of OEMs (Dell servers, storage & switches, HP, Juniper, Cisco)
- Clean devices (almost no scratches)
- Great support with next business day delivery. They don’t waste your time troubleshooting a failed component. They simply FedEx or DHL a replacement part
- Friendly team
From ServerMonkey webpage you can browser their products and select the make and model of the device you want and then build it to your desired specification. Below is how to perform the configuration task.
This next image shows the cost of building the system. A total of $70,660.00 for a four node system. Compare that with $220,292.00 when building from Dell.com and $245,632.24 when buying a vSANReady node from an OEM.
This is a significant discount. Almost 4 times cheaper.
So, there you have it, purchasing a refurbished server and using it to buying your vSAN cluster by utilizing the vSAN compatibility guide may just help you slash your vSAN budget.
See you in the next one…
Just My Musings 