DELL EMC WORLD — Dell EMC on Monday announced the 14^th generation of PowerEdge servers, the first launch as a combined organization that focuses on the data center with servers, storage and converged infrastructure.

The new product portfolio boasts a secure, scalable compute platform suited to cloud, analytics or the software-defined data center. The product preview coincides with Dell EMC World 2017 this week in Las Vegas.

“We’re focused on delivering modern IT infrastructure in order to power the applications that our customers must run. That modern IT infrastructure is going to run on top of x86 server technology. In our case, PowerEdge servers are going to fuel and host that business growth going forward,” Brian Payne, vice president management and marketing, PowerEdge servers at Dell, shared with us.

Services will complement the new PowerEdge servers, in particular those value-added services offered by Dell EMC partners, as well as flexible consumption models, he added.

Innovation in the latest generation of PowerEdge servers is focused on scalable business architecture, intelligent automation and integrated security.

More specifically, scalable business architecture optimizes data centers for a wide variety of new and emerging workload requirements; intelligent automation via expanded APIs and the new OpenManage Enterprise console; and integrated security to protect customers’ businesses and data for the life of the server, according to the vendor.

Expect to see the new PowerEdge servers embedded in storage arrays, data protection, hyperconverged appliances and racks, ready nodes, bundles and other Dell EMC solutions.{ad}

The 14^th generation of PowerEdge servers address a number of customer concerns, such as increased performance and response time, increased capacity for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), reduced cost and improved security.

PowerEdge features that address customer concerns include NVDIMM to increase the speed of access and performance for applications such as SQL; the support of 33 percent more instances and up to 192 VDI users per server; OpenManage Enterprise to increase automation and reduce OpEx; and a new security setting that shuts down updates to protect server configuration/firmware from malicious changes, the company said.

Kevin Noreen, director, product management, server solutions at Dell EMC, had more to say about automation — in particular, how the company …

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… automates life-cycle management, i.e. deployment, updates, monitoring and maintaining the server.

“Life-cycle management is critical whether it’s a system that’s on premise[s] with local IT staff or a channel partner doing remote management for that type of functionality,” he explained.

Using a self-driving car analogy, Noreen said that Dell was building self-driving servers — so when they’re plugged in, they deploy themselves by picking up an IP address and configuration file. Same thing for configuration — the system knows when there’s an update available for any component and applies the updates at the next maintenance window.

Payne also addressed the security features in the 14^th generation of PowerEdge servers, such as System Lockdown to prevent unauthorized or inadvertent changes, and data-center security through features that create a cyber-resilient architecture. The newest generation of servers also includes a System Erase feature to wipe user data from drives or non-volatile media when a server is retired.

Finally, he pointed out that OpenManage Enterprise is a next-generation automation product to OpenManage Essentials solution, which will remain for the time being.

The server portfolio alone doesn’t meet the needs of customers without Dell EMC partners.{ad}

“There [are] also relationships with our route to market. We’re in a strong position today where we’re driving growth across both our direct and indirect channels to meet these dynamic business needs. As a result of that work, we’re seeing a combined annual growth rate and two-year revenue increases in the double digits,” said Payne.

To help partners get ready to sell the latest PowerEdge servers, Dell is introducing Smart Value, a simplified ordering process for distributors and partners that targets smaller customers. The vendor also is preparing the channel on the latest technology via new role-based certifications into which the 14^th generation of technology fits. Partners can expect marketing initiatives from Dell EMC, as well, said Payne.

Availability and pricing for the Dell EMC PowerEdge 14^th generation servers are expected to be available midyear.