Dell adds AMD-based PowerEdge servers to mix
The big AMD/Dell news is two PowerEdge Dell servers with Opteron processors, following on Dell's use of Opteron's in desktop products. The PowerEdge 6950 is a four-socket server, designed for database applications, server consolidation, virtualization. The PowerEdge SC1435 is a two-socket, rack server designed for high-performance compute clusters.
"You will see Dell select technology based on how it matches customer needs," Marty Seyer, senior vice president of AMD’s Commercial Segment told me.
"If you look historically, we have been working with AMD for close to seven years, sharing customer requirements and where we might intersect. It's not a short term relationship," said Kevin Kettler, Dell CTO. He mentioned giving customers choice, AMD's major theme, and work on Torrenza Initiative, which opens up AMD's bus architecture, and virualization work with AMD.
Dell's Kevin Kettler and AMD's Marty Seyer
In sum, it took AMD nearly seven years to break through Intel's hold on Dell, despite the fact that IBM, Sun, HP and others picked up on AMD processors a few years ago. I asked Kettler what took so long and what made AMD a superior choice to the Intel parts for this kind of server, but he didn't answer directly. He talked about how long it takes to qualify a partner, such as in terms of technology and volume production capability, and to make sure the partnership is aligned so both can be successful. "We are proud of taking our time," Kettler said. "We answered the question to the best of our ability," chimed in Kevin Gottsegen, vice president, Worldwide Enterprise Marketing, Dell Product Group.