PowerEdge XR8000 multi-node server development based on user feedback

This year, Mobile World Congress was about more than consumer technology innovations in mobile communications. Several breakthrough technologies for the enterprise were also spotlighted, laying the foundations for new use cases in 5G and edge computing.

One of those is Dell Technologies Inc.’s PowerEdge XR8000 multi-node server, which debuted at the event.

“Why is it so innovative? What we’ve done here is we’ve taken a lot of insights and feedback from our customers that are looking at 5G deployments and looking at how they can bring commercial, off-the-shelf [hardware] to a very proprietary industry,” said James Bryan (pictured, left), director of product planning at Dell Technologies. “We’ve built a very flexible and scalable form factor in the XR8000. This is actually a product that we’ve purposely built for the telecommunications space.”

Bryan and Heather Rahill (right), product manager at Dell, spoke with theCUBE industry analysts  Lisa Martin and David Nicholson at MWC 2023, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the XR8000, its intended user base and its capabilities. (* Disclosure below.)

Hardware designed with flexibility and scalability in mind

The standout feature of the server is its sled-based design, which allows the user to configure their setup for a variety of workloads — from networking to enterprise edge — in a cost-efficient manner, according to Rahill. Each sled features one node or one CPU per sled.

“We’re calling the 1U the highest density sled, because you can have up to four 1U sleds in the chassis,” Rahill stated. “The other form factor is a 2U sled. And that’s just really building on top of the 1U sled that adds two PCIe sleds on top. So, this is really our general-purpose sled.”

The server’s modularity allows users a permutation of several 1U and 2U combinations given their particular needs. The hardware was also created with durability in mind, being able to withstand temperatures ranging from -5 to 55 degrees Celsius and standing at 430mm in depth, according to Bryan.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the MWC 2023 event:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for MWC 2023. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the primary sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE