Dell Intros 13-Gen Server Line Powered by Latest Xeon

Taking cues from customer requests for workload-optimized systems, Dell launched its 13th-generation server portfolio this week, added a hybrid flash and SATA drive storage server to the portfolio as well as a Near Field Communication (NFC) server management solution.

The vendor said its customers were looking to accelerate application performance on Dell servers and simplify systems management without adding complexity to their environments.

To take on the diverse set of workload requirements, Dell introduced five form factors across blade, rack and tower servers. New R730xd, R730 and R630 rack servers, the M630 blade server and the T630 tower servers all feature the latest Intel E5-2600 v3 product family.

Dell claims a 50-percent application performance improvement by moving storage closer to compute and putting software-defined storage into practice.

Answering specific storage needs, Dell said that the PowerEdge R630 will feature 1.8 inch SATA flash drives and the R730xd will have up to 100 TB of storage. New in-server storage technology features NVMe Express Flash storage deployment of Fluid Cache for SAN, which was launched last spring at the Dell Enterprise Forum.

SanDisk announced that its DAS Cache software will be offered by Dell for use in its next generation Dell PowerEdge servers with direct-attached storage (DAS). SanDisk says its software integrates with a range of solid state storage devices attached via SATA, SAS and PCIe interfaces and helps to make the most actively used data accessible in faster responding media for applications.

“SanDisk’s support for solid state technology in our new PowerEdge servers will further differentiate our offerings in the marketplace, as well as address our customers’ needs for high-performing, efficient, low-maintenance storage solutions,” said Ravi Pendekanti, vice president of product marketing and management, Dell PowerEdge Servers. “Dell and SanDisk worked closely together to make SanDisk DAS Cache work seamlessly with Dell PowerEdge servers for an incredible combination of price, performance and enterprise features.”

On the systems management side the iDRAC Quick sync was introduced, using Near Field Communication, which Dell calls an industry first. Dell says that for customers managing at the box, this new capability transmits server health information and basic server setup via a hand-held smart device running OpenManage Mobile, simply by tapping it on the server. OpenManage Mobile also enables administrators to monitor and manage their environments anytime, anywhere with their mobile device.