TECH BRIEF
Dell expands virtualization portfolio
Dell has expanded its virtualization technology portfolio to assist
organizations striving to make data centers and IT operations work more
efficiently.
The company has introduced virtualization and data center consulting
services, business-ready virtualization configurations, new Dell
PowerEdge servers and the EqualLogic PS4000 storage array.
Dell officials announced new “flexible and modular” virtualization
consulting services. The Dell ProConsult offerings use electronic
discovery, Web based surveys, best practices, comparative data and
reference architectures for shorter, more effective engagements, they
said.
Dell is offering a variety of consulting options aimed at reducing
the cost to plan, manage and run data centers including Platform
Optimization and Virtualization, Data Center Planning and Management,
Disaster Recovery, Data Management and Facilities Efficiency.
Two business-ready virtualization configurations simplify the
design, procurement and deployment of virtual enterprise
infrastructures, officials said. Data Center Virtualization
Configuration is a platform with pre-configured architectures that
combines Dell PowerEdge M-series blades and EqualLogic PS6000 iSCSI
storage technology, with Cisco Catalyst networking switches, VMware
vSphere 4 and Plate spin Migrate from Novell to achieve an intelligent,
automated data center.
Small and Medium Business Virtualization Configuration combines the
PowerEdge R710, Dell PowerVault MD3000i, PowerVault DL2000 powered by
Symantec for backup and PowerConnect networking technology together
with Microsoft’s virtualization suite.
The company now offers support for VMware vSphere 4,
which lets users transform their datacenters into internal private
clouds, and Citrix Essentials for XenServer 5.0. Dell will support
Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V to help users deploy the latest
virtualization software solutions.
Dell boosted Disaster Recovery capabilities providing Dell
EqualLogic Auto-Snapshot Manager 2.0 for VMware vSphere 4. It
simplifies data protection and recovery through automation and
integration with VMware vSphere 4.
Disaster Recovery delivers “Always On IT” for reduced application
downtime and data protection managed from a single console to simplify
and make disaster recovery more affordable. Dell EqualLogic arrays
integrate with the VMware platform through support for the VMware
vStorage APIs, enabling disaster recovery support for VMware vCenter
Site Recovery Manager and enhanced performance with the EqualLogic
Multipathing Extension Module for VMware vSphere 4, officials said.
Dell officials seek to eliminate the complexity from managing
virtual infrastructure by providing tailored management solutions that
best fit individual business needs including Dell Virtualization
Management toolkit, Virtual infrastructure capabilities, Virtual Server
Remote Monitoring and Reporting.
Additionally, Dell introduced the EqualLogic PS4000 storage array
and PowerVault NX3000 network attached storage (NAS) device to help
small-to-medium businesses, agencies and remote offices meet the
growing demand for storage.
High performance computing
Dell officials think future high performance computing clusters will
be powered by standards-based cluster technology. For HPC and technical
computing environments within the public and private sectors, Dell is
adding the PowerEdge R410, a compact and quiet rack server that
provides the right balance of features and performance, to its HPC
server line-up, officials said.
The new PowerEdge T410 and R410 servers are available now starting
at $999. The PowerEdge T710 server will be available in the coming
weeks. The new EqualLogic PS 4000 is available now starting at $10,000.