On 07/02/2013 07:50 AM, John R Pierce wrote: > On 7/1/2013 12:01 PM, m.roth at 5-cent.us wrote: >> And we like Dell, a lot. When we get a server with a PERC 6xx or 7xx, it >> *works*, we don't need special licenses or whatever to activate it. > this wasn't the equivalent of a perc6/7, it was onboard basic stuff. i > usually get HP kit with p410 cards which are the same sort of thing as > your perc, with 1gb flash backed write-back cache.. > Just took delivery of an Intel P4000CP server for a client, only wanted 4 HD initially but has capacity for 8. Turns out that only four will work out of the box so to speak, to enable the other 4, my client will have to pay for a product key that gets entered into the bios to enable the extra already present disk controllers. Similarly if one wants to actually use the on board raid in various formats, various drive type etc., additional keys are required - this was not apparent to me at order time as it is not explicitly shown. So no longer can one shop for the "capabilities" of a mb (I checked) and believe the price - one needs to really follow the fine print - the marketers have managed to find another way to squeeze some extra cash out of the sale, i.e. they have actually built and delivered all the hardware, but locked out access until one pays more. Once bitten, twice shy. I've never come across this before, don't build a lot of pure server systems, but from now on will have to make sure I ask all the correct questions to ensure I actually get what I thought I was getting. Have always had a great run out of Intel kit, but this has left me feeling very taken advantage of, I am reasonably astute and do read and research carefully. Not happy, and for this sale they only get 4 out of 10. Buyer beware! Rob > > > > > >