Investments in sustainability are on the rise – in fact, 71 percent of organizations have begun implementing ESG programs.1 Combine that with the fact that IT is already focused on modernization plans for workloads, multicloud and security – and you can see how many teams are faced with seemingly competing priorities.
At Dell Technologies, we believe implementing a green data center and hitting the “Environmental” aspect of ESG is part of every IT infrastructure initiative. With Dell VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure systems you can improve energy efficiency as you consolidate workloads across edge, data centers and multicloud. And with energy costs poised to be 46% higher in 2023, this is more important than ever. Here are two key areas where the Dell VxRail infrastructure portfolio makes a difference, and one new platform that promises to be a sustainability game changer at the edge and in the datacenter.
Workload Consolidation
One of the best ways VxRail addresses power consumption is by taking advantage of and the operational benefits of the VxRail HCI System Software to consolidate infrastructure. By reducing the number of servers needed for specific workloads as well as consolidating multiple workloads and operations into a single environment, VxRail customers can shrink footprint and realize more efficient operations while lowering power consumption. Combined these factors can result in up to 24% lower infrastructure costs.
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- Achieve up 50% power savings by consolidating workloads with VxRail deployments on 15th generation PowerEdge versus 13th generation PowerEdge.
- Forecast power requirements by consolidating on a single infrastructure across core, edge and multicoud with a consistent operational model.
- Eliminate silos of infrastructure, reduce stranded resources, and optimize technology for workload requirements.
And as we continue to jointly innovate with VMware, we recently introduced integrated DPUs, enabling customers to offload and accelerate vSphere services while freeing up CPU cycles for workload performance and consolidation. Announced at VMware Explore US and available soon, the initial results indicate up to 20% CPU savings.
Infrastructure Planning
Proper infrastructure planning helps manage power consumption, reduces the risk of overprovisioning and sets up your environment to accommodate current workloads as well as future growth. Purpose built VxRail sizing tools provide design guidance by:
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- Importing Live Optics data from VMware virtualized workloads into VxRail sizing tools to create optimal infrastructure sizing guidance based on utilized resources (not overprovisioned).
- Providing estimates of power and cooling requirements based on configuration and various workload profiles using our Enterprise Infrastructure Planning Tool.
- Sizing tools directly integrated into the ordering path, ensuring that what is entered into the plan is what arrives at your business.
This can be done for individual nodes or at multi-rack scale, ultimately projecting power and cooling needs at a specific edge location or across an entire data center of infrastructure.
Introducing the Smallest, Most VxRail Cluster Ever2 (or VxRail Clusters the Size of a Shoebox)
The new VxRail VD-4000 (available in Q1 2023) based on the PowerEdge XR-4000 platform offers a small, purpose-built form factor extending the benefits of VxRail to locations previously inaccessible due to unfavorable conditions, bandwidth and footprint restrictions. This new form factor takes advantage of the existing planning tools, aligns the right platform to the right location and power requirements, and implements an edge consolidation platform to simplify operations. Additionally, a new embedded vSAN witness enables users to create a self-contained 2-node vSAN cluster in a footprint not much larger than a shoebox, eliminating the need for remote hardware.
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- Operate at up to 55C (+130F) to minimize required cooling.
- Industry first Embedded vSAN witness node3 right sized and powered to efficiently run the vSAN virtual machine.
- Requires only two-thirds of the power vs a standard 3-node cluster. 4
- Unique sled-based design allows for “rackable”, stackable, and “mountable” options to fit in almost any location.
- Scale from two to 64 nodes per cluster.
It is estimated that datacenters can save 4-5% of energy costs for every one degree increase in server inlet temperature and the average datacenter operates at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. So, while this new offering is designed for the edge, it has the potential to change the way infrastructure architects think about conventional power and cooling in datacenters by operating outside of typical server environmental requirements.
Simplify and Sustain
The Dell Technologies commitments to climate action and the circular economy fuel the creation of technology and solutions, and the VxRail portfolio is no exception. It is designed to simplify infrastructure for the IT environment, drive consistent operations throughout the business, and deliver innovative new solutions that improve the bottom line, modernize IT, and have a direct impact on sustainability goals.
1 ESG Complete Survey Results, The Role of ESG Programs in IT Decision Making, September 2022.
2 CLM-005557: Dell Technologies provides the smallest, most flexible, and self-contained VxRail form factor ever.
3 CLM-005471: VxRail modular nodes will be the industry’s first and only self-contained vSAN 2-node HCI system offering an integrated and purpose-built hardware witness. – Based on Dell analysis, August 2022.
4 Based on internal testing, VxRail VD-4000 2-node vs VxRail 3-node single socket E660F.
