Dell ramps up server and networking offerings

• New servers to take advantage of Windows Server 2012
• High-density, high-performance switches for a variety of networks

DELL has announced a slew of products over the last couple of weeks, from servers to storage, including hardware optimized for Microsoft Corp’s new Windows Server 2012 operating system.
 
First up are PowerEdge 12^th generation servers (pic) that enable customers to take immediate advantage of key advancements in Windows Server 2012, Dell said in a statement.
 
Customers can optimize the dynamic virtualization infrastructure that Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V provides to scale and secure workloads, cost-effectively virtualize their data center, manage infrastructure efficiently, and build cloud environments.
 
“For decades, Dell has worked with Microsoft to deliver real solutions to customer challenges.  This strong partnership has resulted in innovations that accelerate systems deployment and provisioning,” said K.T. Ong, general manager, Commercial Business, Dell Sales Malaysia.
 
“With the latest, award-winning Dell PowerEdge 12th generation servers, customers can take immediate advantage of the ground-breaking advancements of Microsoft Windows Server 2012 – like high density PowerEdge servers that enable the new increased scalability of clusters and Windows Server Hyper-V.”
 
The company also announced the PowerConnect 8100 managed 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switch family, which it claimed offers customers building blocks to deploy applications quickly, scale operations and reduce costs.
 
The new additions to the PowerConnect family are high-density, high-performance switch solutions designed to streamline deployments for enterprise campus and small core, mid-market network infrastructures.
 
With the rapid growth of rich media, communications and heavy business workloads, campus and small business networks are under increased pressure to improve productivity, maximize efficiency and simplify management. Dell said it has designed the new PowerConnect 8100 Series to meet customer demand for networking solutions that deliver a combination of scalability, performance, operational simplicity, and cost-effectiveness in 24/7 operations.
 
“We’re investing significantly in our networking portfolio, including PowerConnect and Force10, to provide customers a full 10 and 40GbE networking solution from the campus to the data center,” said Ong.
 
Finally, the company also announced the PowerEdge C8000 Series (pic), which it claimed was the industry’s first 4U shared infrastructure solution to allow the mixing and matching of compute, GPU/coprocessors and storage sleds in one chassis.
 
Ideally suited for workloads that require high performance per watt and flexibility in configuration, such as high-performance computing (HPC) and big data applications, the PowerEdge C8000 series delivers the ideal mix of resources, while saving on space, energy and refresh rates, and allowing customers to run their data centers at higher operating temperatures.
 
Customers can pack more compute power in less space than traditional 1U servers, with the cores, memory and I/O expansion needed for peak workload performance, the company said.