New Dell PowerVault NX3500 and MD3600i for SMBs

Small and medium businesses are deluged with data that is overwhelming their existing technology infrastructures. To help these growing businesses thrive in the ‘Virtual Era’ where multi-media content, multiple access points and devices are the norm, Dell Inc.  introduced new server, storage and networking offerings.

First Server – Dell’s PowerEdge T110 II and R210 II
Dell introduced a guide to servers made easy – a roadmap for entrepreneurs as they contemplate purchasing either their first server or expanding their IT infrastructure with new servers. In addition to online resources, Dell is introducing refreshed value servers with the balance of performance, flexible features and business value to meet the needs of small to midsized businesses and branch offices – the entry-level PowerEdge T110 II and mid-level PowerEdge R210 II.

Both have the performance and features to run business applications that facilitate data coordination and sharing, protection, management and scalability to support business growth with features such as choice of processors to meet performance needs with the new Intel Xeon processor E3-1200 product family, the Intel Core i3-2100 product family and Intel Pentium processors, 4 DIMM slots with enough memory to handle common applications and the Dell OpenManage suite of systems management for ease of maintenance.

Storage Within Reach – The PowerVault NX3500 / MD3600i
According to IDC, the capacity of storage systems shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 grew more than 55 percent from a year earlier. With this data explosion in mind, Dell unveiled two new storage offerings that help customers reduce complexity and increase the availability of their data to help their businesses run smarter.

The PowerVault NX3500, featuring the Dell Scalable File System, provides affordable scale-up NAS functionality for smaller scale, high availability deployments. The system works with PowerVault MD32x0i and MD36x0i storage arrays to help provide affordable unified storage with iSCSI, CIFS and NFS access to block and file data. With no architectural limits to file-system size, it is designed to give customers more flexibility than traditional unified storage. Integrating file system technology from Exanet, the Dell Scalable File System delivers the first unified storage solution in Dell’s PowerVault iSCSI storage array product series. The NX3500 also offers data protection features, including snapshots, replication and NDMP backup support.

         PowerVault MD3600i

The PowerVault MD3600i is an Ethernet-based (10GbE) storage device that is designed to deliver storage capacity to small and midsize businesses without sacrificing performance or flexibility. With a multi-generational management interface the MD3600i can be installed in under 30 minutes. Growing businesses with limited technical and financial resources can keep up with data growth, Web and media demands while reducing server sprawl by virtualizing infrastructure applications. The system also provides medium-sized businesses with remote offices a cost-effective way to support virtualized infrastructures leveraging 10GbE Ethernet to improve limited or slow data migration between home and remote office locations. Lastly, the MD3600i continues to maintain the value of being able to share common components with PowerEdge server line (i.e. hard drives) expediting installation and deployments for SMB customers.

Networking
To help supplement Dell’s new server and storage offerings, the company recently launched new 5500 and 7000 PowerConnect switch families to enable technology infrastructures where scalability, flexibility and value are key requirements. Both families implement technology features to streamline deployment, simplify management and help reduce operating costs with power-saving Energy Efficient Ethernet (IEEE 802.3az) design and Power-over-Ethernet operation.

The PowerConnect 7000 family is designed to deliver scalable performance and enhanced functionality for midsized business deployments, distributed offices and large server farms. Businesses benefit from high availability wire-speed performance and simplified management of multiple switches with a single IP address, enabling them to power business applications while maintaining flexibility and control of the network. The 7000 series delivers the connectivity to support the new PowerEdge R210 servers in addition to automated provisioning and iSCSI operation with Dell’s EqualLogic storage arrays.

The PowerConnect 5500 series enables a solution to basic, non-managed Gigabit Ethernet switches deployed in small-to-medium offices and remote locations, which require rapid wire-speed deployment with flexible features. Efficient energy operation and simplified switch configuration can reduce operating costs while providing customers cost-effective performance they need to scale with their growing business needs.

ProSupport Services and Financing Options
To help avoid downtime and maintain a high level of productivity customers can choose Dell ProSupport for 24/7 phone access to technical support agents with two and four hour On-Site Mission Critical Service options after Remote Diagnosis. In addition, Dell offers a range of financing options for small and medium businesses on PowerVault and PowerEdge products.
Pricing and Availability, HP Trade-in Promotion

All products are available in the United States. The PowerEdge T110 II and R210 II start at $625 and $925 USD, respectively. The NX3500 is available with a starting price of $15,620 USD, and the MD3600i starts at $11,353 USD. The PowerConnect 5500 and 7000 series are available at a starting price of $1,297.00 USD and $3,704.00 USD, respectively.

To help customers retire aging technology, Dell is offering an HP trade-in promotion through April 30, 2011. Customers who wish to upgrade to a solution using Dell PowerEdge servers and EqualLogic Peer Storage can receive 50 percent off an EqualLogic PS4000 Series for a trade in of any HP Lefthand, EVA (Enterprise Virtual Array) or MSA (Modular Smart Array) product, as well as 50 percent off all servers with the trade in of an HP Blade Chassis (only valid on server volume up to $50,000 USD).

"One question we understandably get from small and midsize customers when they’re confronting the task of managing their data is whether to keep it on-premise or in the cloud," said Tony Parkinson, executive director of Global Enterprise Services and Solutions, Dell. "Our teams are here to help customers make the best choice for their business as they consider how to best invest their technology dollars. The products we announced today are ideal for companies laying the foundation for the data they choose to keep onsite."