Michael Douglass writes:
But didn't someone _just_ say that the parts you get are tested for reliability... I'm sure that was speculation on the part of the speaker--but I guess this just goes to show you that they are _NOT_ testing their product before shipping it. We've sent numerous motherboards back.
We do test all parts and all configured systems before shipping them. At least, that's our intent. Still, they sometimes don't work when they arrive, and that's an important issue for us.
There are a variety of possibilities. Off the top of my head:
(1) We are confused, and don't actually test the systems, even though our ISO 9000 records show that we do.
(I don't believe this is the case.)
(2) The systems are damaged while being shipped.
(We have found problems and made changes in this area. I suspect that we will find more problems to fix.
I don't mean to imply that we have bad shippers. There are all sorts of issues here, including packaging and how components inside the system are held in place.)
(3) Something about our installation procedure or documentation is broken, and in following it the customer either damages the system or does something that makes it not work on his/her site even though it does work when returned to NetApp.
(We have also found problems in this area, some involving cabling complexity, but maybe in other areas too -- I can't remember -- and again have made changes.
I'm sure that we will be working to improve this area for years to come -- maybe forever. Some of the improvements need to be engineered in at the start of the design cycle, and the next set of ideas come only as customers start to use -- and are frustrated or confused by -- the new generation of products.)
I wish that we were perfect, but I know that's not true.
Still, I believe that we are good at finding and fixing problems, and I know that our products today are amazingly more robust than our products three years ago, or even one year ago.
Dave Hitz hitz@netapp.com Network Appliance (408) 367-3106