Recently the buzz in the IT industry has been focused on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and the larger concept of “Cloud Computing.” In its most basic form, the concept of SaaS involves a company paying for software as it is used. The software runs on computers someone else owns, and the ongoing maintenance and support of the server infrastructure is handled by that company. It involves essentially leasing the application time for a specific period of time, typically month-to-month. In
Using flash storage in computer-based appliances is nothing new. I remember the days of installing PCMCIA flash drives into routers (essentially computers) to update the firmware/OS. That was a great solution back then, but today the cost and complexity of designing a unique single purpose appliance like those old routers is often a significant deterrent. Dell’s OEM Group has been working with hundreds of customers who have moved their appliance hardware development to Dell and are using commodity
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