Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers Reviews

We primarily use the solution for virtualization.

The versatility has been great. We have several different configurations with different networking capabilities, different capacity, throughput, and configurations. I work on a dark site in a classified environment. I can't really comment too much beyond that.

PowerEdge is great for handling the evolving needs of high-performance workloads like VDI, AI, and SAP on multi-cloud. We're very happy with their performance. We're lucky enough to also have Dell and VMware. We call them a TAM specialist on-site. If we have any problems, they respond to them quickly.

Since we are in a classified environment, we appreciate the security specifications very much. It helps us as we have to do our own assessments and those security features help us to get our paperwork done.

We use Dell's Optane Memory in our PowerEdge environment. I’m not sure if it’s saved money, I’m really not on the financial side. We have a budget and then we go and shop for the best bang for the buck. Since we are using that feature, it does save us money. However, I can’t say how much.

We do use Dell's OpenManage console. It is easy to use this console for lifecycle management or PowerEdge servers. We use it primarily when we have a network issue or if we can't access the servers our usual way. It's very convenient as a secondary way to access it. As far as life cycle management, that's what we use when we need to do our upgrades, firmware, and the like. It's very valuable. It’s increased our IT staff's productivity, however, I can't tell by how much.

Using PowerEdge helped to reduce unplanned production downtime by 20% to 25%.

We'd want the solution to be faster, and of course, for them to bring down the price. 

I've probably been using PowerEdge Servers since 2010. 

Technical support is very good to excellent. We have a dedicated Dell support team, and they are very knowledgeable. If they don't know the answer and they almost always do, they'll get the answer right away. We're very satisfied with their help.

Positive

We are moving to VxRails. We are using it for virtualization, and for some file storage, and then we're going to be moving to VDI solutions as we get more VxRails that have GPU capability.

In the past, we used HP. We used Oracle hardware as well. Oracle has its own hard drives. They buy their servers and then put their logo on them and then resell that. Those are probably the two biggest companies that we've used in the past.

We switched to Dell due to the cost and feature sets. We liked the feature set of the Dell, however, the operating costs and maintenance costs, contracts, were a big selling factor. A lot of the hardware that we used to have was older as well. 

I used HP servers. They have a service like Dell OpenManage called iLO. It does the same thing. You can access the servers through the network to help with firmware upgrades. The HP hardware, at the time, was more expensive for maintenance and to buy new. When we went to VxRails and PowerEdge, it was a better deal, more bang for the buck, that's why we switched.

I was not a part of the initial setup.

I did not evaluate other servers from other vendors before choosing PowerEdge.

We did consider public cloud servers before choosing PowerEdge. We use both.

We compared latency and costs when looking at PowerEdge versus the public cloud. At the time, the public cloud looked more attractive on paper. When we did testing, the latency and throughput were comparable. However, the Dell PowerEdge Servers that we had on-premises had a little bit better performance, as the cloud was quite a distance from where our data center is. It's comparable, however, when we looked at the overall cost of a public cloud, it was much more expensive to do a public cloud, and it was less expensive to do on-premises. Most of PowerEdge is mostly on-premises.

The first one I ever used, was an R710 PowerEdge server. We're using 740s now. We also use VxRail. I know those aren't specifically PowerEdge, however, we're moving from PowerEdge servers to VxRail.

I don't really do much on the data center side of things, so I can't really comment on the power consumption. That's not my focus.

We do not use Intel Xeon Scalable processors in our PowerEdge servers.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

The ones we just bought are going to be hypervisor servers, and we have an on-premises Exchange that is running on a PowerEdge server.

The hands-off demand of the servers and the fact that they're not constantly a thorn in my side has been a big factor. They're running, and I don't have to worry about them. That is the most valuable part about it.

There is no downtime with these servers, and the system management capabilities of PowerEdge have helped increase staff productivity.

PowerEdge has, without a doubt, helped to reduce data processing time in our company. Every time we get a new PowerEdge server, we definitely notice an impact on the SQL databases that are part of our ERP. I do have users come and tell me that they've noticed that things have sped up and that even simple file searches are faster.

Dell PowerEdge servers are powerful. They don't break, and I love that. In my career of over 30 years now, all the Dell servers we've ever used out of the box have never broken.

On top of that, when we had an air conditioning failure and I came in after a weekend, the temperature in the server room was 110 degrees. Inside the cases themselves, it was over 220 degrees. The only thing we lost was a backplane on one of the servers. This alone speaks for the durability of the Dell servers, and we've never gone away from Dell servers ever.

They are fantastic in terms of performance as well.

As for PowerEdge's approach to security, I would rate it very high. The tools provided by Dell update the BIOS and everything else, and the software is running on the server at all times. It is proactive and alerts me. It's taken a load off of my shoulders compared to how it was 20 years ago. I would have to go to their site and find out what was new. Now, I can just go to the computer or the server, and right there, it will tell me what needs to be done.

The security is pretty strong. When we use ethical hackers to hack us, the Dell servers are never the issue.

In terms of power consumption, I have no complaints at all about PowerEdge Rack Servers. My server room's APC, which is a battery backup system, is a full-mounted rack. It handles all the power coming from all our PowerEdge servers. We have never once had to scale it up at all in the almost 20 years that I've been working with them. It's moving technology in and out nonstop, and it shows you that these servers are fantastic. They don't really shift that much in power needs.

Dell needs to focus more on SMBs, helping us get the most out of our products. For example, at events, there should be very specific SMB sessions where there are Dell technicians, engineers, and Dell executives meeting with us and finding out what we need. Dell is big on promoting the fact that they're part of our team and that they want to be our partners, and I would like to see them actually partner with us. Do it less with the big Fortune 500 companies and do a little bit more with us SMBs.

I've been working this solution for the last 17 years.

For stability, there's really no other product that I would trust.

Dell's support, throughout the years that we've used it, is typically fantastic, but, again, because the PowerEdge servers are so durable and good, I haven't used them as much. When I've had to contact them for other issues, they've resolved the issues within a week, if not a day or two.

The initial setup is pretty straightforward. It's out-of-the-box, and I've never found a snag or anything like that in the process.

We deploy everything by hand; everything is manual.

It doesn't take that long, and we can even do it with our laptops and desktops. We do not do any ghosting or imaging, and a server usually takes me a day at the most, while I really take my time with it and get all the updates in.

We do it ourselves, or we have one consultant that we use if it's something that is out of our wheelhouse.

Every time I don't have to work on something and my servers are just running without an issue, that is a return on investment for me. The fact that my coworkers and owners are never complaining to me about things being down all the time is the biggest ROI there is.

I have no issues with the pricing and licensing costs. They are fine.

I looked at HP, and in a previous job, I've actually worked on HPs. I didn't love the HP servers. Even more so than the hardware, I couldn't stand HP's service and support. They're really bad.

When it comes to servers, Dell would be my first choice, and IBM would be my second choice.

We have one other server that is an IBM i-series server. (It used to be called AS/400.) If I were to compare it to the PowerEdge servers, there really is no comparison. It's a monster of a machine, and we have a lot more problems with that than we do with any of our Dell servers. Plus, it's finicky. The performance on it is questionable. You have to really baby it a lot more than the Dell servers, whereas the Dell servers are those that are the set-it-and-forget-it type. I work far more on issues with my applications that are running on the Dell servers than I ever do with the actual Dell servers themselves.

I would consider Dell and HP in the same area, whereas I look at IBM as being more specific. My only experience with IBM servers has to do with the AS/400 i-series Power9 line. Those are built specifically to house an ERP, whereas the Dell and HP servers are built to handle everything you need.

When it comes to the servers, I trust Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. They're who I'm going to stick with. I don't consider HP to be a realistic competitor.

If you are comparing Dell against anyone else, just get Dell PowerEdge. It's not even a question. The servers don't break, and they don't give you issues. Your applications are going to cause enough problems for you as it is, and you don't want the hardware they're sitting upon to also be another issue. After all, the servers were 220 degrees during an air conditioning outage and still churning and not causing problems!

If I were to rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers on a scale from one to ten, I would give them a nine.

We won a contract, and the customer preferred Dell as the OEM manufacturer. 

PowerEdge is flexible enough to integrate the IOs we need into the server.

Dell's team supported us all the way. It's an excellent corporation, and customers here in Israel are different. They're difficult to deal with and constantly change their minds. We wouldn't have won this tender without cooperation from the CMS distributor and Dell.

We could install all the other accessories and cards the customer asked us to implement on Dell servers and integrate cards from different companies. Each requires a different OS. Dell helped us integrate all the systems.

When integrating the PowerEdge rack, we needed help from all the different companies to combine it with the servers. Each company has a system, and things must align with the server. 

It would be better if they integrated Dell and Ubuntu, for example. It would be easier to handle the mission. 

We are in our first month of working with the Dell team. 

PowerEdge's overall scalability is excellent. We've got a great technical team.

I rate Dell Professional Services 10 out of 10. They were excellent and were the reason we won the tender. They supported us. We had a whole team supporting us and providing us with answers. When we were implementing VxRail, they found the person in charge  who gave us the correct information. 

Positive

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers nine out of 10. We're happy with it. 

We build cloud stacks on our Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers.

In order to achieve a greater degree of autonomy and self-sufficiency in our IT infrastructure, we opted to embark on the implementation of private cloud solutions. This strategic decision led us to adopt Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers as the foundation of our private cloud environment, thereby mitigating our previous over-reliance on publicly accessible cloud services.

Our procurement of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers was conducted through Dell itself, acting in its capacity as a service provider. This decision was influenced, to a certain extent, by the inherent proclivity towards recommending Dell products within the Dell ecosystem. Ultimately, the design we adopted adhered to the standardized guidelines established by Dell, ensuring seamless integration and compatibility within our existing infrastructure.

Given our tendency towards aggregated configurations, we are fortunate to be largely immune to periods of inactivity. However, it's important to note that this high uptime is not solely attributable to the physical infrastructure. From a hardware perspective, I can confidently report an absence of recurring malfunctions across all functional domains. This testifies to the remarkable stability exhibited by the PowerEdge Rack Servers.

The OpenManage console is an inescapably necessary tool for large-scale environments. It provides all the capabilities it's intended to, like seamlessly applying firmware updates through OME and handling other tasks with ease. It consistently functions exceptionally well, and I sincerely hope it continues to do so in the future. Frankly, the thought of meandering through the data center and manually adjusting everything is enough to make anyone shudder. Thankfully, OpenManage has been a true game-changer in that regard. It's quantifiably increased the productivity of our IT staff by eliminating the need for tedious manual processes.

The core strength of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers lies in their expansive connectivity and seamless integration with other offerings within the Dell product ecosystem. This synergistic relationship is exemplified by the successful interoperability between PowerEdge servers and backup solutions like Data Domain or PowerScale, further enhanced by the native integration of S3 functionality within the German market. This well-orchestrated interplay of components fosters an exceptionally efficient and cohesive IT environment.

I would advocate for Dell to incorporate by default a greater number of network interface cards that boast enhanced network connectivity within their PowerEdge Rack Servers. In older models, for instance, Melanox adapters remain a necessity, and they have sporadically caused complications. It would be fantastic if Dell could incorporate them by default, precluding the requirement for supplementary adapters.

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

I have no complaints about the stability of our Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. They perform well, are powerful, and experience few failures.

Dell PowerEdge rack servers offer easy scalability, as evidenced by our continued expansion.

I've been consistently struck by the profound depth of knowledge exhibited by both the general representatives and the specialized cohorts within Dell's technical support team. Their remarkable facility for resolving any issue I presented with impressive celerity truly showcased their exceptional level of operational effectiveness.

Of course, unforeseen predicaments occasionally arise, but the team always responds with remarkable adaptability and graciousness. While some processes may necessitate a protracted timeframe for completion, I believe this stems more from the underlying organizational structure than any individual shortcomings. The on-site personnel were consistently exceedingly capable and demonstrably swift in their actions.

Positive

In a previous engagement, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a client whose IT infrastructure was predominantly comprised of Fujitsu servers. However, our current clients have already established a longstanding partnership with Dell for their hardware requirements.

We meticulously constructed the comprehensive foundation for a cloud service, laying each digital brick-and-mortar. Although the initial deployment presented a labyrinthine challenge, we were able to navigate its intricacies with measured steps. As anyone who has embarked on such an endeavor knows, erecting a full-fledged infrastructure, be it geographically dispersed for enhanced resilience or traditionally redundant for local fault tolerance, is no simple feat. It demands constant vigilance and adept stewardship to ensure its smooth operation.

We constructed the comprehensive network infrastructure, weaving the intricate cabling throughout the designated pathways. With resolute focus, we configured and installed the potent server hardware, ensuring its seamless integration. And most notably, we adeptly orchestrated the deployment of the robust cloud stack, paving the way for unparalleled scalability and agility. 

The cost structure associated with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers aligns closely with the prevailing norms established within the information technology hardware sector. In other words, the prices for these servers are neither exceptionally expensive nor significantly cheaper than comparable offerings from other major manufacturers.

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

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers demonstrably excel in fulfilling their designated function, even when configured in various arrangements. While it is certainly prudent to maintain vigilance regarding forthcoming advancements in the technological landscape, it is undeniable that these servers are already eminently well-matched to their intended applications.

The flexibility that customers experience comes primarily from the cloud stack we deploy on the servers.

Foreign Language:(German)

Bietet gute Leistung, umfassende Konnektivität und nahtlose Integration

Was ist unser Hauptanwendungsfall?

Um ein höheres Maß an Autonomie und Unabhängigkeit in unserer IT-Infrastruktur zu erreichen, haben wir uns für die Implementierung von Private-Cloud-Lösungen entschieden. Diese strategische Entscheidung führte dazu, dass wir Dell PowerEdge Rack Server als Grundlage unserer privaten Cloud-Umgebung einsetzten und damit unsere frühere übermäßige Abhängigkeit von öffentlich zugänglichen Cloud-Diensten reduzierten.

Wie hat es meiner Organisation geholfen?

Wir haben Dell PowerEdge Rack Server über Dell selbst in seiner Eigenschaft als Dienstleistungsanbieter bezogen. Diese Entscheidung wurde bis zu einem gewissen Punkt durch die inhärente Neigung zur Empfehlung von Dell-Produkten innerhalb des Dell-Ökosystems beeinflusst. Letztendlich haben wir uns für ein Design entschieden, das den standardisierten Richtlinien von Dell entspricht und eine nahtlose Integration und Kompatibilität mit unserer bestehenden Infrastruktur gewährleistet.

Dank unserer Tendenz zu aggregierten Konfigurationen sind wir glücklicherweise weitgehend gegen Phasen der Inaktivität geschützt. Es ist jedoch wichtig zu erwähnen, dass diese hohe Betriebszeit nicht nur auf die physische Infrastruktur zurückzuführen ist. Aus der Sicht der Hardware kann ich mit Gewissheit sagen, dass es in allen Funktionsbereichen keine wiederkehrenden Ausfälle gibt. Dies zeugt von der bemerkenswerten Stabilität der PowerEdge Rack Server.

Die OpenManage-Konsole ist ein unverzichtbares Tool für groß angelegte Umgebungen. Sie bietet alle Funktionen, für die sie gedacht ist, wie z. B. die nahtlose Anwendung von Firmware-Updates über OME und die einfache Durchführung anderer Aufgaben. Es funktioniert durchweg außergewöhnlich gut, und ich hoffe wirklich, dass dies auch in Zukunft der Fall sein wird. Ehrlich gesagt, der Gedanke, sich durch das Rechenzentrum zu schlängeln und alles manuell einzustellen, lässt jeden erschaudern. Zum Glück ist OpenManage in dieser Hinsicht ein echter Fortschritt. Es hat die Produktivität unserer IT-Mitarbeiter quantitativ erhöht, indem es mühsame manuelle Prozesse überflüssig gemacht hat.

Was ist am wertvollsten?

Die Hauptstärke der Dell PowerEdge Rack Server liegt in ihrer umfassenden Anschlussfähigkeit und nahtlosen Integration mit anderen Angeboten innerhalb des Dell Produkt-Ökosystems. Ein Beispiel für diese synergetische Beziehung ist die erfolgreiche Interoperabilität zwischen PowerEdge-Servern und Backup-Lösungen wie Data Domain oder PowerScale, die durch die native Integration der S3-Funktionalität auf dem deutschen Markt noch verstärkt wird. Dieses gut koordinierte Zusammenspiel der Komponenten fördert eine außergewöhnlich effiziente und kohärente IT-Umgebung.

Was muss verbessert werden?

Ich möchte mich dafür einsetzen, dass Dell in seine PowerEdge-Rack-Server standardmäßig eine größere Anzahl von Netzwerkschnittstellenkarten mit verbesserter Netzwerkkonnektivität einbaut. Bei älteren Modellen beispielsweise sind Melanox-Adapter nach wie vor erforderlich, und sie haben gelegentlich zu Komplikationen geführt. Es wäre fantastisch, wenn Dell diese standardmäßig einbauen könnte, so dass keine zusätzlichen Adapter mehr erforderlich wären.

Wie lange nutze ich die Lösung schon?

Ich arbeite seit fünf Jahren mit Dell PowerEdge Rack-Servern.

Was halte ich von der Stabilität der Lösung?

Ich habe keine Beschwerden über die Stabilität unserer Dell PowerEdge Rack Server. Sie sind leistungsstark und haben nur wenige Ausfälle.

Was denke ich über die Skalierbarkeit der Lösung?

Dell PowerEdge-Rackserver bieten eine einfache Skalierbarkeit, was unsere kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung beweist.

Wie sind Kundenservice und Support?

Ich war immer wieder beeindruckt von den umfangreichen Kenntnissen, die sowohl die allgemeinen Vertreter als auch die spezialisierten Mitarbeiter des technischen Support-Teams von Dell an den Tag legten. Ihre bemerkenswerte Fähigkeit, jedes von mir vorgetragene Problem mit beeindruckender Schnelligkeit zu lösen, zeigt wirklich ihr außergewöhnliches Niveau an operativer Effizienz.

Natürlich kommt es gelegentlich zu unvorhergesehenen Schwierigkeiten, aber das Team reagiert stets mit bemerkenswerter Anpassungsfähigkeit und Freundlichkeit. Auch wenn einige Prozesse einen längeren Zeitrahmen für die Fertigstellung erfordern, glaube ich, dass dies eher auf die zugrundeliegende Organisationsstruktur als auf individuelle Unzulänglichkeiten zurückzuführen ist. Die Mitarbeiter vor Ort waren durchweg äußerst kompetent und handelten nachweislich schnell.

Wie bewerten Sie den Kundenservice und -support?

Positiv

Welche anderen Lösungen habe ich bewertet?

Bei einem früheren Auftrag hatte ich die Gelegenheit, mit einem Kunden zusammenzuarbeiten, dessen IT-Infrastruktur überwiegend aus Fujitsu-Servern bestand. Unsere derzeitigen Kunden haben jedoch bereits eine langjährige Partnerschaft mit Dell für ihre Hardwareanforderungen aufgebaut.

Wie war die Ersteinrichtung?

Wir haben das umfassende Fundament für einen Cloud-Service sorgfältig aufgebaut und dabei jeden digitalen Baustein gesetzt. Obwohl die anfängliche Einrichtung eine komplexe Herausforderung darstellte, konnten wir die Schwierigkeiten mit angemessenen Schritten bewältigen. Jeder, der schon einmal ein solches Projekt in Angriff genommen hat, weiß, dass der Aufbau einer vollwertigen Infrastruktur, sei sie nun geografisch verteilt, um die Ausfallsicherheit zu erhöhen, oder traditionell mehrfach vorhanden, um lokale Fehlertoleranz zu gewährleisten, keine einfache Aufgabe ist. Sie erfordert ständige Aufmerksamkeit und eine sorgfältige Verwaltung, um ihren reibungslosen Betrieb zu gewährleisten.

Wir bauten die umfassende Netzwerkinfrastruktur auf und verlegten die komplizierte Verkabelung in den vorgesehenen Pfaden. Wir konfigurierten und installierten die leistungsstarke Server-Hardware und sorgten für ihre nahtlose Integration. Und vor allem haben wir die Bereitstellung des robusten Cloud-Stacks erfolgreich koordiniert und so den Weg für eine beispiellose Skalierbarkeit und Agilität eröffnet.

Welche Erfahrungen habe ich mit den Preisen, den Implementierungskosten und der Lizenzierung gemacht?

Die Preisstruktur von Dell PowerEdge Rack Servern entspricht weitgehend den in der IT-Hardwarebranche vorherrschenden Normen. Mit anderen Worten: Die Preise für diese Server sind weder außergewöhnlich teuer noch wesentlich günstiger als vergleichbare Angebote anderer großer Hersteller.

Welche anderen Ratschläge kann ich geben?

Ich würde die Dell PowerEdge Rack Server mit neun von zehn Punkten bewerten.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Server erfüllen nachweislich die ihnen zugedachte Funktion, auch wenn sie in verschiedenen Kombinationen konfiguriert werden. Auch wenn es sicherlich ratsam ist, künftige Fortschritte in der technologischen Landschaft im Auge zu behalten, ist es unbestreitbar, dass diese Server bereits hervorragend auf die vorgesehenen Anwendungen abgestimmt sind.

Die Flexibilität, die die Kunden erfahren, ergibt sich in erster Linie aus dem Cloud-Stack, den wir auf den Servern einsetzen.

Welches Modell nutzen Sie für die Entwicklung dieser Lösung?

Im Hause.

Mainly, we started using them when we implemented a cyber recovery solution with Data Domain, in which several Dell PowerEdge Rack servers are also involved.

By implementing this solution, we wanted cyber resilience. We wanted a 1/3 copy cyber recovery solution that would prevent us from losing all the data in the event of a cyber attack.

In terms of deployment, we use them on-prem, directly with Dell as our provider.

They provide the cyber resilience that we were looking for. They are working perfectly so far, and we are happy with them.

The PowerEdge Cyber Resilient Architecture approach to security is very good. Overall, Dell's approach to security is pretty good. I like using Dell products because they always have security configuration guides.

In terms of energy consumption, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers can possibly be improved, but this is what I would say regarding any other type of server.

I do not know specifically about Dell's sustainability goals or how PowerEdge can help, but at the level of on-prem servers, it can always be improved by moving towards new virtualization to reduce the impact and perhaps reduce the number of servers.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have helped to reduce unplanned production downtime. In our case, we have planned a maximum downtime of one week in the event of a cyber attack. These are the ratios we use.

The OpenManage console has affected our IT staff’s productivity. It has helped in a positive way because it is a console that centralizes many things that our staff manages every day. In that sense, it is in a centralized console. It helps a lot.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers have not impacted the overall flexibility of our operations or business. In our case, it is an isolated additional system, so it is not like adding an additional layer to improve the flexibility per se.

There is no specific feature that is more valuable than other servers for us. Because it is part of an overall solution that Dell has offered us, we opted for Dell's PowerEdge servers. Overall, it is a good solution. It works perfectly, especially in terms of availability and reliability, without any type of issue, which is why we are very happy with it.

The cost can be improved. For other use cases, we use Hitachi servers, which are a little cheaper but have similar functionality.

I have been using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for approximately two years.

So far, we have had no stability problems. They are very stable.

The scalability is very good. We use them in several locations. The main department in which they are used is ours, which is for data protection backup. They are mainly used for a cyber recovery solution.

I would assess their support very positively. I have been working with them for several years, and I am very happy with their support.

Positive

We also use Hitachi. We have not switched. We maintain two brands.

It has simply covered our use case.

They can improve the costs.

We evaluated Veritas. We evaluated Netapp solutions. There were five or six different vendors. We did not see a critical difference. In general, they were similar, but Dell was more present throughout the process.

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

Foreign Language:(Spanish)

Funciona perfectamente y proporciona la ciberresiliencia y seguridad que necesitamos

¿Durante cuánto tiempo utiliza los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge?

He estado usando servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge durante aproximadamente dos años.

¿Cuál es su principal caso de uso de esta solución? (Incluya detalles sobre su entorno.

Principalmente, comenzamos a utilizarlos cuando implementamos una solución de recuperación cibernética con Data Domain, en la que también están involucrados varios servidores Dell PowerEdge Rack.

Al implementar esta solución, queríamos ciberresiliencia. Queríamos una solución de recuperación cibernética de 1/3 de copia que nos evitara perder todos los datos en caso de un ciberataque.

En términos de implementación, los utilizamos de forma local, directamente con Dell como nuestro proveedor.

Comparta cómo los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge han mejorado su infraestructura de TI. Si no fue así, explique por qué.

Proporcionan la ciberresiliencia que estábamos buscando. Están funcionando perfectamente hasta ahora y estamos contentos con ellos.

El enfoque de seguridad de PowerEdge Cyber Resilient Architecture es muy bueno. En general, el enfoque de seguridad de Dell es bastante bueno. Me gusta usar los productos Dell porque siempre tienen guías de configuración de seguridad.

En términos de consumo de energía, los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge son posiblemente mejorables, pero esto es lo que diría de cualquier otro tipo de servidor.

No sé específicamente cuáles son los objetivos de sostenibilidad de Dell ni cómo puede ayudar PowerEdge, pero a nivel de servidores locales, siempre se puede mejorar avanzando hacia una nueva virtualización para reducir el impacto y quizás reducir la cantidad de servidores.

Los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge han ayudado a reducir el tiempo de inactividad de producción no planificado. En nuestro caso, hemos previsto un tiempo de inactividad máximo de una semana en caso de ciberataque. Estas son las proporciones que utilizamos.

La consola OpenManage ha afectado la productividad de nuestro personal de TI. Ha ayudado de manera positiva porque es una consola que centraliza muchas cosas que nuestro personal maneja día a día. En ese sentido, está en una consola centralizada. Esto ayuda mucho.

Los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge no han afectado la flexibilidad general de nuestras operaciones o negocios. En nuestro caso se trata de un sistema adicional aislado, por lo que no es como añadir una capa adicional para mejorar la flexibilidad de por sí.

¿Qué características le han parecido más valiosas y por qué?

No existe ninguna característica específica que sea más valiosa que otros servidores para nosotros. Debido a que es parte de una solución global que nos ha ofrecido Dell, optamos por los servidores PowerEdge de Dell. En general, es una buena solución. Funciona perfectamente, sobre todo en términos de disponibilidad y fiabilidad, sin ningún tipo de problema, por lo que estamos muy contentos con ella.

¿En qué áreas se podrían mejorar los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge?

El costo se puede mejorar. Para otros casos de uso, utilizamos servidores Hitachi, que son un poco más baratos pero tienen una funcionalidad similar.

¿Utilizó anteriormente una solución diferente? De ser así, ¿por qué la cambió?

También utilizamos Hitachi. No hemos cambiado. Mantenemos las dos marcas.

Antes de elegir, ¿evaluaste otras opciones? ¿De ser asi, cuales?

Evaluamos Veritas. Evaluamos las soluciones de Netapp. Había cinco o seis proveedores diferentes. No vimos una diferencia crítica. En general fueron similares, pero Dell estuvo más presente en todo el proceso.

¿Qué aconseja a otros sobre el costo de instalación, el precio y/o la licencia?

Se pueden mejorar en cuanto a su precio.

¿Cuáles son sus impresiones sobre la escalabilidad de esta solución?

La escalabilidad es muy buena. Los utilizamos en varios lugares. El departamento principal en el que se utilizan es el nuestro, que es para la copia de seguridad de la protección de datos. Se utilizan principalmente para una solución de recuperación cibernética.

¿Cuáles son sus impresiones sobre la estabilidad de esta solución?

Hasta ahora no hemos tenido problemas. Son muy estables.

¿Has visto el ROI (Retorno de la Inversión)? En caso afirmativo, ¿de qué manera (es decir, métricas/puntos de datos)?

Simplemente ha cubierto nuestros casos de uso.

Cuéntanos tu experiencia con el servicio y soporte al cliente.

Valoro su soporte de forma positiva. Llevo varios años trabajando con ellos y estoy muy contento con su apoyo.

¿Cómo calificaría esta solución en una escala del 1 al 10 en cuanto a servicio y soporte?

8.

En una escala del 1 al 10 (1=peor, 10=mejor), ¿cómo calificaría los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge? Por favor explique por qué.

Calificaría los servidores en rack Dell PowerEdge con un nueve de diez.

We are currently using Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers to run about ten virtual machines. Within these virtual machines, we have our ERP systems, remote access systems, and more. It is primarily used as a Hyper-V server for virtualization purposes.

The performance and scalability are the most valuable features of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. The servers perform excellently, and they are adaptable to the evolving needs of high-performance workloads. They provide the reliability needed to manage the consumption of RAM efficiently without needing to expand the rack.

I do not have anything specific in mind for improvements. The support provided is very good when we need it, and the identification of the server is excellent. Overall, there are no areas of significant improvement that I can suggest.

We have had experience with Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for about two years.

The servers are reliable. We do not experience significant downtime, and they continue running effectively.

Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers are highly scalable. We were able to resolve performance issues by managing RAM consumption without needing to physically expand the rack.

Customer service provides very good support, with an SLA of about one business day to respond to our tickets.

Neutral

We have always used Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers. We had evaluated Lenovo solutions previously but chose to stick with Dell because of its reliability and support.

The initial setup is easy with the support of iDRAC services.

Our implementation team typically includes a system administrator or a support engineer.

The pricing can vary. Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up. In Brazil, the parts for servers are particularly expensive.

Before choosing Dell, we evaluated Lenovo solutions. However, we preferred Dell due to its superior reliability and support.

I would recommend Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers for their reliability and support. Overall, I rate the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers ten out of ten. They are excellent.

We deploy PowerEdge to meet our customer's requirements.

Brand recognition is a big reason we went with this. The customer wanted to use Dell's product. Dell integrates with other cards and boards inside a system. The iDRAC is a selling point. It gives you an easy way to manage the system, services, and installation. 

PowerEdge is not that flexible. For example, it's difficult if I need something that is not in Dell's portfolio. We offer the flexibility to the customer. We can implement different things Dell doesn't have. If you have preconfigured systems, it's hard to transition them to what you need.

We have used PowerEdge servers for two or three months. It's new for us. 

I rate Dell customer service 10 out of 10. We had a problem implementing the RAID system on a rack. The Dell RAID specialist helped us a lot and provided more internal information to install RAID on the system successfully. I have experience with many companies, and it was very fast. The guys in Dell support don't waste your time. They find a way to provide a solution. 

Positive

We used industrial systems, so PowerEdge rack servers are more flexible than our previous industrial systems. If we compare them, they're ahead of the industrial systems, so I can say they're better.

We purchase the systems from a reseller and integrate them for our customers. PowerEdge Rack. Servers are easier than other systems we have integrated, but I can't say how easy it is for customers to do it themselves. 

I rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers nine out of 10. 

My focus is liquid cooling. We are taking the air-cooled PowerEdge systems and converting them to liquid cooling. That usually involves replacing and doing material compatibility, adjusting the thermal interface materials inside the systems, and adjusting the heat sinks. We turn off the fans and adjust the BIOS systems in some of the subsystems, such as PSUs.

This allows the server that has been designed for air cooling to be submerged in dielectric fluid so that it can now be cooled with dielectric fluid running through the systems. Because of the fact that it is submerged, all the subsystems are being cooled, but instead of air, it is done by fluid. It is far more effective at pulling heat out of the systems, taking that heat out of the unit, and then being able to use that heat for other purposes.

For the larger PowerEdge systems that have GPU integrations in them, we have seen a lot of trends in building those for AI systems. We have seen a generated interest in the PowerEdge system across the board for a majority of industries.

I am quite new to the company, but I see that customers keep asking for these servers. From our side, because of our relationship with Dell, we can take a server and convert it to liquid far quicker than with other partners. That has been a big advantage. The PowerEdge system is good in many aspects. Many times customers just want to deploy these systems, especially given the acceleration that we have seen in the AI industry. People just want to be able to get their systems up and running as quickly as possible, so sometimes, there is an advantage to the lead time of getting these things converted. We have been able to do that quicker through Dell than with other IT vendors. We have relationships with HPE as well as with Lenovo. We are dynamic. We are not tied to any particular vendor, and we can work with all customers to deploy different systems inside their environment for liquid cooling.

From our side, there is always a little bit of a challenge with the footprint. I am in an area where we are submerging these devices in tanks. We are in a situation where some of the server designs are a little bit deep. For example, PowerEdge R760xa has a slightly extended depth. It is not as long as PowerEdge XE9680, but PowerEdge R760xa is a beast in itself. It is influencing the infrastructure designers to change their footprint so that they can incorporate something like this in their AI systems. That is very impressive. This is the thing that so many people are talking about at the moment. We see a lot of potential in a device like this because of the fact that you can load H100 or H200 GPUs with NVLink. It is a complete system for AI training models.

We have our own challenges with firmware, but that is only because we sometimes have to adjust the firmware of things like PSUs. With the firmware that they have by default, there is a fan running inside that. When we run fluid through, we want to adjust the firmware so that the fan is turned off. We usually have to adjust the firmware to a very high version because we do not want someone updating the firmware to the new standard. That is because the moment they do that, the fans will start running again, and all the alarms are going to go off because a bunch of fluids are running through the systems. So, we have our own firmware challenges to work with, but Dell is strong in being able to help us with that information and get the firmware so that we can adjust it. It is not just one vendor who provides the PSUs, and firmware adjustments are far more successful than having to emulate the PSUs, which is something some people have done in the past, but they led to some failures inside the PSUs when they try to convert to liquid cooling.

In terms of energy consumption, because I am on the liquid cooling side of things, we turn the fans off. If we can get a PowerEdge system and convert it to liquid cooling, we can reduce the power consumption of that server by up to 40%. In data center environments, energy consumption is becoming an important ratio to measure when people are building up these large data centers around the world. Currently, in an air-cool system, power usage effectiveness (PUE) is 2.0 or 1.5. When you start to liquidate all these, that dramatically drops to 1.2 or 1 PUE. You can even get less than 1 PUE if you effectively reuse the heat. So, you get more environment-friendly servers. If you are reducing carbon emissions and your power consumption by 20% or 30%, that is incredibly attractive when you are trying to build out new systems. Not only that, with air-cool, to maintain strong air conditioning to keep these things cool, especially something like PowerEdge XE9680, air conditioning has to use up a lot of water, whereas, with immersion, you do not have to use up that water. You are using incredibly small amounts of water to cool. It is even zero in many cases. So, liquid cooling has a huge amount of environmentally friendly advantages, and the fact that we are able to do quite a lot of liquid cooling PowerEdge systems in turn makes PowerEdge a more environmentally friendly option.

Because we are able to change the standard with cooling, it gets purchased in positions where we can run the GPUs at their maximum performance. In fluid systems that we have tested using things like PowerEdge XE9680, we are able to achieve maximum frequency and maximum performance.

The Dell name holds a lot of weight on our position as a partner of Dell's when it comes to liquid cooling the systems. We have a great relationship with Dell, so we are able to exchange information very easily to be able to build these systems for our customers. When it comes to converting one of these to liquid cooling, we need to know a lot of information about the sub-components, the vendors, and the firmware inside PSUs. Without a strong relationship with our IT partner Dell, we would not be able to do that effectively and quickly to meet the lead times of our customers.

Dell PowerEdge systems are very strong or well-rounded systems. A lot of people like the 4th and 5th generation Xeon that has been implemented into PowerEdge. Xeon has a good advantage when it comes to the inputting element of AI systems, and, of course, Intel also has a good name. However, from our position, as a partner and as a systems integrator, the real strength is the relationship that we have with Dell and being able to exchange that information.

I have been a part of my current organization for a few months. I started at the end of last year. I have been acclimatizing to the PowerEdge systems. 

In the metrics that I have worked with, they have been very stable and reliable so far. We have not had cases where we have to go in and do maintenance work on our side of things. Usually, any issues that they have had from a liquid cooling side of things have mostly been down to people not doing the proper practice when it comes to installation. 

A lot of the time, we deal with customers who already have a pre-existing architecture. They perhaps have Cisco systems or HPE systems in their infrastructure. The challenge is to convert them to a new unit. The data center's presentation is such a big element of design. It is good if they stick with the same vendor and have the same relationship, but it is sometimes challenging to have someone change their traditional air-cooled infrastructure systems with the ones from Dell.

I have not heard anything negative about its deployment.

To those who are thinking about liquid cooling, I would strongly recommend it, especially in the EU. It is an environmentally friendly option. It is important to make sure that you have an integrator who understands liquid cooling to a strong degree. It is not something that you can just convert by yourself in the data center. It is something that needs to be done in a lab environment, and it needs to be supported going forward by someone who understands liquid cooling. You need a liquid cooling specialist who is able to assist with that, as well as being able to assist on the services and support side from Dell. We work fluently with Dell in those situations. We found that once the liquid cooling starts running in these systems, if there is going to be a problem, it would have happened in the first few weeks. It is usually down to installation practices, not the systems themselves.

I would rate Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a nine out of ten. It is a very strong solution.