Hardware maker Dell has created a Datacenter Scalable Solutions (DSS) line for the hardest working technology environments in business. Its newest top range x86 servers have been specially optimized for data centers in heavy duty processing businesses like telcos, web tech and hosting companies, energy and research organisations.
Dell says it has improved its fulfillment models and hastened the rate of product introductions in a bid to meet customer expectations in the market for service providers that are just short of the giant “hyper-scale” customers.
Smoother supply chains
The high work loads and complicated supply chains of these businesses will be better catered for by a new operating model built on reactive and repeatable processes, according to Dell, which promises customized design specs and delivery on demand.
Dell created its Data Center Solutions (DCS) range in 2007 to use its hyperscale expertise to design and build massive-scale data centre environments. Today the business is growing three times faster than the traditional x86 server market and the total addressable market is $6 billion.
“Dell was the first major server vendor to spot the unique nature of the hyperscale market when it started DCS in 2007, said IDC analyst Matt Eastwood. “They are now taking the best practices and learnings from their DCS business and addressing the space just below the top tier hyperscalers.”
Unique software needs, non-traditional operating systems and massively scalable server numbers need to be catered for by DSS, according to Dell. The vendor claims its DSS can use its global supply chain expertise build the exact infrastructure the customer needs. An oil and gas customer can maximise performance while minimising power consumption for its seismic processing.
The DSS group is hitting the market for smaller service providers, who are below hyper scale but still need rapid set up and advanced management, said Clive Longbottom, senior researcher, Quocirca: ”Dell will be providing hyper-converged building blocks to create an easily provisioned and scalable platform, with software that lays over the top to provision and manage the software layer, along with all the stuff that a cloud provider needs, such as self-service and resource elasticity.”
Longbottom continued: “It has to be able to compete with IBM’s SoftLayer and Cisco’s hybrid cloud - although Dell will not operate its own cloud. By providing the DSS and DCS teams, Dell can help its partners get to a full cloud environment rapidly, and Dell will be able to validate any workload on the platform so that it can offer it through its Dell cloud aggregation offer.”
Dell will introduce its first DSS-branded products in Autumn.
The DSS exemplifies how a private company can make decisions and innovate for its customers, said Ashley Gorakhpurwalla, server solutions VP Dell. “While others focused on marketing hype or cutting capex, we’ve created a new operating model that is centred around flexibility. DSS is about understanding customers’ goals and achieving them,” said Gorakhpurwalla.