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Don't Let Their Consumer-Grade Products Scare You Off!
June 30, 2022

Don't Let Their Consumer-Grade Products Scare You Off!

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series

We utilize the Thinksystem SR590 and SR630's within our district as our virtual machine hosts. We are a mid-sized district, so budgetary concerns are always a leading cause behind our purchasing decisions. The Lenovo Thinksystem series is modular - so that it can be built to the specifications you need - so that you're not overpaying for hardware you won't utilize. VMWare also has a custom ISO for Lenovo-branded servers, so that the installation of ESXi doesn't run into any driver-related issues. It's fantastic, and makes deployment a breeze.
  • Affordability
  • Flexibility with custom builds
  • SATA/SSD/M2/SD support for front-end caching or for an entire storage solution
  • Allow x2 SD cards to be installed in a RAID0 setup, so that the host can run ESXi without any internal hard drives whatsoever. Also came with an internal battery for the RAID controller.
  • Lenovo Support is very quick to respond to issues - either by phone or by email.
  • A video tutorial on upgrading built-in firmware on their systems would be fantastic. As it was a bit difficult to navigate to find the download, and also the install process the last time I did so.
  • The remote BIOS utility through the XClarity controller is difficult to reset a password on - if it's forgotten. I have yet to find a way to reset it on a host that has a password not working.
  • Affordability/Modular designs
  • Compatibility with VMWare
  • Large list of available hard drives that are "approved" for their server use - so you can use a brand you rely on/prefer
  • Warranties available from 1, 3 and 5 years - with various response times for each duration.
  • Our uptime has increased from our old HP ProLiant servers from 8+ years ago.
  • These servers are also cheaper than previous models we have deployed in the past
  • XClarity controller allows for remote BIOS functionality - which we hadn't been able to utilize, previously.
The initial selection of Lenovo for servers was provided to us as a recommendation from a reseller. I was skeptical, initially, as I am not a fan of Lenovo's consumer-grade laptops. I was very intrigued by the price of these devices though, so we purchased two for a location to see how they worked. The recommendation panned-out, and all of our needs were met (and exceeded) by this new line of products brought to our attention. I'm sure there are countless other stories like mine with dozens of other manufacturers - but we are more than pleased with our fleet of Thinksystem servers at our district.

Do you think Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series's feature set?

Yes

Did Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Lenovo ThinkSystem SR Series again?

Yes

I believe all businesses would benefit from Lenovo's series of products - as they can be custom-built to meet your needs. We have been utilizing Lenovo servers for the past seven or eight years now, and have had get success with their hardware builds. We had one issue with a bad SD card that was in a RAID0 - they replaced both SD cards free of charge, and I had them the next business day (this, obviously, is contingent on the level of warranty protection that you purchase with your hardware - but support was fantastic to work with!)