[CentOS] a hardware question

[John R Pierce]

On 05/17/11 12:49 PM, m.roth at 5-cent.us wrote:
> We need to replace several servers, quickly - four of our Dell PE 1950's
> died in one week. (!!!) So, we're looking around, and I was checking out
> IBM. I customized to what we want, and hit 'continue', and suddenly
> there's another $800 for a "system common planar" that's "required".
> Googling only finds specs with it - does anyone know what it is? I mean,
> it's not like it's the motherboard, right?

indeed, Planar is IBM-speak for a mainboard.   IBM has a lot of their 
own unique terminology.  For ages disk drives were called DASD (Direct 
Access Storage Devices).

generally, on the IBM 'express' configurations, everything required is 
included in the base configuration.  sounds like you were off in their 
custom build land, which is mostly intended for bulk orders and 
everything is /a la carte/.

I *highly* recommend working with an IBM VAR who will sort out the 
configurations for you.