Cloud servers with the abbreviation HS in their names are new to the Dell portfolio. The manufacturer bows to the OpenBMC standard and aims these systems at Linux-based open source cloud platforms. Two fourth-generation 250-watt Xeons aka Sapphire Rapids, 16 DDR5 DIMMs, twelve 2.5-inch data carriers in the smaller model and up to 24 drive bays in the larger model are available. Users can install the operating system on two mirrored redundant M.2 NVMe SSDs, for which Dell uses the name BOSS-N1. In the case of the HS, these are plugged into the housing. GPU accelerators are not provided.
The AI/ML systems bear the abbreviation XE and also use Intel’s new Xeon processors. Three XE models, as well as a new modular Edge Server XR4000, were announced in November 2022 and will be available soon.
DPUs versus Xeon extensions
Dell optionally offers its 16th generation PowerEdge servers with Nvidia’s Bluefield-2 network processors (Data Processing Units, DPUs). Based on the ARM-DPU, this network card takes over the main CPU’s computing-intensive functions in network traffic (compression, encryption/decryption, conversion) and is therefore in competition with the Xeon-specific extensions that Intel recently announced with Sapphire Rapids. In order to meet the increased energy hunger of the new Xeons and GPUs, Dell says it has improved the airflow inside the case.
All new Dell servers at a glance – the HS models are completely new to the range.
In future, Dell will rely entirely on AMD’s fourth-generation Epyc processors, also known as Genoa, for single-socket systems. PowerEdge R6615 can accommodate twelve 2.5-inch data carriers or 14 E3.S EDSFF SSDs with a single height, the sister model R7615 with double the housing height even 24 2.5-inch data carriers or 32 EDSFF SSDs. Two Epyc CPUs can be found in the R6625 and R7625 models.
The range of Core PowerEdge systems is aimed at regular Dell customers who have aligned their infrastructure towards integrated Dell Remote Access Controllers (iDRAC) and PowerEdge RAID Controllers (PERC). PERC12 now also supports NVMe SSDs on an equal footing with the SAS and SATA protocols. New in the catalog are the inexpensive models with Appendix XS (R660xs, R760xs), which have fewer DDR5 memory modules and drive bays. The standard R660 model (1 U, 2 Intel 350-watt Xeon Gen4) offers space for 32 DDR5-4800 DIMMs and a total of twelve 2.5-inch drives with NVMe support, two rear-accessible BOSS-N1 Hot-swap slots and space for three PCIe cards, two of which have PCIe 5.0 x16 connections and an OCP 3.0 network adapter. The budget model has to make do with two 250-watt Xeons and 16 DDR5 DIMMs with the same storage equipment – there is no space for a GPU accelerator. The same limitations apply to its double-height sister model, the R760xs.
Standard server for many areas of application
The double-height rack server 760 is the volume model in the range and is available in a total of four versions. The standard R760 model can be configured with two fourth-generation 350-watt Xeons and 32 DDR5-4800 DIMMs, and up to two 300-watt GPUs or six 75 – Install narrow watt GPUs. There is also one Gigabit Ethernet plus one OCP 3.0; There is also space for 16 2.5-inch data carriers, eight of which are U.2 at the front, four are 2.5-inch at the rear and two are BOSS-N1 hot-swap.
In addition to the slimmed-down R760xs model, the announcement also includes the R760xd2 and R760xa versions. The latter offers space for four full-size 350-watt GPUs or eight narrow-size GPUs with only eight 2.5-inch bays. The R760xd2 model is designed as a storage server and for video streaming, has space for 16 DDR5 DIMMs and 24 3.5-inch hard drives in the front and up to four drives in the back, optionally also E3.S EDSFF. The remaining space is more modest for a double-height or two full-height GPUs. The Tower Server T560 is also new based on the double-socket mainboard.
Two 4-socket machines are suitable for database applications and round off the program. The double-height R860 grants each 350-watt Xeon Gen4 16 DDR5 DIMMs and can accommodate 24 2.5-inch disks and eight E3.S EDSFF SSDs. With the same mainboard, the quadruple high R960 is optionally equipped with four 350-watt GPUs and 32 2.5-inch data carriers (24 of which have a U.2 connector and NVMe support). Two hot-swappable BOSS-N1 are mandatory for both models.
The purpose of Dell servers is after reorganizing the offer recognizable from the designation in the future. Cloud servers are prefixed with HS, GPU carriers with the abbreviation XE and edge servers with the prefix XR. The standard systems, on the other hand, have suffixes: xs stands for entry-level models, xa and xd for specializations in the direction of GPU or storage and video streaming.
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