Dell Servers Up Against HP, Sun
Solution providers were nonplussed, describing the move as Round Rock, Texas-based Dell's usual strategy of piggybacking on a trend once it sees competitors leading the charge.
"You'll never see [Dell] as an innovator of a new technology or an emerging technology. They are always the copy cat," said Tyler Dikman, president and CEO of CoolTronics, a Tampa, Fla.-based solution provider. "[Dell sees] what's hot, what's successful and what they can do to make it more efficient, lower-cost and increase their margin."
One Texas-based VAR, who asked not to be named, said since Dell doesn't focus on R&D leadership, it should invest more in product quality. "[Dell also doesn't] give a fair shake to the customer--they care about sales, period," the VAR said.
Dell's rollout last week included the introduction of two new servers, a software update, professional services and an Oracle competency center, all of which are positioned as a new phase of its Project MegaGrid. That project, unveiled in December, is Dell's joint effort with Oracle and Intel to bring power and scalability to computer grids using inexpensive, industry-standard Intel x86-based servers running Oracle databases, a goal Dell has dubbed the "scalable enterprise."
Dell's plan for the data center is to provide low-cost clusters of two-way and four-way systems that it says are more efficient and offer the same high performance as larger, higher-end systems from its competitors. The plan also serves Oracle, which has been trying to move downstream into the industry-standard, Linux-based server market. Oracle's database traditionally has been deployed on proprietary Unix systems from Sun and HP.
Dell introduced two four-way servers, PowerEdge 6800 and 6850, tuned for running Oracle's 10g and 9i databases, said Jeff Clarke, senior vice president of Dell's Enterprise Products Group. The servers run on new 64-bit Intel Xeon processors and are dual-processor-optimized for when Intel releases its dual-core chips, a move expected early next year.
Both PowerEdge 6800 and 6850 will be available in the next few weeks. Pricing for the 6800 starts at $3,999, while the 6850 is priced from $4,499.