SATA Enables VAR To Compete With Tier-One Vendors

Personal Computer Systems, Inc. (PCS) in Louisville, TN, builds and delivers between 600 and 1,000 computers every month. The company’s main markets are the education sector (grades K-12) and corporate enterprises. PCS builds and sells servers, high-performance PCs, workstations, desktops, and laptops.

When faced with a challenge of helping a business client improve its Web logging server with minimal server room space, PCS provided a solution based on the 400 GB Barracuda 7200.8 hard disk drive from Seagate Technology. Using Barracuda drives, PCS consolidated three separate servers into a single machine. In the new logging server, five 400 GB Barracuda drives and three 80 GB Barracuda drives in a RAID (redundant array of independent disks) configuration absorb all data storage requirements and offer space for data traffic to increase. The client saves rack space, reduces power consumption, and keeps costs under control. The serial ATA (SATA) interface of the Barracuda 7200.8 drive was a significant element in the server design because SATA features narrow, flexible cables and small connectors that allow greater flexibility, better airflow, and more versatile use of available space.

Doug Carswell, sales manager for PCS, says, “By using Seagate Barracuda drives, our client can have two terabytes of storage in a single server box for less than $2,000. They felt the price was extremely competitive and are thrilled to have room for even more data storage in the same server. We managed to increase our business and are now competing successfully with much larger vendors such as Dell. We can offer our clients full assurance of the reliability of the drives that house their important data and applications.”

PCS participates in the Seagate Partner Program. “Seagate even helps us find distributors that offer excellent pricing,” says Carswell. “Seagate is directly helping us increase our ability to compete.”