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Odd trend

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Vlad

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I know I'm missing something here. I was browsing the really high end rackmount servers just for fun and I noticed an odd trend. Why is it that new consumer machines don't have 3.5" floppy drives but massive 4u rackmount servers with dual quad core processors come stock with one?
 
Vlad said:
I know I'm missing something here. I was browsing the really high end rackmount servers just for fun and I noticed an odd trend. Why is it that new consumer machines don't have 3.5" floppy drives but massive 4u rackmount servers with dual quad core processors come stock with one?
Click to expand...

Because sysadmins sometimes need to get a little driver file or something else on the server when there is no easier way...
 
I think it has something to do with the gullible general public being conned into buying the latest and greatest MS has to offer. Businesses on the other hand, tend to be a little more realistic about their needs and are more likely to employ a "If it's not broke, don't fix it" mentality. Using their "Tried and True" software requires "Tried and True" Hardware...
 
Well, I'm going to take it you mean Automated System Recovery and not something else. The place I was at made it sound like these weren't going to be running windows at all. One of the others even said it wasn't meant to run the 2 most popular versions of Server 03. I'm guessing they were meant to be UNIX boxes. Running Windows on a mission critical core server of that caliber kinda seems counter productive :p
 
I suppose a floppy drive is cheaper and more known reliable technology than installing e.g. a memory card reader and implement support for that one in early bootup code and running operating systems. Once the machine is on the network, it should be possible to upload drivers and software through the network anyway.
 
my school has no floppy drives in there computers none at all and it really bugs me since everything at that school is diskette
they got all new dell machines last semester
 
Vlad said:
I know I'm missing something here. I was browsing the really high end rackmount servers just for fun and I noticed an odd trend. Why is it that new consumer machines don't have 3.5" floppy drives but massive 4u rackmount servers with dual quad core processors come stock with one?
Click to expand...

Ever tried installing Windows (including higher end like Server 2003) on a system with a nice modern RAID architecture? It will only accept drivers on floppy. One of my coworkers recently ran into this and had to go buy a USB floppy drive (no, burning the drivers to a CD-ROM doesn't work). The drivers that came with the RAID controller even shipped on floppy only :).

Now if the boot drive isn't in the RAID cluster and/or has drivers that ship with Windows, then you're ok.
 
Ah yes, I forgot about the much loved floppy only RAID driver disk. My RAID card is as common as can be so I forgot about that one.
 
Actually, installing windows, *ANY* supplemental not-included-in-windows storage drivers, need to be installed from floppy (that's the F6 option, right?)

at least, if needed for installation, ie, install drive

T
 
Speaking from someone who does support for a manufacturer of servers (rackmounts & pedestal) the reason being is F6 or Boot Time Loading Drivers (BTLDs) depending on the OS being installed. Even up to Win Server 2k3 if you have a hardware raid controller, you will (99%) have to install drivers for the OS install to recognise the logical drive you want to install to.

What REALLY irks me is when our genious sales people dont sell a server with a floppy drive OR the server board in question doesnt even have a floppy controller! E/U's need to have or in many cases go out and buy a compatable USB floppy drive from slim choices on the hardware compatability list.
 
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