Accelerating VDI and SQL Workloads with PowerEdge Servers

Every second counts when you are meeting your customers’ demands. Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and SQL workloads are the backbone of your business and can affect your overall customer experience.  However, they require significant server resources to deliver fast results.  This spring we talked about how new Dell EMC PowerEdge features like Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory can drive data-centric workloads.

We live in an age of information and multi-tasking. I know I often run 5 browsers, 6 applications and have countless emails open at once. This type of activity can be taxing on your VDI infrastructure.  Limited memory per VDI user could lead to longer response times, even during critical customer transactions. No one wants to be held up in the middle of an important presentation or when helping a customer place a large order.

PowerEdge with Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory offers up to 2.5x the memory capacity compared to traditional memory.[1] Recent testing indicates you can support up to 3.75x more VDI users, and make better use of server resources with PowerEdge and Intel® Optane DC Persistent Memory.[2]  With the ability to support more users per server, you could consolidate workloads to save space in your data center.

We are now in the season of retail shopping and for me, I tend to do all my shopping by clicking away online.  Yes, my pups do need snowman costumes and we all need matching sweaters! And I am not alone, so many transactions are conducted by the click of our smartphones. It can be a bit trying to wait for your transaction confirmation, especially during a sale when there are limited quantities.

PowerEdge with Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory achieved up to 11.3x the transactions per minute (TPM) than a 12-drive SATA SSD configuration running Microsoft® SQL Server® 2019.[3] Information can travel quickly between the CPU and memory to help eliminate bottlenecks. This means you can significantly improve performance while using existing hardware in your data center.

Not only can your PowerEdge servers with Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory support VDI and SQL transactional workloads, but they can drive other data-intensive workloads like in-memory databases, data analytics and AI.

Talk to your Dell EMC representative about how you can accelerate workloads in your data center based on your unique requirements. Also please join our conversation on Twitter @DellEMCServers, we can’t wait to hear about your goals and challenges.

[1] Based on Dell internal analysis, January 2019 comparing select PowerEdge servers using Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory DIMMs and/or DRAM DIMMs vs just using DRAM DIMMs.

[2] Based on Principled Technologies Report commissioned by Dell EMC, “Give your VDI users the memory they need with server technology from Dell EMC and Intel Optane DC persistent memory in a Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd server with 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors”, November 2019, comparing a Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd with Optane DC Memory. Actual result will vary. Full Report:

[3] Based on Principled Technologies Report commissioned by Dell EMC, “Watch your transactional database performance climb with Intel Optane DC persistent memory Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd servers with Intel Optane DC persistent memory handled more transactions per minute than configurations with NAND flash NVMe drives or SATA SSDs”, November 2019, comparing a Dell EMC PowerEdge R740xd with Optane DC Memory to the same system with SSD’s and NVMe drives. Actual result will vary. Full Report:

About the Author: Nicole Werts Williams

Nicole Werts Williams is a Sr. Advisor supporting Server Solution Marketing at Dell, Inc with a focus on tower servers, modular infrastructure and storage components. Nicole has also served in the Storage Marketing Group at Dell covering the PS and SC Series lines. With over 15 years of experience in IT marketing spanning hardware software and services, Nicole has also held positions at IBM. She holds a MBA and a BA in English.