Dell gives the name PowerEdge (PE) to its server product line.
Most PowerEdge servers use the x86 architecture. The early exceptions to this, the PowerEdge 3250, PowerEdge 7150, and PowerEdge 7250, used Intel's Itanium processor, but Dell abandoned Itanium in 2005[1] after failing to find adoption in the marketplace. The partnership between Intel and Dell remained close, with Intel remaining the exclusive source of processors in Dell's servers until 2006. In May 2006 Dell announced that it also intended to develop servers using AMD Opteron processors.[2] The first Opteron-based PowerEdge systems, the PowerEdge 6950 and the PowerEdge SC1435, appeared in October 2006[3]
PowerEdge machines come configured as tower, rack-mounted, or blade servers. Dell uses a consistent chip-set across servers in the same generation regardless of packaging,[4] allowing for a common set of drivers and system-images.
OEMs and VARs also offer solutions based on PowerEdge servers. Loaded with custom software and with minor cosmetic changes, Dell's servers form the underlying hardware in certain appliances from IronPort,[5] Google,[6] Exinda Networks,[7] and Enterasys.[8]
In 2007 the PowerEdge line accounted for approximately 15% of Dell's overall revenue from computer-hardware sales.[9]. In recent years Dell has been transitioning from a pure hardware vendor to a solutions-provider and services company, as evidenced, for example, by the acquisition of Perot Systems and KACE Networks[10] and the setup of a special global services department within Dell[11]
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Among the standard hardware components of a server, note Dell's proprietary PowerEdge-specific PERC (PowerEdge RAID Controller)[12]. The related software in the PERC Fault Management Suite offers facilities such as the Background Patrol read, which aims to fix bad sectors on online RAID disks[13] running under some of the more recent PERC controllers.[14]
Since the introduction of the Generation 10 servers Dell uses a new standarized method to name their servers, the Dell PowerEdge naming convention.
The name of each server-model is a 4 character code. The first character, a letter indicates the type of server: R for 19-inch rack models, the M for modular indicates a blade server while the T for tower indicates a stand-alone server.[15]
This letter is then followed by 3 digits:
The first digit refers to the number of sockets in the system: 1-3: one socket, 4-7: two sockets, 8,9: four sockets
The middle digit refers to the generation: a 0 for Generation 10 and the 1 for Generation 11
And the 3rd and last digit indicates the make of the CPU: a 0 for Intel processors and the 5 for AMD. For example: The Dell PowerEdge M610 is a two-socket server of the 11th generation using an Intel CPU while the R605 is a two-socket AMD-based rack-server of the 10th generation.[16]
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