Product Parade: Top 10 Dell World Eye-Openers

Product Push

Dell World's new product parade starts with a super-secure Windows tablet and scales all the way up to Dell's modular server PowerEdge FX2 architecture, the company's new approach to converged infrastructure.

Unveiled in Austin, Texas, here is a look at Dell's top 10 new products that attendees will be learning more about in breakout sessions, keynotes and show-floor exhibits.

PowerEdge FX Architecture, PowerEdge FX2 Chassis

Dell is following the lead of HP's Moonshot and Cisco's M-Series server architecture with the release of its PowerEdge FX modular server architecture, available in December.

Dell partners say they like the PowerEdge FX architecture because of its high density, versatility and modular nature, which allows them to deploy multiple server environments based on one common architecture that is compatible with traditional server environments at the same time future-proofed for tomorrow's converged world of IT.

What makes the Dell PowerEdge FX architecture unique is it takes storage out of the server modules and puts it inside a single chassis, making it available to multiple servers. The PowerEdge FX architecture includes the PowerEdge FX2 chassis -- a 2U converged enclosure sharing power, cooling, management and PCI connectivity capable of integrating a mix of server, storage and networking solutions.

Venue 11 Pro 7000 Series Tablet

The new Dell Venue 11 Pro Series tablet , out of the box, come pre-approved for use by security-minded contractors including the Department of Defense.

The Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet includes a fingerprint reader and a built-in Common Access Card reader for two-factor authentication. More importantly, Dell said, it comes with the government's FIPS 140-2 rating along with endpoint encryption for keeping data secure.

The tablet has a starting price of $700 and is available beginning Nov. 11.

Affordable SC4020 All-Flash Storage Arrays For SMB

Dell introduced a low-cost entry-level all-flash version of its SC4020 storage array with a starting price of $25,000 aimed at SMB customers. Dell touts the SC4020 as an all‐flash enterprise array for the price of a traditional HDD solution.

Dell said it was able to nail the low price point by using read-intensive SSDs instead of optimizing the device for write-intensive operations. Partners tell CRN the love the low price, but say the use of read-intensive SSD limits its appeal to just read-intensive applications.

"The SC4020 is another example of us pushing enterprise-level capabilities to more and more affordable price points so a wider swath of the market can adopt them," said Travis Vigil, executive director of product management for Dell Storage.

Dell Delivers Improved Hybrid Flash, HHD PS4210 Storage Arrays

Dell rolled out its PS4210 Series storage arrays that deliver improved performance and advanced connectivity options for entry‐level primary storage. The PS4210 is a hybrid (flash and HDD) and fits into Dell’s entry‐level PS Series portfolio, which is ideal for small to medium virtualized data centers and remote offices, according to Dell.

Dell said the PS4210 is designed to be fully compatible and interoperable with all previous Dell EqualLogic PS Series arrays and are optimized for scale‐out solutions. The Dell Storage PS4210 Series arrays are now available worldwide.

Dell Ships Nutanix Appliance On Its Own Hardware

Dell unveiled availability of the Dell XC Series of Web‐scale converged appliances based on the Nutanix software running on Dell's own PowerEdge servers. The appliances will be available in five SKUs each designed for different workloads. Each model will feature two Intel CPUs, two or four 400-GB or 800-GB SSDs, four to 10 hard drives, and two Gbit Ethernet ports.

Dell said the Dell XC Series of Web‐scale converged appliances, designed for integrated compute and enterprise storage, will ship next week. The Dell XC Series appliance, with support for VMware ESXi and Microsoft Windows Hyper‐V, will be available starting Nov. 11.

Dell Targets Telcos With New NFV Solution

Dell said it will be rolling out a network functions virtualization (NFV) server architecture in partnership with Brocade and Intel. Dell said the NFV solution will leverage Brocade's Vyatta vRouter software to virtualize existing customer edge and provider edge networking functions.

Dell, Brocade and Intel are collaborating to help telecommunications service providers improve capital and operational cost structures for service delivery and to enable quicker, simpler service innovation and creation, according to Dell.

Dell's Eye-Popping 5K Monitor

Dell introduced its UltraSharp 27-inch monitor with an ultra-high-definition 5K resolution (5,120 x 2,880) -- four times the resolution of Full HD displays. The monitors will be available in December with a price tag of $2,000.

Dell's 5K monitor will go head to head with Apple's new 5K iMac (shipping now for $2,500) with 5,120 x 2,880-pixel resolution.

Dell Makes Big Data Splash With Microsoft Partnership

Dell stepped up its big data play with a new partnership with Microsoft to deliver an analytics solution designed to help Dell customers turn data noise into actionable business insights.

Dell said it will leverage its Statistica (formerly StatSoft) analytics platform with the Microsoft Azure Machine Learning Service to deliver predictive analytics services that take advantage of cloud deployments -- all while maintaining proper compliance and security.

The first iteration of the new Statistica big data analytics module will be available to customers worldwide in the fourth quarter.

Dell Helps Partners Manage User Identities With Comprehensive Solution

Dell beefed up its security offerings with a new enterprise-grade identity and access management-as-a-service. Dell said its offerings are aimed at a broad swath of the security market and can be leveraged to manage network security, identity and access management and governance, mobile security, endpoint security and services.

New identity service offerings from Dell include Dell Data Protection, Cloud Edition as well as Change Auditor for Cloud Storage. Each of the service offerings gives customers real‐time protection, auditing and alerting of data uploaded, modified and downloaded from popular cloud storage sites -- with zero impact to end users, according to Dell.

Dell Heads To Cloud With Beta Cloud Marketplace

Dell revealed the availability of its Dell Beta Cloud Marketplace, an offering it said will help partners and customers move workloads to Amazon, Google and other cloud partners. The move, Dell said, is a baby step and one that will rely on partners to help develop and deploy.

Cloud service partners include Amazon, Google and Joyent. Dell's data migration partner is Delphix and its cloud networking partner is Pertino, with Docker signed on as its portability and container partner.

Phase one of the Beta Dell Cloud Marketplace, Dell said, will allow customers and partners to shop for and purchase a variety of cloud services through Dell.com the same way they would shop for Dell laptops, servers and PCs. Phase two, Dell said, will include allowing partners to resell cloud services and possibly private-label them.