Dell starts offering complete data centres

By Tom Sanders on Mar 28, 2007 2:27 PM
Filed under Hardware

Hardware vendor moves into preconfigured server bundles.

Dell has formed a new business unit that aims to deliver preconfigured data centres to heavy consumers of compute power such as Web 2.0 startups, national government agencies and research facilities.

The new Data Center Solutions Division will sell hardware that is preconfigured for the task that it is set to perform. The computer builder touted that offers as an evolution from its "build-to-order" business model to "design-to-order".

Dell traditionally is known for selling bare hardware that the buyer configures and sets up. Adding preconfigured hardware to that mix marks a departure from the computer maker's traditional business model.

Factory configured data centres offer improved energy consumption, reduced overhead and improved optimization, Dell claimed.

Competing system vendors such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems already offer preconfigured and optimized built hardware bundles.