The 5 Servers You Can’t Live Without in Your Data Center

Are you ready for the most advanced servers your data center has ever seen? Today, we begin shipping the newest Dell PowerEdge servers. The 14th generation. You can order them right now and be one of the first to get them up and running in your data center.

In the past, servers were designed for multi-workloads. The server model choices were around density, processor speed, and memory. But that was in a world when different workloads were treated equally. Today, PowerEdge server design is largely optimized around the workload we want you to run on it. It’s a different R&D process that requires a completely integrated development of servers and workloads in many cases. The result is a workload-optimized lineup of servers.

Workload Acceleration

Dedicated hardware accelerator technologies are hot right now. And for good reason. Some applications such as artificial intelligence, analytics, and engineering applications benefit from different kinds of processing. Accelerators use hardware-accelerator chips to offload certain kinds of computations from the CPU to the accelerator chip. The accelerator is very efficient at processing a specific type of work in parallel. What the CPU does better than the accelerator, the CPU processes. The rest it sends to the accelerator chip. The result is that applications run noticeably faster. The new PowerEdge servers support workload acceleration with a variety of GPU and FPGA technologies.

Workload Storage

In just the past three years, data storage has changed dramatically. Big SANs are no longer the only option. Software-defined-storage (SDS) software like VMware vSAN and Dell ScaleIO utilize servers as the bedrock of a scalable storage solution. But the economic promises of SDS are only realized when the underlying server technology provides maximum drive density and storage configuration options. The new PowerEdge servers have been completely redesigned to maximize internal storage options and capacity. But one in particular, the new R740xd, is the best PowerEdge platform for SDS and will be the foundation for ScaleIO, vSAN, and PowerEdge XC Ready Node systems. The new R740xd is the same size as the previous generation R730xd, but supports additional drive bays and up to six times more NVMe drives. To get more drives into the same space, we had to re-engineer the airflow patterns to ensure that each slot inside the server received the right amount of airflow. Some slots need more airflow than others. The multiple sensors inside communicate with the internal management chip to redirect airflow where it’s needed and away from areas it’s not.

Workload Tuning

You can quickly and easily tune the BIOS for the workload. There are predefined configuration settings for easy IT and digital transformation initiatives like virtualization, database, SDS, high-frequency trading (HFT), and high performance computing (HPC). This means you spend less time validating the settings and configurations to optimize your hardware for the application. Our engineers validate it for you in the lab. It’s completely turn-key.

These new PowerEdge servers will power high-performance, mission critical, and SDS workloads. Here are the individual server models that start shipping today.

Model Targeted Workloads
PowerEdge R940

Designed to handle extremely demanding, mission-critical workloads and very large databases.

 

  • In-Memory Database
  • Analytics
  • Dense Virtualization
  PowerEdge R740

Workhorse providing storage, I/O, and application acceleration balance with configuration flexibility.

 

PowerEdge R740xd

Ideal for applications requiring best-in-class storage performance, high scalability, and density.

 

  • SDS
  • Big Data
PowerEdge R640

Ideal combination for dense scale-out data center computing and storage in a 1U/2S platform.

 

  • HPC
  • Virtualization
PowerEdge C6420

Maximizes density, scalability, and energy efficiency per U for high-performance hyperscale workloads.

 

  • HPC
  • Hyper-converged Infrastructure
  • Financial Modeling

All of the new PowerEdge servers include the brand new integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) 9 to give you complete control of your entire compute architecture without software agents. Design, deploy, monitor, and scale your digital transformation with intelligent automation and integrated security built-in.

Check out the latest PowerEdge server models and systems management features and see why Dell PowerEdge servers are the bedrock of the modern data center.

About the Author: Brian Payne

Brian Payne leads a team responsible for defining the portfolio strategy as well as the detailed definitions for each offer in the portfolio. In his role, Brian collaborates across the Dell Technologies portfolio inclusive of the full line of Dell EMC infrastructure products as well as the software products such as the VMware Virtual Cloud Foundation portfolio.  Brian and members of his organization regularly engage with customers around the world to better understand their challenges and help them better understand how Dell can help them achieve their goals.  The insights gathered from our customers through these engagements coupled with primary research fuel the innovation engine for new offer development. Brian has over twenty years of product development experience at Dell.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin.