First boot with iDRAC and iLO: initial server setup the right way (UK 2026)
The baseboard management controller is the first thing you should configure on a new server and the one most people configure last - if at all. Dell iDRAC and HPE iLO give you full remote control of a server even when it…
How to spec a server in 2026: a practitioner's walkthrough
Most server sizing mistakes happen at the spec stage — undersized RAM, overspecified CPU, wrong drive form factor, missed network throughput requirement. This walkthrough gives you the actual decision framework Servnet e…
HPE ProLiant tower servers: MicroServer, ML110 and ML350 Gen11 for UK SMBs and branch offices
Not every business has a rack, a server room or a cooling plant. Plenty of UK SMBs and branch offices need exactly one capable server that sits quietly in a cupboard or under a desk and just works. HPE's tower line cover…
Cloud vs on-prem TCO 2026: the honest UK mid-market analysis
Cloud is not always cheaper than on-prem. This is now widely acknowledged — yet most UK mid-market organisations still under-model on-prem TCO + over-model cloud TCO when comparing. This is the honest framework Servnet r…
PCIe 6.0 and CXL memory pooling: what UK infrastructure teams should plan for
For thirty years a server's memory has been welded to its CPU sockets: every host carries its own DRAM, most of it sits idle most of the time, and you cannot lend a spare gigabyte from one machine to another. PCIe 6.0 an…
RAID rebuild & ZFS resilver explained (times & risk)
A rebuild (or ZFS resilver) is when the array reconstructs a failed drive — and it's the riskiest moment in an array's life. Here's how long it takes, why it's risky, and how to shrink both. Estimate it in the RAID calcu…
How to buy refurbished enterprise hardware in the UK safely
Refurbished enterprise hardware — servers, storage, switches, firewalls — is a legitimate procurement option that most UK IT buyers under-consider. Typical savings are 50-75% vs new equivalent. Done well, you get OEM-spe…
EOL and EOSL planning: when to refresh, extend or re-support your servers (UK 2026)
Every server reaches a point where the vendor stops selling it, then a later point where the vendor stops supporting it, and the gap between those two dates is where a lot of UK IT budgets are quietly wasted or quietly p…
RAID write penalty explained (and IOPS impact)
The RAID write penalty is the hidden tax that makes parity RAID slow for writes: each host write costs several back-end disk operations. Here's the maths — and see it in your IOPS in the RAID calculator.…
How much server RAM do you need? Right-sizing memory in 2026 (UK)
Memory is the dimension a server most often runs out of first - and the one most often guessed at. How much RAM you need is a methodology question, not a number you can copy from someone else's build, because it depends …
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