> We use Dell servers exclusively and have for 15 years. I think we're up > to 400+ physical boxes now and the number of Linux-compatibility issues > in all that time is exactly zero :-)
That's good to hear. > If Dell sold server-class hardware that wasn't 100% supported in Linux, > their sales would suffer badly, they have a strong business model around > 100% Linux support in the data center. So the odds are very much on your > side, but do your Google checks on the proposed hardware and verify. You're right. But it's quite a difference to sell something which comes with some Linux distribution installed and "works" and to have a system in place which lacks a single but important feature just because it's not one of the mainstream features. > 1. Pick a server model that has an option to ship with RHEL > pre-installed, this indicates 100% Linux compatibility. That was one of the reasons why we're thinking about Dell server. They offer SLES and RHEL as operating systems. But again, often the last 1% of the hardware's features (like hardware sensors) are only available if you use some creepy vendor software (like OpenManage). > 2. For VM hosts, look into the -R variant. We found them by pure chance > end of last year, they are the same model but with some stupid large > number of front drive bays (16?) mounted vertically. It's built with VM > servers in mind. For some reason the price was cheaper than the regular > R720 even with 16 drives installed! Maybe we just got lucky but nobody > here was going to query a bargain like that :-) Thanks for the hint!
