Differences / Experiences of PE2950

[Derek Yeung]

Hi,

We're looking to place a large order of PowerEdge 2850 servers (about ~100 
servers).  Our considerate sales rep offered us an opportunity for the 
PE2950s.  We're very interested, but before I go ahead, could those 
fortunate enough to have the 2950s share some experiences running RHEL3 
(Update 7) ?

I'd also be interested in RHEL4 experience but we aren't really running 
RHEL4 in production yet.

Does anyone have any documentation on the differences between the PE2850 
and PE2950 ?

My research indicates:
   - Dual Core Xeon
   - Faster Front Side Bus (up to 1.3GHz vs 800MHz)
   - PERC5/i IO controller
   - SAS disks
   - different network interface

I'm most interested in operational issues (preferably in production): how 
is this machine, running RHEL3 (Advanced Server?) doing for you ?  Driver 
issues ?  SAS IO Performance ?  How about running with RHEL 4 ?

Our intended purpose for these machines will be message servers for our 
mail service.

Thank you very much in advance!


Derek