Dell PowerEdge End Of Life servers

No, Dell does not publish such info.

Sales would have ended sometime 2007.

As systems can be warranteed for up to 5 years (7 years in some rare cases - usually government or extremely common/popular models like the 2950), so end of warranty support would be late 2012 at the latest (unless you are a certain government organization).

6850's are eligible for free technical support for the lifetime of the server (only difference here to an in-warranty system is the parts and service are billed to the customer when out of warranty, if the customer so chooses).

Dell would also never make a recommendation that a given server be used or not in a datacenter, as this depends solely on the requirements, capacity, and needs of the datacenter/company.

Thanks Flash, what will you say about lifetime of a server? If the server continues to get support then it’s not an EOL product. May be manufacturing has stopped but not the support which makes it difficult to assume if the server has completed its life span or not. Bit confused here but really appreciate your response.

"If the server continues to get support then it’s not an EOL product."

That depends on your definition of End of Life.  If it is just support you want - technical support available in the event you should need it - then it never is EOL.  You can call with a year 2001 model PowerEdge 4300 and get technical assistance with your issue (systems that shipped after 10/2009 are no longer eligible for lifetime support.)  Depending on the parameters that you use to define EOL, free technical support may not be adequate, as Dell (and other vendors) may no longer carry critical parts allowing you to replace failing hardware.  Parts and service availability would be much more valuable (in my opinion) than simple, basic tech support.  Even if you are able to source parts in the event of hardware failure, if an organization cannot afford the downtime, and would need a service solution measured in hours, not days, then warranty service terms must be considered.

Every organization defines the lifespan of a computer or server.  An office with a dozen employees doing email, data entry, and basic spreadsheets and word processing that generates a couple of GB of data per year would have a harder time justifying a 2 or 3-year lifespan on their computers and servers; however, a company that develops software or high-end graphics, media, modeling, etc would probably not want to go more than 2 years before changing out hardware, so they can keep their employees cranking on current hardware, and their storage demands on the server(s) can keep up with the growth.  These EOL scenarios must be defined by the nature of the business.

- For some, EOL means they can't obtain more servers through normal/direct channels.
- For some, EOL means they can't get technical support on a product any more.
- For some, EOL means they can't get warranty support on a product any more.
- For some, EOL means they can't [easily or affordably] source parts for their product any more.

Accordingly, Dell does not define any of these (publicly).  

- They stop manufacturing when they have planned the replacement - probably based on component availability.
- They stop providing technical support on products shipped after 10/20009 after the purchased warranty contract term is up (indefinitely for systems shipped before that date), within the scope of their "out-of-warranty" support.
- They generally limit purchasable extended warranty terms to 5 years (again, there are some exceptions - some publicly available, some not).
- They gradually dimish stock on replacement parts available to the public as more and more systems go out of warranty, to the point that any parts they have in stock are reserved strictly for in-warranty customers and are no longer available for purchase from Dell.

3-5 years is pretty standard for the life of a server - not the useful term of service, but the length of time that a company would run the hardware before planning to retire and upgrade to a more efficient, higher-performance setup.

Dell does not make it easy for those who want documented hardware lifecycles to define policies, but many companies do not provide such material, putting these policy decisions in the hands of experienced IT personnel who know their business needs.

Thanks Flash, it all makes sense now

Dear Flash-in-the-pan,

I work for a Fortune 500 and I'm hear to tell you servers hang around for a good 10 years. I would be happy just to find a page listing when my server became available and whether it is still shipping so that your diatribe would have some relevance to my real world.

Ha ha ... most of your post didn't make any sense ('diatribe'? do you need a definition?), and it isn't really written like someone who truly is familiar with managing infrastructure in a F500 company. No offense. What you say just doesn't seem like a very forward-thinking attitude toward tech that keeps the company efficient and relevant in their industry

Dell's definition of end of life is not determined by how long YOU use your servers. End of life for your organization is defined by you, Dell's is defined by them. Currently-shipping servers are available on their website. Wow, novel idea. I have 10+ year old servers hanging around too. That doesn't mean I expect there to be active development or parts replacement available from the manufacturer. I realize that they are END OF LIFE and manage my expectations accordingly. Use them as long as you want, but at some point Dell has to call it quits from their side of things.

Posted bytheflash1932 should have stuck to criticizing my misspelling of the word 'here'. Diatribe in that while saying nothing to address the issue. the ignorance and verbosity of his post are an 'attack on my sensibilities'.

NOBODY CARES how Dell manages their product lines to maximize profits.

Most of the complaints I've read have nothing to do with Dell's PREROGATIVE to EOL a product, only the condescending manner in which they and their minions waste my time forcing me to research ship date + 5 years, uhhh, parts might still be readily available, call to find out if we'll grant an extension, oh wait, here's another link from a community response to waste your time with legalese.

Why can't you just publish a product 'drop dead and move into a modern era' list?

Does anyone else miss Sun?

Sayonara Flash in the Pan