Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Reviews

We do media transcoding. We mainly use servers with quite a lot of CPUs to be able to do transcoding. We need servers that provide us with a lot of power.

By implementing Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we wanted to transcode media in a fairly quick way. We can have media for only about a quarter of an hour. From the moment the media gets to us to the moment it is gone, we only have about a quarter of an hour, so we need a lot of power to be able to achieve something in a minimum amount of time.

Overall, we are very happy with the fact that we managed to get servers with last-generation CPUs. Besides that, like everyone else, we are trying a bit to reduce our energy bills. There is a big effort to be made on that front.

In terms of resiliency, our servers tend to be fairly far in our infrastructure. We have a couple of layers of firewall upfront. We also have proxy and reverse proxy, so the range of attack is fairly weak, and behind that, we have Linux. We shield with firewalls and other safety measures.

Overall, we are quite happy with it in terms of energy consumption. We have a fairly low consumption.

We hardly upgrade our servers to handle the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. As a matter of fact, when we build a platform, it is for a very specific need, and it is made to last three to five years. After that, the platform disappears, and the servers also leave with that. We buy new servers according to the new platform. We have less upgrading on the servers because they are already adapted to our needs.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. The servers that we have rarely break down, so, overall, we can change quite a lot of components on the run. We can manage to have a production that is running almost 99.99% of the time.

The OpenManage console has affected our IT staff’s productivity quite a bit. When new equipment arrives, we only have to put it in racks at the data center and all of the installation and management is done remotely, so we no longer need to spend a certain amount of time in the data center.

Using PowerEdge Rack Servers has affected the overall flexibility of our operations or business. We do have the ability to intervene on them, which is important. It is obviously easier than having a server where when we have a problem, we must go to the data center, or we must call someone to come and help. We might even have to stop the server, and that is quite annoying.

The calculation potential with modern CPUs is valuable. We have the capacity to increase the number of CPUs per machine, and there are also energy savings.

We have not had or come across any major problems. With regards to prices and support, they have always been very responsive, but we know that when we need more storage, we can easily find something much cheaper elsewhere. The equipment is very good, but the price is a bit too high. In addition, their support for parts can be better.

In our organization, it must have been a good 20 years. They have been using Dell pretty much from the start of the company. I have been with the company for six years, but we still unearth some old servers from time to time.

They are stable.

We don't scale a lot, we buy as and when needed.

Their support is very good. I would rate them an eight out of ten. They can be more reactive when sending parts. The support service is very reactive when answering us, but they need a bit of time to send us the parts. We tend to only ask for the parts. We replace them ourselves. We do not request a technician as well. We have also had a case where a part arrived at the wrong address.

Positive

Like many people, we do not only use Dell products. We also use a bit of HPE. I have a preference for Dell, but we still have some old servers from other manufacturers lying around. We have some old equipment, but everything that is recent is either Dell or HPE. We changed the old servers simply because they were at the end of their life.

I am involved in the implementation of these servers. The implementation is simple.

We know that we need half a day in the data center to do everything regarding the racks. Once that is done, we can also split the tasks because, although the servers are in the same bay, we do not want to be on top of each other when working. So, we can work in parallel during the installation of a certain number of servers without any difficulty. If you do not have a console, it is quite limiting because, with a screen at the back of a server, you are limited to working on only one server at a time.

We generally do everything related to PowerEdge ourselves.

Overall, we have seen an ROI. The ROI is in terms of productivity at the infrastructure service level. We do not have to regularly change parts, and by being able to do all of the administration remotely, we gain quite a substantial amount of time.

As far as licenses are concerned, we have very few servers. We no longer need the licenses. It depends directly on the manufacturers or the people who develop the software. Instead of taking them with the servers, because we are not always sure of the specific use for a specific server, we get the licenses afterward.

With regards to the rates, there are times when Dell is not able to match the prices of other manufacturers who offer us something cheaper. For storage, it can vary, and the cost can be twice as much.

We mainly work with Dell and HPE. To evaluate the options, we take into account how easy it is to operate the server. In my opinion, Dell is unrivaled on that front. We are not a very big company, so we are very careful with the costs of our servers.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten.

Foreign Language:(French)

Offre vitesse, économies d'énergie et 99.9% de durée de fonctionnement

Depuis combien de temps utilisez-vous les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack?

Dans notre société, cela doit faire plus de 20 ans. Ils utilisent du Dell depuis quasiment la création de la société. Je suis dans la société depuis six ans mais on déterre des vieux serveurs de temps en temps.

Quel est votre principal cas d’utilisation de cette solution? (Décrivez votre environnement).

Nous faisons du transcodage de média. On utilise principalement des serveurs avec beaucoup de CPUs pour pouvoir faire le transcodage. On a besoin de serveurs qui nous apportent beaucoup de puissance.

Décrivez comment les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack ont amélioré votre organisation. Si ce ne fut pas le cas, veuillez expliquer pourquoi.

En implémentant les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack, on voulait pouvoir transcoder de façon assez rapide. On peut avoir des médias pendant seulement un quart d’heure. Entre le moment où le média rentre chez nous et le moment où il doit sortir de chez nous, nous avons seulement un quart d’heure et donc, on a besoin de grosse puissance pour pouvoir le sortir en un temps minimum.

Globalement, nous sommes très contents du fait que nous arrivions à avoir des serveurs avec des CPUs de dernière génération. En plus, on essaye, comme tout le monde, de réduire notre facture énergétique. Il y a un gros effort de fait là-dessus.

En termes de résilience, nos serveurs ont plutôt tendance à être relativement loin dans notre infrastructure. On a deux couches de firewall devant. On a aussi du proxy et du reverse proxy donc, la couverture d’attaque est relativement faible et derrière, on va être sur du Linux. On blinde au maximum avec des firewalls et d’autres mesures de sécurité.

Globalement, on est plutôt contents en ce qui concerne la consommation d'énergie. On a une consommation qui est relativement faible.

Pour gérer les besoins évolutifs des charges de travail à haute performance, on ne fait quasiment pas évoluer nos serveurs. En fait, quand on monte une plateforme, c’est pour un besoin spécifique et c’est fait pour durer de 3 à 5 ans. Après ce temps-là, la plateforme disparaît et les serveurs partent avec. On achète de nouveaux serveurs en fonction des nouvelles plateformes. On n’a plus d'évolutivité sur les serveurs parce qu’ils sont déjà adaptés à notre besoin.

L’utilisation des serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack nous a aidés à réduire les temps d'arrêt de production imprévus. Les serveurs sont très rarement en panne donc, globalement, on peut changer pas mal de composants à chaud. On arrive à maintenir une production qui est en fonctionnement à 99.99% du temps ou presque.

La console OpenManage a pas mal affecté la productivité de notre personnel informatique. Quand on a du matériel qui arrive, on se contente de le mettre en racks dans le centre de données et derrière, toute l’installation et tout le management se fait à distance et donc, on n’a plus besoin de passer un certain nombre d’heures dans le centre de données.

L’utilisation des serveurs PowerEdge Rack a affecté la flexibilité globale de nos opérations ou de notre entreprise. Nous avons la capacité de pouvoir intervenir dessus, ce qui est important. C’est forcément plus facile que d’avoir un serveur sur lequel, dès qu’on a un problème, on doit se rendre au centre de données ou on doit appeler quelqu’un pour venir nous aider. Il nous arrive même de devoir arrêter un serveur et ça, c’est assez ennuyeux.

Quelles fonctionnalités avez-vous trouvé les plus utiles et pourquoi?

Le potentiel de calcul avec des CPUs modernes est très utile. Nous avons la capacité d’augmenter le nombre de CPUs par machine et de faire des économies d'énergie.

Dans quels domaines les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack pourraient-ils être améliorés?

On n’a pas eu ni vraiment rencontré de gros problèmes. Au niveau des prix et du support, ils ont toujours été très réactifs mais on sait que lorsqu’on a besoin de plus de stockage, on a tendance à trouver beaucoup moins cher ailleurs. Le matériel est très bien mais le prix est un peu trop élevé et en plus, le support pour les pièces pourrait être meilleur.

Avez-vous utilisé une solution différente auparavant et le cas échéant, pourquoi avoir changé?

Comme beaucoup de monde, on n’utilise pas que des produits Dell. On utilise un peu de HPE. J’ai une préférence pour Dell mais on a encore quelques vieux serveurs encore d’autres constructeurs qui trainent. On a du vieux matériel mais tout ce qui est récent est soit du Dell, soit du HPE. On a changé les vieux serveurs tout simplement parce qu’ils étaient en fin de vie.

Avant de faire votre choix, avez-vous évalué d’autres options? Le cas échéant, lesquelles?

On travaille principalement avec Dell et HPE. Pour évaluer les options, on prend en compte la facilité d'exploitation du serveur. Pour moi, Dell est imbattable là-dessus. On n’est pas une très grosse entreprise et donc, on fait très attention au coût de nos serveurs.

Que conseillez-vous aux autres en ce qui concerne les coûts d’installation, les tarifs et/ou les licences?

En ce qui concerne les licences, on a peu de serveurs. On n’a plus besoin des licences. On les prend directement chez les constructeurs ou les personnes qui conçoivent les logiciels plutôt que de les prendre avec les serveurs parce qu'on n'est pas forcément sûr de l’usage spécifique de chaque serveur. On prend donc les licences après.

Au niveau tarifaire, il y a des moments ou Dell ne sait pas forcément s’aligner avec d’autres constructeurs qui nous proposent quelque chose de moins cher. Sur du stockage, ça varie mais le prix peut aller du simple au double.

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la scalabilité de cette solution?

Nous faisons peu de scalabilité car nous achetons selon nos besoins.

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la stabilité de cette solution?

Ils sont stables.

Avez-vous constaté un RSI (Retour Sur Investissement)? Si oui, de quelle manière (p. ex. mesures/points de données)?

Globalement, on a constaté un RSI. Le RSI est en termes de productivité au niveau du service infrastructure. On n’a pas besoin de changer régulièrement les pièces et on peut faire toute la partie administrative à distance, c’est un gain de temps qui est assez important.

La configuration initiale était-elle simple ou complexe et de quelle manière?

Je suis impliqué dans l'implémentation de ces serveurs. L'implémentation est simple.

On sait qu’on va avoir une demi-journée dans le centre de données pour faire tout ce qui est partie rackage. Une fois cela fait, on peut se répartir les tâches parce que bien que les serveurs soient dans la même baie, on ne se marche pas tous sur les pieds pendant la tâche. On peut travailler en parallèle pendant l’installation d’un certain nombre de serveurs sans difficulté. Dès qu’on n’a pas de console et avec un écran à l'arrière du serveur, on est bien limité sur le nombre de serveurs sur lesquels on peut agir à la fois.

Avez-vous utilisé un revendeur ou une de vos équipes pour ce déploiement? Si à travers un revendeur, comment évalueriez-vous leur niveau d’expertise?

Nous faisons généralement tout nous-mêmes, en ce qui concerne les PowerEdge.

Décrivez votre expérience avec le service client et le support de Dell.

Leur support est très bon. Je leur donne une note de huit sur dix. Ils pourraient être plus réactifs sur leur envoi de pièces. Le service support est très réactif pour nous répondre mais ils ont besoin d’un peu de temps pour nous envoyer la pièce. Nous, on a plutôt tendance à demander les pièces. C’est nous qui faisons les remplacements. On ne demande pas le technicien avec. Et il nous est arrivé que la pièce soit délivrée à la mauvaise adresse.

Comment évalueriez-vous cette solution sur une échelle de 1à10 pour le service et le support?

8

Sur une échelle de 1 à 10 (1=le pire, 10=le meilleur), comment évalueriez-vous les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack? Veuillez expliquer pourquoi.

Je donnerais une note de neuf sur 10 aux serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack.

All of our server infrastructure is PowerEdge, and it's all HCI PowerEdge.

By having Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers, we wanted density. We wanted to have a small power and cooling footprint. That's why we have PowerEdge and VxRail.

The most valuable feature is OpenManage. We get a lot out of OpenManage because we have a sprawling infrastructure with around 100 data centers, and managing all of those separately is challenging. The automation built into OpenManage for firmware upgrades and life cycle management really helps us out.

I recommend not locking the GPU behind a different license for iDRAC. We've talked to the product team, and it hasn't changed yet. I don't understand why they do that because you can't get very many metrics out of iDRAC Enterprise, as you have to go to the Data Center for a GPU, which seems pointless.

I wouldn't change anything else since I haven't had any other headaches with the platform. I find the pricing and licensing on par with the market.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers at my current company for six years, and beyond that, probably 20.

The stability and reliability are extremely high. We rarely have failures even in places that aren't necessarily maintained. It's a workhorse.

Scalability is a big factor for us, along with time to deployment and ROI, which are all pretty significant.

We have 26,000 people in our organization, with about 400 people per venue.

I work with customer service and tech support all the time. My impressions from working with them on the PowerEdge side are very high. We've had some challenges around VxRail after the Broadcom stuff, but I have nothing bad to say about PowerEdge. 

I would rate their support an eight overall because it's still kind of a challenge for us. We're not tech direct currently, so it's challenging to call in and deal with the script response of 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' rather than getting escalated quickly. Better escalation would be nice, and quicker escalation would be appreciated.

Positive

Deploying the product is super easy. It's going to get easier, but for us, it's simply dropping it in a rack, powering it, networking it, and everything gets provisioned for what we need pretty quickly.

We have seen ROI. While I can't share metrics at scale, we have replaced a couple of venues with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers and replaced our VxRail. We project to save somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 million over the next three years when we get the rest of them done.

It's pretty much on par.

We evaluated Lenovo and Supermicro. Lenovo didn't have their eggs in the basket for any way to manage at scale, and Supermicro is kind of the same, plus there's just a big relationship with Dell that we can't ignore.

In terms of AI initiatives, a lot of our potential use cases revolve around players, as we're trying to figure out how we can leverage AI to better their experience, such as checking into the bay and giving them advice as they're going through their bay journey. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can help with that because it is the platform our whole business runs on - it's the foundation. 

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten, as I never give a ten.

Our use case for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is as a private cloud. We have three products: utility computing where we use servers for bare metal configuration for our customers, private cloud, and integration of private cloud with hyperscalers.

The most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are its flexibility and performance of the servers which are very good. I have been using PowerEdge for almost 25 to 30 years in my server rooms and data centers. I trust them more than other products because I have been managing not just data centers but also the internal IT of Tech Mahindra. I have been seeing a lot of improvements in Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as we progress forward.

Onsite support can improve hands and feet as we progress forward, but the remote site support is very good. The dispatch services are outsourced to small and medium companies, so we don't get consistent support.

We have been using PowerEdge for a very long time, and I have been using it for almost 25 to 30 years in my server rooms and data centers.

We want to see what the approach is on generative AI as we move forward. On AI, we need to understand how this is going to scale, as AI is a different animal altogether.

I evaluate the customer service and support for Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as good; it has been good, and we don't find any problems.

Positive

We are using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for AI initiatives as we move forward because we have developed infrastructure as code for our customers, and we are bringing generative AI and writing LLMs for that. We will definitely be using our systems for that in our data centers, GPU as a service.

Overall, I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten.

Private Cloud

Other

We are an MSP and we use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for our customers.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers work with other products, such as different kinds of storage. We use the racks and the servers more in the server room, so we have to apply servers, other types of storage, and different types of firewalls, and it all works together smoothly.

It helps reduce our footprint by 20 to 30 percent.

Regarding reliability, we feel it's a one-time installation. We don't have problems operating it. If we have to shut down, we have to restart and it all goes right back. Our customers are satisfied with the system, so we don't hear any specific problems and it is quiet. That's the most important thing because if we're providing services to our clients, it's important for us that they work fluently and then the client doesn't complain. 

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers reduce downtime. They go right back up, reducing downtime by 20 to 30 percent compared to HP Servers.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers do a good job of reducing our energy consumption.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are good at handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. They are comfortable to use and provide good results for our needs. I have not encountered any installation or maintenance issues.

The overall flexibility is good. As long as we plan and know what is needed, it is easy. There are a lot of specialists and Dell Professional Services that can help.

The most valuable features are resiliency, reliability, easy installation, maintenance, and compatibility with other systems or servers.

The price distance increases with the higher-end, more complex servers, and there is room for improvement.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for five years.

The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is good. They are able to meet all of our needs. We have not seen any limitations.

The deployment is straightforward.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers provide a return on investment through the time saved for our technicians during complex projects, installation, mounting, and onboarding.

The more complex the server requirements, the more expensive it gets.

We evaluated HP Servers but found them to have more downtime.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers eight out of ten. The price and response time from the test specialists keep it from being a ten out of ten.

We used Dell Professional Services to plan, implement, and adopt our solution a long time ago. The service was great. I would rate Dell Professional Services eight out of ten. If they responded quicker to our emails, they would be ten out of ten.

We're using it for various purposes, such as DB servers, web servers, application servers, file servers, print servers, etc.

We can use the OpenManage console for managing multiple rack servers. We can manage all of them in a single console. The firmware can be pushed on multiple servers via the OpenManage console. It's very user-friendly, and it makes it easy to download and update the firmware. There are multiple options. If I have 15 servers of the same model, to update the firmware, I don't need to download the firmware on each server. With the OpenManage console, we can download it just once and then push it to multiple servers.

The OpenManage console has affected our IT staff’s productivity. Upgrading firmware on each server generally takes two hours. So, upgrading firmware on multiple servers would take a lot of time. For example, for 15 servers, it would take at least 30 hours, whereas, with the OpenManage console, we can update all the servers within two hours.

The OpenManage console also decreases the time it takes to deploy new data centers. It would take more time to deploy the individual servers.

We can use Dell Lifecycle Controller for remote server management. If something happens, I use the iDRAC console to check the impact. It's easy to identify the issue from the iDRAC console. If there is a blue screen or purple screen, it's a hardware-related or software-related issue. I am based in India, but I can easily support US operations. iDRAC allows me to work remotely to troubleshoot. So, troubleshooting, as well as firmware downloads and updates, are very easy. All the firmware and drivers are available on a single page. I can download or update the firmware if there is a purple screen or a driver is missing. In the OpenManage console, everything is visible. We can see the installed version and the available version in a single console. It shows anything that is non-compliant in your list. If my environment has 1,000 servers, it will show whether all 1,000 servers are up to date or not. I can then identify and plan for the firmware updates. After updating the firmware, the hardware runs smoothly.

It supports multiple operating systems. I have experience installing Windows servers, ESXi, and Linux. It's not only for Windows. We use the VMware ESXi operating system. On ESXi, we run around 6,000 virtual servers. We have app servers, DB servers, and file servers. There are also manufacturing applications, where they are running robotic machines. So, there are different applications running.

You can use Dell PowerEdge hardware for anything. It supports everything such as file servers, web servers, and DB servers. It can support all critical servers and applications. There are bank applications running on PowerEdge servers.

PowerEdge rack servers are good in terms of energy consumption.

Dell hardware is not as stable as HP. I have not seen any issues with HP in five years, but with Dell, I am getting multiple issues. It's not stable. They need to verify why it has multiple issues and why Dell hardware is not as stable as HP hardware.

I have 15 years of experience in the IT industry. I have worked in multiple companies, and I have more than 10 years of experience with Dell hardware. I have worked with Dell PowerEdge R720, R730, R740, R830, R840, and R940, and I have also worked with Dell PowerEdge VRTX Chassis M630 and M640.

Dell hardware is not as stable as HP hardware.

Their support is number one worldwide. I never got that much support with other hardware. I would rate them a 10 out of 10.

Positive

I have also worked with HP hardware in one of the companies. In five years, I generally did not see any issues with HP hardware, but in case I had any problem with hardware, they took more than 10 days to replace the hardware or troubleshoot the problem. I don't like that. Whereas Dell provides support within four hours for hardware replacement. They provide better support. Within four hours, they arrange for a replacement. Their support is number one. I would recommend Dell because their support is very good.

Dell's hardware is not as stable as HP's. We see multiple issues, such as hard disk failures. We need to apply updates or patches. Dell is user-friendly. So, it's very easy to apply and download, but the hardware is not stable. This is the only part that needs to be developed from Dell's side.

HP is more expensive than Dell. Dell provides better quotes. They give multiple options to buy the hardware.

Its deployment is very easy. Anybody can deploy it. They provide everything. Its deployment is easy and user-friendly.

For deployment, we have customized ISO for our environment. We use that. For ESXi, we are using the Dell custom image that they provide on their website. We can download that directly from there, and that's it.

One of the clients has been offered a price of $18,000 instead of the regular price of around $25,000.

It supports everything. You can install anything you want. If you want DB, you can do that. If you need high-performance workloads, you need to increase storage capacity. It depends on the configuration, but it will support that. The PowerEdge server has 16 slots. You just need to buy maximum capacity during the purchase.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a 10 out of 10.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for data storage, data processing, and computations.

We must manage the data, and we have safety restrictions. It is imposed on us to not use the cloud. We do everything locally.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are convenient. When we have a problem, we have a hotline that is efficient. They are also reliable.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers fit our resiliency needs. If we want to make them very resilient, we have presales engineers who are also technical. They are competent and able to help us.

The servers are fine in terms of energy consumption, but until now, we have not been very concerned about that.

They are aligned with our sustainability goals. This is very important for us when we buy a server. Previously, we used to get a five-year guarantee, and now, it is a seven-year guarantee, but we still have some servers working fine after ten years. We do replace them from time to time, but we do not have any problem with reliability. As far as the environment is concerned, we know that when we buy a machine, it will last a long time.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. They are very reliable, and we usually function by doubling up. We use a couple of servers, and we move our VM from one server to another between two buildings. Because the servers never, or very rarely, break down, we have a very resilient architecture.

The OpenManage console has not really affected our IT staff’s productivity.

The maintenance and remote monitoring are valuable.

The problem that we have had is not a technical one but an economic one. In other words, we are working with national markets, and HP Enterprise is cheaper. Dell could have made an effort there.

For example, two or three years ago, we spoke to a salesperson or a presales engineer about replacing our infrastructure with file servers, but the price that we were offered was very high.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for about 15 years.

They are stable. There is no downtime or breakdowns.

We are a small research laboratory, but we have a few teams working together. We might gather all of the IT equipment together and buy extensions and all that.

As far as scalability is concerned, it is not a problem. It is very scalable but very expensive. For our needs, it is very overpriced. I am on campus, and there are several units, but we have to merge by 2025 and put everything back together and work with people whom I only ever met at the canteen. We shall see then if all of that is actually very scalable and if we can put it all together.

It is different for PowerEdge. It is a bit different for the PCs. For the servers, support is very good indeed. I would rate them an eight out of ten. We do not know why, but there was a time when the support did not respond quickly enough or go from one level to another. We do need the expertise if we happen to have something that does not work correctly, but it is sporadic. This kind of problem can appear all of a sudden and be gone six months later. All is working well. There are no problems with customer service.

Positive

We were working with both Dell and HPE. We preferred Dell. I prefer not to do any counter-advertising, but HPE was not working out very well with regard to customer services, getting a quote, or even anything technical. We prefer Dell products, but we would prefer the prices of the servers to be a bit lower.

We did not have many issues with HPE at a technical level, but we have had some issues when communicating with them, even at the presales level. We could not even connect to their server to get a quote. It was so complicated. There were references that we did not understand. If we have to install a particular disk, we must buy some specific accessory or another, whereas, with Dell, if we want something, we just tell them, and we get the configuration.

In addition, for Dell’s website, we can use any browser, whereas with HPE, it is Chrome one day and something else another day. We use Firefox, and it does not work. We use something else, and it does not work either. Dell is very open.

Other than these two brands, I do not have knowledge of any other brand. We have had integrators for homemade servers, but that was a long time ago. It is usually Dell or HPE. Dell has about ¾th of the market.

I am involved in the deployment of these servers. I work in a research laboratory. We are about 100 people, but we are a part of the Paris Observatory. It is like a university with about 800 people. We all work daily together with the IT teams.

I am responsible for handling presales with the technical and salespeople from Dell or HPE. We are not in charge of the orders. We handle the equipment and install the machines, and we organize the rollout of the infrastructure, VMs, and all that. Afterwards, we also handle interfacing with users.

The initial setup is rather simple. We do not have any real problems, and even when we have had a problem, it was fairly quickly resolved.

In terms of implementation strategy, when you are a small company, there is no big strategy like big companies. We get there, we install it, and it works. There is no strategy.

We implement them ourselves. We have integrators but more for some third-party solutions. We have taken a license for safeguarding software on the campus. For that, we work with other companies, but for all of the equipment and for Dell infrastructure, we do not need help. It works very well, and there are no problems. We know that it is simple.

We are not salespeople, so it is difficult to comment on the return on investment, but when we buy a Dell server, we get value for money. We know that we will not have any problem, and it will work fine. We will install VMs and everything required. When I request a credit, my manager knows that the server will work for many years. We will not be having any issues, and I will not be asking for more money. We sometimes change some old machines, but that is only because the new ones are less energy-consuming, and we will be able to put more VMs on just one server, so, ecologically, we will use less energy. Sometimes, that is the only reason why we would change an old server. It still works, but it uses more energy than the new ones.

They are expensive. As far as the licenses are concerned, we are fine. It is more about the price of the equipment.

Some colleagues in other universities have done a comparison, and for a similar configuration, there was at least a 10% to 20% discount with HPE in comparison to the prices from Dell.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten.

Foreign Language:(French)

Un support efficace, une maintenance facile et un bon rapport qualité-prix

Depuis combien de temps utilisez-vous les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack?

J’utilise les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack depuis environ 15 ans.

Quel est votre cas d’utilisation principal pour cette solution? (Décrivez votre environnement).

On utilise les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack pour du stockage de données, des traitements de données et des calculs.

On doit gérer les données et on a des contraintes de sécurité. On nous impose de ne pas utiliser tout ce qui est Cloud. On fait tout en local.

Comment est-ce que les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack ont amélioré votre organisation? Si ce n’est pas le cas, expliquez pourquoi.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack sont pratiques. Lorsque nous avons un problème, nous avons aussi une assistance téléphonique qui est performante. Ils sont également fiables.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack correspondent à nos besoins de résilience. Si on veut les rendre vraiment très résilient, on a des ingénieurs qui sont également des technico-commerciaux avant-vente. Ils sont très compétents et peuvent nous aider.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack sont bien en termes de consommation d'énergie mais pour l’instant, on ne s’en est pas trop préoccupés.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack sont alignés sur nos objectifs de durabilité. C’est très important pour nous lorsque nous achetons un serveur. Avant, on recevait une garantie de cinq ans et maintenant, la garantie est de sept ans mais nous avons encore des serveurs qui tournent toujours après dix ans. On les remplace de temps en temps mais on n’a vraiment pas de problème de fiabilité. Au niveau écologique, on sait que lorsqu’on achète une machine, elle va durer longtemps.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack ont permis de réduire les temps d’arrêt de production imprévus. Ils sont très fiables et généralement, on marche en doublant. On prend un couple de serveurs et on déplace nos VM d’un serveur sur l’autre et sur deux bâtiments. Les serveurs ne tombant jamais en panne, ou très rarement, on obtient une architecture résiliente.

La console OpenManage n’a pas vraiment affecté la productivité de notre personnel informatique.

Quelles fonctionnalités avez-vous trouvé les plus utiles et pourquoi?

La maintenance et le contrôle à distance sont utiles.

Dans quels domaines les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack pourraient-ils être améliorés?

Le problème que nous avons eu n’est pas un problème technique mais plutôt économique. Autrement dit, on travaille avec des marchés nationaux et HP, ou HP Enterprise est moins cher. Dell aurait donc pu faire un effort au niveau du prix.

Par exemple, il y a deux ou trois ans, on parlait avec un commercial ou un ingénieur avant-vente sur le remplacement de notre infrastructure des serveurs de fichiers mais le prix qu’on nous a proposé était très élevé.

Avez-vous utilisé une solution différente auparavant et si c’est le cas, pourquoi avez-vous changé?

On travaillait avec Dell et HPE. On préférait Dell. Je préfère ne pas faire de la contre publicité mais ça ne marchait pas très bien avec HPE aussi bien au niveau service client, que de faire un devis ou même pour quoi que ce soit de technique. On préfère les produits Dell mais on préférerait que les prix des serveurs soient un peu plus bas.

On n’avait pas vraiment de soucis avec HPE au niveau technique mais on avait du mal à communiquer avec eux, même au niveau avant-ventes. On n’arrivait même plus à se connecter sur leurs serveurs pour faire un devis. C'était tellement compliqué. Il y avait des références qu’on ne comprenait pas. Si on doit mettre un certain disque, il faut acheter tel ou tel accessoire particulier. Alors que chez Dell, si nous voulons quelque chose, il suffit de leur dire et on a la configuration.

En plus, avec le site web de Dell, on peut utiliser n’importe quel navigateur alors que chez HPE, un jour c’est Chrome et un autre jour, c’est autre chose. Ou on a Firefox et ça ne marche pas alors on prend quelque chose d’autre et ça ne marche pas non plus. Dell est, par contre, vraiment très ouvert.

Je n’ai pas vraiment de connaissances sur d’autres marques à part ces deux-là. On a eu des intégrateurs pour des serveurs faits maison mais il y a longtemps. C’est généralement Dell ou HPE. C’est Dell qui a le marché les ¾ du temps.

Que conseillez-vous en ce qui concerne les coûts d’installation, les tarifs et/ou les licences?

Ils sont chers. Au niveau des licences, ça va. C’est plutôt au niveau des prix du matériel.

Des collègues dans d’autres universités ont fait des comparatifs et pour une configuration équivalente, il y a avait facilement jusqu'à 10% à 20% de réduction chez HPE, par rapport aux prix Dell.

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la scalabilité de cette solution?

Nous sommes un petit laboratoire de recherche mais nous avons quelques équipes qui travaillent ensemble. Il nous arrive de regrouper tout le matériel informatique ensemble et d’acheter des extensions et tout ce qu’il faut.

Au niveau scalabilité, il n’y a pas de problème. C’est très évolutif mais c’est très cher. Par rapport à nos besoins, c’est vraiment surévalué. Je suis dans un campus avec plusieurs unités mais on doit fusionner d’ici 2025, tout remettre ensemble et travailler avec des gens que je côtoyais juste à la cantine. On verra bien à ce moment si c’est vraiment très scalable et si on parviendra à tout remettre ensemble.

Quelles sont vos impressions au niveau de la stabilité de cette solution?

Ils sont stables. Il n’y a pas de temps morts, ni de panne.

Avez-vous constaté un RSI (Retour Sur Investissement? Si oui, dans quel sens (p. ex. mesures/points de données)?

On n’est pas des commerciaux donc, c’est difficile de parler d’un retour sur investissement mais quand on achète un serveur Dell, on rentre vraiment dans nos frais. On sait qu’on n’aura pas de problème et que ça va fonctionner. On va mettre des VMs et on va faire tout ce qu’il faut. Quand je demande des crédits à mon responsable, il sait que le serveur va marcher pendant tant d’années. On n’aura pas de soucis et je n’aurai pas plus d’argent à demander. Parfois, on change des anciennes machines mais uniquement parce que les nouvelles seront moins énergivores et on pourra mettre plus de VMs sur un seul serveur. Donc, au niveau écologique, on consomme moins d'énergie. C’est parfois la seule raison pour laquelle on change de vieux serveurs. Ils marchent encore mais ils consomment plus d'énergie que les nouveaux.

La configuration initiale était-elle simple ou complexe et de quelle manière?

Je suis impliqué dans le déploiement de ces serveurs. Je travaille dans un laboratoire de recherche. Nous sommes une centaine de personnes mais nous sommes intégrés à l’Observatoire de Paris. C’est comme une université mais avec environ 800 personnes. On travaille ensemble avec toutes les équipes informatiques.

Je suis responsable des choix avant-vente avec l'équipe de personnel technico-commerciaux de Dell ou HPE. On ne passe pas les commandes. On reçoit le matériel, on installe les machines et on organise le déploiement de l’infrastructure, des VMs et tout le reste. Et après, on assure l’interface avec les utilisateurs.

Le déploiement inicial est plutôt simple. On n’a pas vraiment de problèmes et même quand on a eu des problèmes, ça s'est résolu assez rapidement.

En termes de stratégie de mise en œuvre, quand on est une petite structure, il n’y a pas vraiment de grande stratégie comme pour dans les grosses sociétés. On arrive, on installe et ça marche. Il n’y a pas de stratégie.

Vous avez fait l’implémentation avec un revendeur ou votre propre équipe? Si vous avez utilisé un revendeur, comment évalueriez-vous leur niveau d’expertise?

On fait l’implémentation nous-mêmes. On a des intégrateurs mais pour des solutions tierce-parties. On a pris une licence pour des logiciels de sauvegarde au niveau du campus. On travaille avec d’autres sociétés pour cela mais au niveau du matériel et tout ce qui est infrastructure Dell, on n’a pas besoin d’aide. Ça marche très bien et il n’y a aucun problème. On sait que c’est simple.

Décrivez votre expérience avec le service client et le support.

C’est assez différent en ce qui concerne les PowerEdge. C’est encore différent pour les PCs. Pour les serveurs, le support est vraiment bien. Je leur mettrai un huit sur dix. On ne sait pas pourquoi mais à un certain moment, il y a eu des périodes où le support ne répondait pas assez vite ou ça passait d’un niveau à l'autre. Il faut avoir de l’expertise si on a quelque chose qui ne fonctionne pas correctement mais c’est par périodes. Ce genre de problème peut apparaître subitement au bout de six mois et disparaître six mois plus tard. Tout fonctionne bien. Il n’y a plus de problèmes avec le service clients.

Comment est-ce que vous évaluerez le service et le support pour cette solution sur une échelle de 1 à10?

8

Sur une échelle de 1 à 10 (1=le pire, 10=le meilleur), comment est-ce que vous évaluerez les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack? Veuillez donner vos raisons.

Je donnerais aux serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack une note de neuf sur dix.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack servers for virtualization. We have these servers for the computing side, and then we have Dell Storage for the storage side.

By implementing this solution, we wanted speed and resilience. Everything is working well.

Resilience is not only linked to the servers. It is also linked to the software applications that we put on them, so we need to look at the services on PowerEdge. We have virtualization, and we install different products, such as firewalls, and implement access control. We use software for that, and it is working well with Dell PowerEdge.

In terms of energy consumption, we use them without energy limitations. We always use them at full capacity. They are always working at full capacity, so we use the machines at their maximum. The consumption is quite substantial, but we are not in the saving mode in our data centers. If the servers use less energy, that would be great, but they must provide a lot of power.

For handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads, we have Full Flash, and as far as the processors are concerned, they work fine.

These servers are efficient. We do have some old ones. We just got rid of the old range, but we still have some from the 10th, 11th, and 12th Generation.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have not helped to reduce unplanned production downtime because that is not really linked to the servers. We do have quite a lot of them, so they are redundant. We have some load balancing, and we are using software solutions. For us, the PowerEdge servers or any other type of servers either help with computing or are used for storage. The rest is managed through software.

The OpenManage console has affected our IT staff’s productivity. We do use it, but mainly for setting up alerts.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have impacted the overall flexibility of our operations or business. Scalability is easy.

We use remote access a lot. They are fairly simple to use.

We use Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in the data center. We put the racks in bays. They can improve the compactness so that we can put more of them.

We do not have much of a problem with the noise, but they are still as noisy as before, even after they have improved them.

The customer service on certain parts can be better, but nowadays, we do not get many issues. As far as we are concerned, it is a clean environment. It is a data center environment, so it has air conditioning. The servers do not face many restrictions. They do not have any dust.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for approximately 20 years. I work in the data center, so it has been a long time.

The stability is fine. They are stable if they have been updated with the updates. As far as we are concerned, there is no downtime on the platform. Of course, we have to restart some servers, but because they are load-balanced, it does not at all impact our production. We just put them in maintenance mode, and we use the VMware solution.

With our method, it is simple for us. We can increase the computing and we can increase the storage because there are two different platforms. The hard disks are not in the computing servers. They are separated. If I want to add some computing, I buy more servers. If I want to add to the storage, I add to the storage bays with ESXi (in our case).

We have known them for a long time. It is just a matter of knowing what to do for things to happen quickly, such as providing the serial numbers and rack data. We are used to it. It is going well. It is just about knowing the method, that is it.

I would rate their support an eight out of ten. There can be some kind of notice for when there is a change in disk capacity. It might not mean much to change a disk, but for us, it can sometimes be an issue because of our environment. We would prefer to have the exact same product on the same servers. That is it.

Positive

We use the HPE range and the Dell range. We use both types of servers.

We used Supermicro a little bit in the beginning, but that was a long time ago. Nowadays, we use only two manufacturers: Dell and HPE.

We were well prepared, and we have the same type of servers in the bays. The wiring is marked, and we know that environment very well.

We buy from a reseller, and then we roll them out internally ourselves.

We did not evaluate other solutions. There is not a lot of choice.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten because they are very good. The last generations are very good. 

Foreign Language:(French)

Compétents, faciles à utiliser et pratiques pour la vitesse et la résilience

Depuis combien de temps utilisez-vous les Serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack?

J’utilise les Serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack depuis environ 20 ans. Je travaille dans le centre de données et cela fait donc longtemps.

Quel est votre cas d’utilisation primaire pour cette solution? (Décrivez votre environnement en détail).

Nous utilisons les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack pour la virtualisation. Nous avons ces serveurs pour la partie informatique et les serveurs Dell Storage pour la partie stockage.

Comment les Serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack ont-ils amelioré votre organisation? Si ce n’est pas le cas, veuillez expliquer pourquoi.

En implémentant cette solution, on voulait la rapidité, la résilience et que tout fonctionne bien.

La résilience n’est pas liée qu’aux serveurs. Elle est également liée aux applications logicielles que l’on met dessus et il faut donc regarder les services sur les PowerEdge. Nous faisons de la virtualisation et nous installons donc des produits différents, comme les firewalls et nous implémentons un contrôle d'accès. Nous utilisons des logiciels pour cela et tout s’exécute bien avec le Dell PowerEdge.

En ce qui concerne la consommation d'énergie, nous on les utilise sans la limitation d'énergie. On les utilise toujours à plein régime. Ils fonctionnent toujours à pleine puissance et nous consommons donc, le maximum de la machine. La consommation est assez importante mais nous ne sommes pas en mode économie d'énergie dans notre centre de données. Si les serveurs consomment mieux, tant mieux, mais ils doivent fournir beaucoup de puissance.

Pour gérer les besoins évolutifs des charges de travail à haute performance, nous avons Full Flash et en ce qui concerne les processeurs, ils fonctionnent bien.

Les serveurs sont performants. On a des vieux modèles. On vient juste de se débarrasser de l’ancienne gamme mais on a encore des Générations 10, 11 et 12.

Les Serveurs Rack Dell PowerEdge n’ont pas aidé à réduire les temps d’arrêt de production imprévus car ce n’est pas vraiment lié aux serveurs. On en a beaucoup et donc, ils sont redondants. On a une répartition des charges et on utilise des solutions de logiciels. Pour nous, les serveurs PowerEdge ou n’importe quel type de serveurs nous aident soit à faire les calculs, soit à faire du stockage. Tout le reste est géré par des logiciels.

La console OpenManage a affecté la productivité du personnel informatique. On l’utilise mais surtout pour remonter les alertes.

Les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack ont impacté la flexibilité globale de nos opérations et de notre business. La scalabilité est facile.

Quelles fonctionnalités avez-vous trouvé les plus utiles et pourquoi?

On utilise beaucoup l'accès à distance. C’est plutôt facile à utiliser.

Dans quels domaines les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack pourraient-ils être améliorés?

On utilise les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack dans nos centres de données. Nous installons les racks dans les baies. Leur compacticité pourrait être améliorée afin que nous puissions en mettre plus.

Nous n’avons pas vraiment de problèmes avec le bruit bien qu’ils soient aussi bruyants qu’auparavant et malgré le fait qu’ils aient été améliorés.

Le service client pourrait être amélioré sur certains points mais nous n’avons plus beaucoup de problèmes à présent. En ce qui nous concerne, c’est un environnement propre. C’est un environnement de centre de données et donc, c’est climatisé. Les serveurs n’ont pas beaucoup de contraintes. Ils n’ont pas de poussière.

Avez-vous utilisé une solution différente auparavant et si oui, pourquoi avez-vous changé?

On utilise la gamme HPE et la gamme Dell. On utilise deux types de serveurs.

On avait utilisé un peu de Supermicro au début mais il y a très longtemps de cela. Maintenant, on utilise seulement deux constructeurs: Dell et HPE.

Avant de choisir, avez-vous évalué d’autres options? Dans ce cas, lesquelles?

Nous n’avons pas évalué d’autres solutions. Il n’y a pas beaucoup de choix.

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la scalabilité de cette solution?

Avec notre méthode, c’est simple pour nous. On peut augmenter le computing comme on peut augmenter le stockage parce que ce sont deux plateformes différentes. Les disques durs ne sont pas dans les serveurs de calcul. Ils sont separés. Si je veux rajouter du computing, je rachète des serveurs. Si je veux ajouter du stockage, je complète les baies de stockage en ESXi (pour notre cas à nous).

Quelles sont vos impressions sur la stabilité de cette solution?

La stabilité est bonne. Les serveurs sont stables s’ils ont été mis à jour. En ce qui nous concerne, il n’y a pas de temps d’arrêt sur la plateforme. Bien sûr, on redémarre des serveurs mais parce qu’ils sont en mode load-balance et donc ça n'a pas du tout d’impact sur notre production. On les met seulement en mode maintenance et on utilise la solution de VMware.

La configuration initiale était-elle simple ou complexe et de quelle manière?

On était bien préparés et ce sont les mêmes modèles de serveurs dans les baies. Le câblage est banalisé et on connaît très bien cet environnement.

Lors de l’implémentation, avez-vous utilisé l'équipe d’un fournisseur ou une équipe interne? Si vous avez utilisé l'équipe d’un fournisseur, comment évalueriez-vous leur niveau d’expertise?

On achète chez les grossistes et après, c’est nous qui déployons en interne.

Décrivez votre expérience avec le service client et le support.

On les connait depuis très longtemps. Il suffit de savoir comment faire pour que ça aille vite, comme les numéros de série et les extractions de données. On a l’habitude. Ça se passe bien. Il faut juste connaitre la méthode, c’est tout.

J’évalue le support avec un huit sur dix. Il serait bien de prévenir lorsqu’il y a un changement de capacité de disque. Cela ne parait pas grand-chose de changer un disque mais cela nous gêne quelquefois à cause de notre environnement. On préférerait avoir exactement le même produit dans les mêmes serveurs. Voilà.

Comment est-ce que vous évalueriez cette solution sur une échelle de 1 à 10 pour le service et le support?

8

Sur une échelle de 1 à 10 (1=le pire, 10=le meilleur), comment est-ce que vous évaluerez les serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack? Donnez vos raisons..

Je donne aux serveurs Dell PowerEdge Rack un neuf sur dix parce qu’ils sont très bons. Les dernières générations sont très bien.

As part of my role at BSG, I deploy or sell Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to customers who need anything from just a single server to hundreds of servers. Our customers run all kinds of workloads such as virtual SQL, AI, and more on these servers. Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers support a wide range of solutions, helping to ensure flexibility to cater to various customer needs.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are valuable because many users utilize iDRAC for management, and appreciate the consistency offered by Dell's server line. They offer a variety of features such as the availability of AMD and Intel options, and Dell is starting to get into direct and indirect water-cooled servers for larger customers. This suits those who need specific power consumption capabilities for their GPUs, CPUs, and RAM. Dell servers are supported by many partners when it comes to different software packages and solutions like OpenShift. Additionally, they offer a range of models to fit different customer needs.

The price of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is competitive. There's always room for support improvements, and the AI features could continue to be enhanced as the relationship with Nvidia grows.

Most of the time, deploying Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is straightforward. It’s crucial to have everything organized upfront, such as defining workloads and management responsibilities. Once these aspects are clear, the solution can be priced and installed efficiently, sometimes with Dell or Connection handling the installation.

Customers looking for higher densities are starting to lean towards AMD to achieve more cores, higher density, lower wattage, and ultimately a smaller footprint with fewer servers. The flexibility provided by Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers in terms of model variations supports scalability.

While I do not work directly with Dell for support, customer feedback suggests Dell’s technical support is rated between eight and nine. It is decent, though there is always room for improvement.

Positive

Clients may switch to Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for several reasons, such as better support, new IT leadership preferences, cost considerations, or successful engagement by sales and engineering teams.

The initial setup of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers requires having all the necessary information organized beforehand. Factors to consider include workload management, customer responsibilities, and pricing details. Smooth installation is achievable when these considerations are adequately addressed.

Deployment might require different resources depending on the solution. For example, VDI, virtualization, and SQL databases would need different expertise. Additionally, tasks such as rack and stack, power management, and water cooling could require specialized personnel, sometimes involving up to seven or eight people on deployment calls.

Customers are exploring models like Apex, similar to GreenLake, for consumption-based models that feel like cloud services but keep hardware on-premises, making them feel safer and potentially reducing costs. Some customers find familiarity with Dell servers aids in the process.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are often compared against other solutions like UCS, Lenovo, and Cisco. Customers may switch to Dell for its solid R&D, broad support, and solution flexibility though performance between similar CPUs across different brands tends to be consistent.

PowerEdge is a solid product, continuing to evolve with Intel and AMD changes and partnerships like Nvidia for AI. Overall, I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers nine to ten as the product has maintained a strong reputation over time.

On-premises