Michael Dell envisions `enterprise without compromise`

Customer demand for eight-processor computer servers is extremely limited, and isn`t likely to gain steam based on new performance benchmarks for standards-based two- and four-way servers, according to Michael Dell.

In a keynote address at OracleWorld San Francisco, Dell will describe how powerful, low-cost server and storage systems based on standard technology continue to win favour in corporate data centres "because customers say so".

"Lots of technology companies still believe they should determine what`s valuable to customers," Dell, the company`s chairman of the board and chief executive officer, said prior to the conference. "History shows that approach is bound to fail. We`ve always known customers are best at defining value."

New technology, he added, including Oracle Database 10g, will accelerate the trend toward standards-based two- and four-processor server platforms. Dell said the Oracle product will help lay the groundwork for capabilities such as enterprise "grids", or pools of computing resources that can be allocated as and where required, allowing better network availability and more balanced computing workloads.

In the meantime, a new benchmark study helps illustrate the continuing trend in customer preference to high-performing, low-cost, standards-based servers. For example, a simulation of typical data-centre workloads on the Oracle9i Database showed that for the customer with an Oracle Enterprise Licence Agreement, as well as appropriate storage and storage software, two clustered, four-processor Dell PowerEdgeTM servers performed 73% better - at 26% lower hardware cost - than one competitor`s eight-way system.

In his keynote address, "The Enterprise Without Compromise", Dell will illustrate how data centres using standard two- and four-processor servers and storage systems are helping customers maximise resources, without sacrificing service. Such an approach allows customers to "scale" or add additional computing power to their infrastructures incrementally as technology and business needs change. The benchmark tests using Oracle9i Database on Dell and competing systems specifically showed:

* Two Dell PowerEdge 6650 servers with four processors running Oracle9i Real Application Clusters handled 73% more transactions per minute and produced reports 8% faster than one competitor`s server with eight of the same type processors, at 26% lower hardware cost for the customer with an Oracle Enterprise Licence Agreement and appropriate storage and storage software. (1)

* A Dell PowerEdge dual-processor server running Oracle Database on Microsoft`s Windows operating system was 42% faster and 79% less expensive than a second competitor`s system based on a proprietary Unix operating system. (2)

* A Dell PowerEdge four-processor server running Oracle Database on the Linux operating system tested 89% faster and was 27% less expensive than the second competitor`s RISC-based server running Oracle on a Unix OS.3.

For more information about Dell and Oracle, visit www.dell.co.za/oracle.

1. The benchmark ran a realistic mixed online transaction processing (OLTP) and reporting (financial end-of-quarter rollups) workload with both systems running Oracle 9i Enterprise Edition Database on Red Hat Linux Advanced Server 2.1. The two-node Dell PowerEdge 6650 cluster and the competitor`s server both utilized eight Intel 2.0GHz Xeon MP/2MB L3 cache processors. The Dell cluster used Oracle Real Application Clusters. Testing was performed in August 2003. For the white paper, see: http://www.dell.com/downloads/us/pedge/scaleout_oracle.doc. The hardware pricing assumes the customer has an Oracle Enterprise Licence Agreement as well as appropriate storage and storage software.

2. Dell white paper comparing the performance of a competitor`s server with a Dell PowerEdge server using Oracle9i for data mining on a specialized database. The Dell PowerEdge 2650 server in the study was running Windows 2000 Server, and the UNIX server was running Solaris 9.0. Testing was performed by Dell in February 2003. Hardware For the white paper, see: http://www.dell.com/downloads/us/pedge/sun_oracle_windows.doc.

3. Dell white paper comparing the performance of a competitor and a PowerEdge server using Oracle9i for data mining on a specialised database. The Dell PowerEdge 6650 server in the study was running Red Hat Linux 2.1 Advanced Server, and the competitor`s server was running Solaris 9.0. Testing was performed in January 2003. For the white paper, see: http://www.dell.com/downloads/us/pedge/sun_oracle_linux_2.doc.