Server sales continue decline – time to bargain hard with your supplier

These are not easy days to be a server maker – and it very likely it'll never be easy again, so we had better get used to it. In the short run, there has probably not been a better time to wrestle with your server vendors on price since the dot-com bust. That said, the confluence of many factors is putting tremendous pressure …

[Mikel]

Discounts?

Your server vendor is spending all his margins on floating his consumer boat and buying startups to offer "converged architectures" that include the whole server/storage/network integrated with their premium management software. They don't have much margin to give up for discounting.

[Anonymous Coward]

Have said it before and will say it again...

...thank Intel for delaying 22nm E5/E7 Xeon's.

If you consider the fact that servers need to last a good many years it does make one hell of a difference in power and cooling costs when you compare 22nm versus 32nm. And even as we speak right now Intel's 22nm E5 Xeon parts are STILL not out.

Yes, I'm aware that they'll hit the market in Q3, but the fact is this delay has caused us to pretty much eradicate all server upgrades over the past 15 months. And I know I'm not the only one.

After all the primary benefit for me to upgrade my servers is to reduce power and cooling costs. Performance is a plus point, sure, but it's a secondary benefit for most part.

INTEL!!!

[Roo]

Re: Have said it before and will say it again...

"If you consider the fact that servers need to last a good many years it does make one hell of a difference in power and cooling costs when you compare 22nm versus 32nm"

I would love to compare power and cooling costs between 22nm and 32nm but unfortunately (as you point out) Intel's Xeon E5s aren't out so I can't compare...

Have you considered that the reason behind Intel delaying the 22nm Xeon E5 launch might be because the product is not actually ready yet ? It wouldn't be the first time a processor vendor has delayed a launch because the parts coming out of their brand spanking new fab run a bit too hot or they are plain broken.