Inside Enterprise IT

In response to many requests from our OEM customers, Dell has increased the number of embedded network interface cards (NICs) in our mainstream 1U and 2U PowerEdge servers (the PowerEdge R610 and R710) from two to four -- these truly are appliance-inspired systems. We have found that many of our customers use these platforms as the basis for appliances for telco, security and other vertical spaces.

This may seem like a small thing to many, but we’ve learned that most of our customers using this class of server for network appliances, such as security gateways, VPN optimizers, and such, almost always install additional NICs in the PCIe slots to accommodate the requirements of their applications. While adding PCIe-based NICs isn’t difficult, it is more expensive, less consistent, less reliable, and more prone to errors than simply embedding more NICs to the motherboard.

What I like most about embedding the extra NICs is the freedom to use the PCIe slots for additional I/O options. I have several customers who utilize all of the PCIe slots for various required options who are sometimes forced to move up to a higher end & larger server in order to get all the NICs they need. With two additional NICs on the motherboard, at least one more PCIe slot is available to other components, like Telco I/O cards, encryption offload engines, or high-speed interfaces like Fibre Channel or Infiniband. Our OEM customers have already expressed their pleasure with the added embedded NICs, and many are able to accomplish more with these new servers than they could in the past.

How do these added NICs affect your server-based appliance products?

Offering enterprises energy smart solutions is nothing new for Dell. If you go back to November of last year when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star 5.0 specifications for client systems (desktops, laptops and workstations) were finalized, several of our existing products already met the new specifications.

Today, we are pleased to announce that nearly all of our OptiPlex desktops, Latitude laptops and Dell Precision workstations that we have launched within the past year are available in configurations that meet Energy Star 5.0. Those include:

• Latitude 2100, E4200, E4300, E5400, E5500, E6400, E6400 ATG, XT2 and E6400 XFR
• Dell Precision M2400, M4400, T3500, T5500, T7500, R5400
• OptiPlex 760, 960, 360, 160 and FX160

All of these systems are relatively easy to configure as Energy Star 5.0 with a single click on our online stores. In addition, we offer EnergySmart power settings from the factory on OptiPlex desktops that allows customers to receive their systems pre-configured for better energy efficiency. It is clear that customers want energy efficient products and services from the desktop to the data center.

It is not just about energy, though, when talking about environmental responsibility. It also about recycling, materials used and responsible retirement of when systems reach the end of their useful life.

I hope this information is helpful and I would encourage customers that are waiting to refresh server or clients to take a look at how much you can save by putting in a newer, more energy efficient infrastructure. Especially with new Energy Star specifications that address servers for the first time. Dell announced our efforts with servers here. Also, during the past 4 years, OptiPlex customers could have potentially saved more the $3.5 billion and avoid more than 35 million tons of CO₂ emissions, according to Dell’s Energy Smart Savings Calculator. That’s astounding.

Last year Dell worked with a small business called Robertson Homes that replaced their aging technology fleet, changed some of their “energy consuming” habits around the office and ultimately cut their electricity by half year-over-year. We supplied them with OptiPlex 960 desktops that consume more than 43 less power than the previous generation of OptiPlex desktops. It is also important to note that the 960 comes in packing that is 89 percent recyclable and contains at least 10 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.

With more than 95 percent of federal agencies using Dell systems, it was no surprise for us that Symantec’s annual Government Symposium conference participants were keen on discussing their IT and Security business challenges. The symposium provided a forum to listen to public sector customer’s requirements, experiences and solutions.

During the E-Records Management/E-Discovery session, I moderated, there was a lot of interest around how government agencies “get started” when the problem requires collaboration around IT, RIM and legal expertise.  Approaches varied, but one consistent theme was that either as a distinct organization or as a formal cross functional team, you needed to have equal involvement and buy-in from these three domains in order to have an effective program for RIM and E-Discovery.  The panelists (representing United States Postal Service, Department of Justice, Department of Interior and Government Accountability Office) also tackled interesting questions about the responsibility for record and information management in the Web 2.0 world.  In short, participants recognized that as government expands use of social media (see Open Government Initiative) to reach citizens (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.), cross-functional collaboration, decision on what the business/mission needs your solving for and a defined policy for managing it are the main ingredients for a successful program.

Cybersecurity was also a key topic of discussion with a standing room only panel session hosted by Joe Ayers, Dell Federal, Area VP, on Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative. Morning and lunchtime keynotes from Virginia Senator Mark Warner and Senior Director of Cyberspace Melissa Hathaway, respectively, also offered valuable commentaries on the challenges facing government, the role IT can play and the need for collaboration between the private sector and the public sector.  Melissa’s discussion about the Administration’s recently completed Cyberspace Security review laid out the challenges we face and recommendations for action and sounded the call for better public/private partnership models to protect and secure our critical internet infrastructure.  Her past activity and the emphasis the new Administration is placing here were clearly evident by the pervasive nature of security discussions in presentations and in IT industry exhibits.  Protecting client side computing is one step, but the overall cyber security challenge requires a comprehensive approach – an approach Dell looks at from an end-to-end process from the supply chain to the data on the laptop.  One concrete step identified during Melissa presentation and picked up in the media is the creation of a national cyber security incident response plan.

Again, no surprises from the conference, however, we’ll continue to partner on the dialog and collaboration needed for progress in addressing our Public sector’s customer’s IT challenges.

We’re all familiar with those blue and white Energy Star stickers that show us the average energy uses on our home appliances like refrigerators and clothes driers. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released Energy Star specification for servers. The efficiency requirements are a positive step in creating an industry standard to help reduce power consumption.

The focus on energy efficiency isn’t just about being tree-hugger-green, but more about saving green – as in dollars. Limitations on space, power and cooling capacity combined with rising energy costs can give data center managers incredible headaches. IT departments are counted on to maximize compute capacity without expanding their server footprint and to find ways to effectively cool these power-intensive systems—all while working within the boundaries restricted operating budgets.

Dell understands those challenges, so we partnered with the EPA to develop the new energy-efficiency specification for servers. Not only that, but we just released details of its first Dell PowerEdge servers that meet the new Energy Star specifications. In fact, Dell is the first major vendor to certify entire platforms to meet the exact performance per watt requirements with the Dell PowerEdge R610 and R710 server platforms qualifying for the new Energy Star specification.

Our focus on energy efficiency isn’t new and didn’t start with the development of Energy Star specifications. In 2007, Dell introduced Energy Smart to help customers maximize performance per watt for their particular workload and meet operating expense goals. Dell PowerEdge servers with Energy Smart technology include Dell Energy Smart power supplies, Dell Energy Smart system design, Dell Active Power Controller (DAPC), Dell Energy Smart management and high-effi­ciency processors and memory to achieve the highest performance per watt for standards-based servers.

We build PowerEdge servers with a comprehensive, system-wide approach to balancing performance with energy efficiency by focusing on design, measurement, control and reporting for energy-efficient infrastructures that reduce total cost of ownership.

• Design: The holistic approach follows efficient design principles across electrical, mechanical, and thermal systems and combining them with intelligent component selection.
• Measurement: Real-time, accurate measurements of performance, power consumption and thermals feed into the Energy Smart control algorithms so the system can make intelligent decisions to help optimize performance-per-watt.
• Control: The architecture incorporates firmware running on a high performance baseboard management controller embedded in the system to provide an intelligent, centralized control mechanism to help determine performance-per-watt optimizations.
• Reporting: The architecture incorporates the Dell Management Console powered by Altiris from Symantec provides in-band reporting, while the standard Web Services for Management protocol provides out-of-band reporting to make intelligent performance and efficiency decisions.

I had a chance to catch up with Daniel Bounds, Dell PowerEdge solutions manager and energy efficiency guru, to hear more about the new Energy Star specifications. Here is what he had to say.

I used to have a Kyocera phone. I liked it well enough, but since my account is with Verizon and they don’t carry that brand anymore, I have since migrated to a LG’s enV(2). But when I had the chance to check out what Kyocera is doing in their IT department, it got me thinking about my old phone again, and wondering if I should try to get a new one. The business decisions Kyocera are making seem to be pretty smart, so I’m betting their phones are too.

Recently, they were investigating new ways to meet customer demand for their communications services, and they turned to Dell to help them design a solution. They came up with a virtualized infrastructure using VMware and PowerEdge R805 servers. And for storage, they chose Dell EqualLogic PS5000 Series SAN arrays.

By now you’re thinking, so what? Unless you get really geeked out about technical stuff, you probably don’t really care much what’s behind the IT curtain, right? Well hang with me a minute longer because it’s about to get interesting.

See, I think that companies who are figuring out new ways to save money, be more streamlined and more standardized are the kinds of companies I want to buy from - and buy stock from. The old school companies who are all about doing things they way they always did are the ones who are going to tank. Kyocera revised it’s IT, turned a high opex department into a low opex department, and saved the company a ton of money annually.

I think that rocks and I think other companies should be doing the same. Don’t you?