There’s no doubt that data center hardware is the coolest and most innovative place to be in the computer industry right now. In the few short years since I’ve joined Data Center Solutions (DCS), we’ve used netbook processors to create servers the size of a hard drive. We’ve taken GPUs from the video gaming world and put them to work in high performance computing clusters for the oil and gas industry. Last year, we even dropped the entire Bing Maps Modular Data Center into an empty lot and had it operational in less than 60 days. It gets more interesting by the day, and it’s refreshing to see so many businesses open to radical new ideas in the data center.
Today I’m here to talk about the PowerEdge C6220. The real story behind our new server is about how these radical new designs mature and become staples of modern hyperscale data centers. This evolution is based purely on the feedback that we’ve received from our customers over the last five years. The 4-in-2U “Xanadu” shared infrastructure design started as our answer to a problem statement from one of the world’s largest search providers. The DCS team’s solution housed four independent servers in a 2U chassis. It was a radical departure from competing designs [see picture below left]. Five short years later, this form factor is now an industry standard. Compare the original Xanadu (upper pic) design with our new product, the PowerEdge C6220 (lower pic). There are a myriad of differences, both visible and not.
Xanadu 4-in-2U prototype
The New PowerEdge C6220
When we set out to design the follow-on to PowerEdge C’s most successful 4-in-2U product, the C6100, we started with you, the customer. What we heard was that we got the density and power efficiency of the C6100 right, but you wanted more. To answer, we’ve added support for processors with a higher thermal design point (TDP) than 95W (the limit on the C6100), while reducing the power consumption of chassis components by over 100W. You asked for the ability to flexibly configure each server sled individually and with the PowerEdge C6220 you will get it. In your feedback, you also asked us to make the system more manageable and serviceable. What you’ll find is that is that the new product has a more robust design that reduces service time by over 25%.
It’s been an honor to step into so many data centers these past few years and roll your feedback into our latest product, the PowerEdge C6220. Keep pushing us. Keep providing us feedback, and keep giving us new problems to solve in your data center. We’ll be there to listen every time. I know the PowerEdge C6220 will solve problems for you, and we look forward to working with you on whatever comes next.
For extra reading:
- Check out the landing page for 12G servers
- Learn about the PowerEdge C server series on Dell.com
- Read The Register’s review of Dell’s new 12G servers, including the PowerEdge C6220
- Link for all of Dell’s 12th Generation server posts