Where to Sell Used Servers

So you have finally made the hard decision to say goodbye to your old server. It’s probably been collecting dust in some supply closet for a few months, and you just can’t seem to find a use for it. Your new server is working just fine, and you’ve already transferred all the data you need and wiped the drives on the old server. So what do you do with that outdated piece of technology? If you’re considering just taking it into the recycler…stop! That old server still has value, and while you may deem it without value, there is plenty of money tied up the system. Getting your money’s worth out of that old server is one of the best ways to get a return on your initial investment. Selling a used server is a great way to recoup some of that cost. But is there even a market for used servers? How would one go about selling his or her server? The short answer is yes, and there are two ways to go about selling your server: person to person and direct sale.

Person to Person

As this method suggests, person to person sales are carried out among individuals across a variety of mediums. The most common solution for person to person sales necessitates some sort of third party facilitation. The third party might be a newspaper providing you space for a classified ad, or it might be an ecommerce site allowing you to post. Ecommerce is a viable option for selling your used server, but beware: as you enter the ecommerce arena, you will be competing for a low price against others in much the same situation as you. If you have the lowest price on a site like Amazon or Ebay, chances are you will be able to sell your server. However, if you’re holding out for the right price you may be waiting for a while.

Direct Sale

A direct sale involves approaching a used hardware or computer business and negotiating a flat price for the exchange of the server. There is no “bidding” in the sense of ecommerce auction style purchasing, but you may be able to negotiate a higher price, depending on the quality of your server. When selling your server directly, it is important to get a quote and verify it at another buyer. Whereas you were competing for the lowest price online, you will now have a little bit of leverage as potential buyers quote up against one another. Even if your server has no value, many computer businesses will be able to provide you with a scrap value for the server. With the precious metals contained within the server, you will still be able to garner some small return from the server.

Bottom Line

Direct sale is preferable to person-to-person sale, and often provides you a more realistic return on your server. The ability to request a quote and verify a quote before you sell used servers greatly increases your chances of getting the best price, whereas online selling will cut your margin of return further down.

Expanding Server Potential

All too often, technology is quickly outpaced by the some “newer, better, faster” replacement which is, in reality, only marginally improved over the previous model. It happens all the time with smart phones, as an example, but who really needs two cameras on a phone or a female HAL artificial intelligence? Over time, however, these small improvements add up to the point where one model is truly outpaced by a newer model. But with major investments, one can hardly afford to get the newest and fastest model every time a substantial improvement is made. When it comes to servers, the best way to plan for future needs while maximizing on the use of an older server is by planning for scalability.

Individual Scalability

The first aspect of scalability is that which applies to individual servers. When choosing a server for your business, you should always plan for future upgrades. Scalability comes in as we consider the question To what degree is this server scalable? If the server has two gigabytes of installed RAM but only allows for a total of four gigabytes, that server may not be the best investment. If a server allows for up to sixteen gigabytes of expanded memory, that is the much better choice. Individual servers with greater degrees of scalability will allow for the easy installation and removal of processors, memory, and hard drives, depending on your individual needs.

Multiple Scalability

When you are looking at expandability for multiple server configurations, you will want to look at the scalability for multiple units. Tower servers are generally good for small businesses and operations. However, multiple tower servers wouldn’t be optimized for larger businesses. Tower servers are generally standalone units. The best choices for larger-scale deployments are rack servers and blade servers. Rack servers are those which are self-contained units but which are placed in rack mounts. These are the most common choice for scalability; as multiple servers are required, each can be individually scaled, and the entire compliment of servers can be scaled as a whole. Blade servers consist of one large blade chassis which supplies both power and cooling to the individual blades. The “blades” have all the components of the actual server, and are a great choice for scalability as you can engage only a single blade or several depending on your business needs.

Within rack and blade mounting, individual scalability holds true. However, planning for future expansion demands you be mindful of how server deployments will work. Both racks and blade chassis configurations have a limit to the servers they can support. However, expansion options are available. The IBM I-series, for example, allows for expansion drawers for additional scalability. With the addition of a 5796-8203 expansion drawer, the potential of the IBM system is expanded beyond its maximum individual configuration. If you don’t want your server(s) to be passed up and rendered useless, you must plan to upgrade individual servers. Additionally, you must allow for multiple server expansions. Allowing for such growth will ensure your investment yields the greatest benefits.

Not a Fan of Server Meltdowns

Accidents are a part of life. They’re unavoidable, but oftentimes we end up just kicking ourselves, saying “If only I’d have seen it coming!” There would be far fewer cars in the ditch, skinned knees, and burnt dinners. Luckily, the majority of unfortunate incidents lead to only minor consequences. When it comes to technology, the majority of “accidents” we have turn out to be nothing more than a file we didn’t save soon enough or an email with a typo. However, every once in a while, technology takes a turn for the worse. Oftentimes, the culprit behind these accidents is something we neglect up until we have a problem with it. Your server is a major investment, and protecting it from harm should be a primary concern. So what’s the specific culprit I’m talking about? It’s your server’s fan. So take heed, and take care of your server fan before it quits on you!

Why the Fan?

It seems like such an innocuous component in your server, right? A fan, while not the most noticeable or glamorous parts of a server, is still absolutely essential to the proper functioning of your technology. Fan problems can lead to devastating results if not taken care of quickly and effectively. If your system isn’t cooling well enough, your processor and motherboard can be damaged to the point where they require replacement. That will be an expensive undertaking, one which would be best to avoid. Here are three signs of impending fan failure, which, if noticed, should be taken very seriously.

Excessive Noise

While a normal server fan will run a little bit loud (it’s doing a lot of work to assist in the removal of that heat, after all), if your fan is running excessively loud or making odd whirring, clanking, or scraping noises, it’s time to call somebody in and shut down your system for a quick repair. Fan repair/replacement is relatively inexpensive, and should take no more than twenty minutes if done by an experienced professional.

Internal Temperature

This is one of the best ways to anticipate a problem with your server fan. Most servers will throw up a warning if the internal temperature climbs too far outside of normal operational parameters. Many servers will automatically shut down, as well, if the problem goes without service. However, why wait for it to become a bigger problem? Instead, monitor your server’s internal temperature from time to time to make sure it’s not getting too hot. If the environmental conditions are stable in your server room but a system’s core temperature keeps climbing, chances are the heat exchange is failing.

If you do need to remove a fan, you will need to remove the entire tray along with it. We always clean our fan along with its fan tray assembly. Your fan tray will collect dust and various particles. We clean our 541-0645 assembly once a month. With proper maintenance and careful monitoring, you need not risk the possible damages of a server fan failure.

The Importance of Server Motherboard Selection

Laying the Framework

                Have you ever heard the story about the foolish man who built his house on sand? What’s the moral of the story there? Of course, the message is clear to anybody who has a basic understanding of proper construction: you only build on a solid foundation, otherwise the first odd rain to come along will wash away that foundation and, oh bother, no more house. There’s a lot to be said about the relationship between foundations and the structures built atop them. In many ways, a computer’s motherboard is the same as a foundation. The computer’s total potential is, in essence, always determined by the motherboard. You can purchase the best processor on the market, the biggest RAM possible, and a hard drive with terabytes of memory – but if the motherboard doesn’t support these computer components, what you actually have are paperweights. The motherboard is the foundation of your server, and without a good foundation, there’s not much you can do.

What to Consider

The motherboard of your server is like the nervous system of the body. Every component connects to it and is utterly dependant upon it for the successful transmission of electrical signals and the data contained therein. In a basic understanding, consider your motherboard a necessity because it connects everything and makes the actual computing possible. But in terms of specificity, there is more to take into account. When looking into a motherboard for your server, think of the motherboard as a foundation for the future possibilities of your server. It is a blueprint upon which your server will be built. This is a great opportunity, but it might also prove to be a hindrance unless given proper forethought.

Your motherboard will govern how you can interface with your computer in addition to how your computer components interconnect. Your server’s motherboard will decide several factors, including:

• Processor Support (what processor you can have in your server)
• Power Supply
• Amount of RAM available
• PCI slots
• Amount of Storage
• USB ports
• Video Ports
• Mouse Ports

A good motherboard will allow for expanding future needs. While you may be able to find a motherboard allowing for your current interface demands, remember: your motherboard also governs your server’s future expandability.

ProLiant Motherboards

 

One of the best-selling ProLiant motherboards offers a prime example of key features in a server motherboard. This motherboard supports up to two Intel Xeon processors, either dual or quad-core. The possibility of installing two processors is essential when allowing for a server to manage mission-critical processing. With two embedded Gigabit network adapters, the 436526-001 motherboard effectively eliminates the possibility of component related network lag. The motherboard also features four available PCI-Express slots, or a PCI-X/PCI-Express configuration. With multiple VGA, USB, and User Interface ports available, the ProLiant motherboard effectively allows for limited or expanded accessibility and performance needs.