Dell servers reduce power consumption |
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By Peter Bochner, Site Editor, SearchWinComputing.com
04 Dec 2006 | SearchWinComputing.com |
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Power costs continue to rise dramatically, while many IT managers can't bring enough power to their data centers to accommodate all of the computing muscle they need to run an increasing number of applications.
Put these two trends together and you've got a serious IT issue, which Dell addressed today by unveiling two models of its PowerEdge rack servers that use 20% less power than the standard versions. The Energy Smart versions of Dell's 1950 and 2950 servers can also deliver up to 25% greater performance per watt.
According to Jay Parker, director of PowerEdge Servers for the Dell Product Group, these two metrics could result in a savings of $200 per server per year. Not only that, but these energy-efficient servers can also drive increased density in the data center, meaning, he said, that "if a customer has three racks of servers, they can add a fourth rack without increasing the amount of energy required to power those servers."
The PowerEdge Energy Smart servers use dual-core Intel 5148 Xeon low-voltage processors, 2.5-inch disk drives, low-flow fan technology and high-efficiency power supplies for increased efficiency and air flow.
Parker said that down the road, customers could expect to see energy-efficient AMD Opteron-based servers as well. He also said that while the 1950 and 2950 servers are rack-based, he expects to see energy-efficient tower servers in the future.
While Dell's announcement today focuses on the server, its Energy Smart technology first appeared in the company's OptiPlex 740 and 320 desktops, which appeared in September.
Dell started shipping its new servers today. Entry-level pricing is $2,449 for the 1950 and $2,619 for the 2950. Powell said that represented a $100 premium at list price level over the comparable standard versions. And that, he pointed out, is offset by the $200 yearly savings in power costs.
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