Dell Helps Customers Design Data Centers For Energy Efficiency And Peak Performance

Dell today announced that its data center consulting practice will utilize Future Facilities’ 6SigmaDC software suite to design and simulate data centers that maximize space utilization and energy efficiency through the optimal configuration and placement of IT hardware, racks, cabinets and power and cooling equipment.

• Dell is utilizing Future Facilities’ unique virtual design, 3-D-modeling and simulation software for data center design and upgrades
• Dell’s Data Center Optimization Services help companies compute more and consume less

The News:

• Dell’s data center consulting practice combines innovative tools and software with professional expertise to help improve data center performance, reduce energy consumption and to help companies avoid additional capital expenditures.
• Dell will utilize the state-of-the-art simulation capabilities of Future Facilities’ 6SigmaDC as part of its data center consulting practice.
• The main output of 6SigmaDC is the Virtual Facility, a full and mathematically precise 3-D representation of the data center which facilitates a holistic approach to the design and ongoing thermal and asset management of data center space. The Virtual Facility enables the owner or operator to take a proactive approach to the placement and replacement of equipment within facilities, modeling impacts before any physical deployments are undertaken.
• Dell and Future Facilities are the first companies to use the Virtual Facility concept for provisioning computing requirements and ensuring the optimal configuration and placement of equipment. By taking a proactive approach to design, Dell and Future Facilities can alleviate the need to trouble-shoot layout issues after facilities are built or changes have been made.
• Dell and Future Facilities expect to save companies capital and operational expenditures through optimal data center designs that help companies improve energy efficiency and avoid the wasteful over-provisioning of space, power and cooling.
• Dell today introduced next-generation data center infrastructure products designed to help customers simplify and manage their data center environment while improving energy efficiency. The Dell PowerEdge 4220 and PowerEdge 2420 rack enclosures support Dell’s broad portfolio of servers and storage systems and can be used in virtually any environment, including data centers, remote offices, wiring closets or even factory floors.

Future Facilities 6SigmaDC and the Virtual Facility:

• Virtual Facility (VF) is a full 3-dimensional mathematical representation of the physical data center at any point in time. At the design stage it can simulate and validate engineering assumptions such as optimal floor void depths, rack layouts, power distribution, air handler positioning and redundancy assessments.
• Once in operation, VF provides a full, 3-D inventory of all data center equipment with visualization of temperature distribution and airflow at room and cabinet level. IT departments can then preview future equipment deployment and evaluate the thermal/environmental impact of various deployment scenarios, enabling power, cooling and space constraints to be managed to maximize ROI and minimize risk.
• 6SigmaRoom evaluates data center design during the early and detailed design stages via experimentation with different equipment layouts and configurations.
• 6SigmaRack analyzes and optimizes rack layouts beyond installation.
• 6SigmaManager maintains and manages facilities throughout their lifetime.
• 6SigmaPower assesses the data center power network at any point in time.
• 6SigmaViewer lets designers share the facility they have created with others such as facilities executives.

Dell Data Center Optimization Services:

• By applying best practices in data center design, layout and configuration, Dell helps customers exploit unused capacity in existing data centers to avoid the significant capital expenditure of building a new data center.
• Assessment: Dell’s Energy Smart Data Center Assessment uses Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling to analyze existing power and cooling infrastructure, find inefficiencies, and provide actionable recommendations that help companies meet computing requirements without exceeding existing power and cooling limitations.
• Design: Data Center Conceptual Design is a three-to 12-week engagement to optimize an existing facility or design a new data center to meet a company’s growing needs. The hands-on work sessions present options for solutions based on priorities, constraints and budget. Deliverables include basis of design, bill of materials, budget estimates and a project schedule.
• Consolidation: Dell helps customers consolidate facilities and migrate hundreds or thousands of servers and applications to reduce the numbers of data centers they need to run their business.
• Platform Optimization and Virtualization: Dell designs, plans and implements end-to-end virtualization solutions and automates the physical to virtual migration process so that customers can run fewer servers to save space and power and cooling in their data centers. In addition, Dell also migrates proprietary Unix platforms to open solutions on x86 hardware that allow customers to simplify and save.
• Storage Consolidation: Dell helps customers right-size and tier their storage infrastructures to reduce cost and complexity.

Quotes:

“Every data center has its own DNA-- no two are alike,” said Hassan Moezzi, CEO of Future Facilities. “Together, Dell and Future Facilities are taking the guesswork out of designing them for efficiency and better energy consumption using computational modeling to layout, test and validate performance and to maximize that performance over time.”

“Our consultants will use Future Facilities’ tools to design data centers from the ‘inside out’ and use the power and thermal efficiency of Dell systems to create reliable, energy-efficient, green data centers that enable our customers to compute more and consume less,” said Tim Webb, director of Dell’s Infrastructure Consulting Practice.

Cisco and Dell to Deliver Combined Next Generation Data Center Solutions

Cisco and Dell today announced that they will collaborate to deliver next-generation IT solutions that help customers simplify their data center infrastructure by pooling storage, computing and networking infrastructure resources to more rapidly support business applications in virtual data center environments. The companies expanded their existing global Solution Technology Integrator agreement to include Cisco’s Nexus 5020 data center switching systems as part of the Dell enterprise infrastructure solutions with Dell servers and storage solutions.

According to the agreement, Dell will add Cisco’s Nexus 5020 switches that support both 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) to its Dell PowerEdge™ server and Dell EqualLogic, PowerVault, and Dell/EMC storage solutions. The Cisco and Dell combined solutions help customers simplify the management of their next-generation data center with a unified networking fabric that consolidates LAN, SAN and server cluster network environments into a single high speed 10 Gigabit Ethernet fabric that supports protocols such as Fibre Channel, FCoE, and Internet Small Computer Storage Interface (iSCSI).

In addition, Dell has qualified the Catalyst 4900 Top-of-Rack Switches (ToR) for its EqualLogic Storage Area Networks (SAN) arrays. The Catalyst 4900 ToR switches are now a supported switching platform for the EqualLogic SAN arrays.

“These challenging economic times highlight the importance our customers place on ensuring long term value from their solutions, not just short term benefit. They need maximum value for every dollar they spend and that is what Dell continues to deliver with this expanded Cisco relationship,” said Praveen Asthana, global director of enterprise storage and networking, Dell. “By offering the Cisco data center switching solution with our server and storage solutions, customers can now more easily transition to a unified network fabric and meet their requirements for operational continuity, transport flexibility and scalability. The Dell and Cisco offerings will be very exciting for our customer and partner communities.”

“As part of our unified computing approach, Cisco set out to develop a unified networking fabric for the data center to help IT organizations simplify their cabling infrastructure, reduce the number of required adapters, lower costs, and reduce power consumption and their carbon footprint within their data center,”said Soni Jiandani, vice president of the Marketing, Server Access and Virtualization business unit for Cisco. “By combining the benefits of lossless 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet with Dell’s PowerEdge servers and storage solutions, together we can offer a more end-to-end data center virtualization solution.”

New Dell Services Provide Map to Hidden Data Center

Dell today announced the global availability of its Data Center Optimization Services to help customers find their “Hidden Data Center.” As a result, Dell helps customers avoid the significant capital expenditures required for building a new data center by showing them how to add computing capacity and increase energy efficiency.

• Dell Data Center Optimization Services Can Help Customers Identify Opportunities to Reduce Energy Costs By Up to Two-Thirds
• Improving Computing Capacity, Adding Energy Efficiency Helps Customers Extend the Life of Existing Data Centers

The News:

By applying best practices in data center design, layout and configuration, Dell can help customers improve productivity and energy efficiency to expand capacity in existing facilities and help avoid the significant capital expenditures required to build a new data center. This announcement is in conjunction with research published today and the concept of the “Hidden Data Center.”

Dell’s approach is globally consistent and standards based. With Dell Data Center Optimization Services, Dell can help customers identify opportunities to reduce energy costs by up to two-thirds.

Data Center Optimization Services:

Data Center Optimization Workshop addresses the energy, capacity and cooling issues facing customers with practical, expert advice on how to bring efficiency to the current data center environment. Dell provides customers with specific actions designed to simplify and save in the data center.

Power and cooling capacity are two driving factors in the need for data center optimization. The Energy Smart Data Center Assessment analyzes existing power and cooling capacity and practices to find inefficiencies, including the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics modeling. Customers get clear and actionable recommendations to help meet expanding computing requirements without exceeding existing power and cooling limitations. An Energy Smart Data Center Assessment can cost as little as $25,000, depending on the size of the facility and requirements.

Data Center Conceptual Design is an estimated three- to 12-week engagement to help refit and optimize an existing facility, or design a new data center to meet an organization’s growing needs. The hands-on work sessions present options for an informed technology solution based on priorities, constraints and budget. The deliverables include conceptual drawings, bill of materials, budget estimates and a project schedule, as well as an executive presentation of the design concept.

Data Center Consolidation and Migration engagement helps customers manage the risk and complexity of migrating hundreds or thousands of servers and applications – from planning and design to the complete installation of new or existing systems. The service includes complexity analysis, current state discovery and analysis, future state architecture, and a program for transformation. Through consolidation and migration, companies can reduce the number of data centers they need to run the business.

Storage Consulting from Dell enables customers to optimize, manage and implement storage infrastructure. Dell can also help customers consolidate storage, plan for disaster recovery and optimize backup environments to best use the data center space. Consolidation can help decrease total storage costs.

Virtualization Consulting from Dell can help customers consolidate servers to expand IT capacity without requiring the build out of new data centers. Dell helps customers adopt virtualization best practices by assessing potential in their environment, then designing, planning and implementing end-to-end virtualization solutions. Dell can also streamline and automate the physical to virtualization migration process and implement the complete transformation. Through virtualization, customers can run fewer servers to save on hardware and energy costs.

Quotes:

“A majority of data centers were built during the dot-com boom and are reaching their 10-year lifespan, so it’s no surprise that many companies are hitting a wall when it comes to data center capacity,” said Dr. Albert Esser, vice president of Power and Infrastructure Solutions at Dell. “Dell is helping businesses address this challenge in a cost-effective way by enabling them to get more out of their existing data center environment.”

“In today’s economic environment, Data Center Optimization Services enable customers to multiply their computing capacity, without incurring the large-scale capital expense of building new data centers, while reducing energy consumption,” said Tim Webb, director, Global Infrastructure Consulting Services at Dell. “By doing much more with less, customers can reduce operational costs while still providing more value to the organization.”

“The Dell Consultants presented a design for a modern data center with virtualized applications and high-density servers, and they explained how that design could help reduce power and cooling,” said Mark Trocino, chief information officer at DeKalb Medical Georgia. “We also discussed the benefits of virtualization in our overall disaster management plan. We liked what we heard.”