Enhanced Enterprise portfolio further simplifies data centre complexity for customers in EMEA

Dubai, UAE, 4 September, 2006 - Dell has enhanced its quad-socket servers with performance-boosting, power-saving 64-bit dual-core Intel Xeon 7100 sequence processors and system management software to simplify data centre operations.

Dell PowerEdge 6800 and PowerEdge 6850 servers featuring the new processors can deliver a performance increase of up to 123 percent1 while consuming up to 20 percent2 less power.

To reduce data centre complexity, Dell OpenManage now delivers improved hardware deployment, monitoring and management with Dell IT Assistant 8.0. The enhanced systems management capabilities and tight partner integration are designed to give customers greater flexibility, security and control over their server environments.

Customers Can Better Manage Dell | EMC SAN Environments Via A Single Console

EMC Navisphere integration in Dell OpenManage IT Assistant 8.0 brings unparalleled management capabilities and reduced complexity to users - allowing customers to monitor system checks and provide status reports through a central console. The secure, easy-to-use web-based management tool simplifies storage provisioning and meets customers' unrelenting storage needs. As it uses a familiar Microsoft? Windows Explorer-style interface that is browser-based, there is no need for extensive training, helping businesses to future-proof their investments effectively.

Database, Consolidation, Virtualisation -- More Powerful And Energy-Efficient Than Ever

These powerful, standards-based servers are designed for demanding enterprise applications such as database, server consolidation, virtualisation and migration from costly RISC-based systems.

The combination of scalability, availability, hardware-assisted virtualisation (Intel VT), and Hyper-Threading technology can provide the headroom and optimisation required to handle applications in virtualised environments.

The quad-socket PowerEdge servers can be configured with large 16MB cache processors to efficiently handle large data-blocks typical in database environments. Customers can realise benefits from the quad-socket, dual-core processor speeds, 800MHz Front Side Bus and Hyper-Threading technology available on PowerEdge 6800 and 6850 servers for applications that take advantage of processor-intensive performance.

Reducing Complexity Through Enhanced Management

The Dell OpenManage product family, coupled with tightly integrated partner solutions for enhanced management, provides a comprehensive selection of deployment, monitoring, and change-management tools for Dell hardware. 

The availability of Dell IT Assistant 8.0 reflects Dell's strategy to improve hardware management capabilities, allowing IT managers to reduce complexity in their data centre environments, while also providing a high degree of flexibility and choice of management tools for DellO servers. 

Dell IT Assistant 8.0 provides more comprehensive hardware management capabilities from a centralised console including:

Agent-less server management using IPMI - Customers can manage Dell servers with IT Assistant 8.0 using the standard IPMI 2.0 management controller provided without loading an agent on the server.

Performance Management - Monitoring, alerting and reporting of server performance statistics such as CPU, pages I/O, disk free space, disk I/O, and NIC traffic. 

Enhanced Deployment/Change Management - Gives customers the ability to push OMSA agents to Windows? servers

Additional Device Support - for Dell printers, Dell|EMC storage and PowerVault tape libraries, allows customers to minimise their management tool set while maintaining overall control of a wider variety of IT devices. 

For more information visit  www.dell.com/me

New Services Deliver Complete Enterprise Solutions; Enable Superior Uptime

Customers buying Dell's newest PowerEdge servers can also benefit from Platinum Plus, Dell's highest level of enterprise support.  Platinum Plus provides reliability and global consistency for customers with business-critical needs. It includes the industry's first Operations Performance Benchmarking feature, a patent-pending methodology that allows customers to routinely compare critical IT performance metrics to historical results and similarly configured environments.  Platinum Plus also includes the Enterprise Command Centre Real-Time Tracking Window, a Web-enabled feature to provide customers a virtual Enterprise Command Centre to follow ongoing support activities.   

Platinum Plus is the culmination of more than a $200 million investment in enterprise support over several years. Platinum Plus is planned to be made available in the Middle East during the Q4 period this year.

In addition to Platinum Plus, Dell currently offers all levels of enterprise support with Gold, Silver and Basic.

"The improvements in performance and power consumption in our PowerEdge 6800 and PowerEdge 6850 are outstanding and represent another great step in delivering our most comprehensive set of enterprise products ever," said Eric Velfre, Director of Enterprise Marketing, Dell EMEA. "These servers, combined with our recently announced ninth-generation of PowerEdge products, Services and the enhanced ITA 8.0 - leveraging EMC?'s Navisphere? software - accelerate our drive to deliver technology that customers value when it comes to price-performance, reduced complexity and performance per watt."

Pricing and Availability

The PowerEdge 6800 and PowerEdge 6850 with 64-bit dual-core Intel Xeon 7100 sequence processors are available today worldwide and priced from $4995 and $5380 respectively in EMEA. Additional information is available at www.dell.com/me. Product photography is available at www.dell.com/photos.

-Ends-

About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value.  Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500.  Company revenue for the past four quarters was $57.4 billion. For more information, visit http://www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit http://www.dell.com/RSS.

2006 Dell, PowerEdge, PowerVault, IT Assistant and OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Inc.

Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.

[1] Based on the SPECjbb2005 benchmark test performed by Dell Labs in August 2006 on a PE6850 with four dual core Intel Xeon 7140M (3.4Ghz 150 watt Tulsa) processors, 16GB 400Mhz DDR-2 memory and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition+SP1 OS as compared to a PE6850 with four dual core Intel Xeon 7041 3.0Ghz (Paxville MP) processors, 16GB 400Mhz DDR2 memory and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition+SP1 OS. Actual performance and power consumption will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability.

2 Based on AC power measurements using an Extech 380803 Power Analyzer taken during the peak load of the SPECjbb2005 benchmark test performed by Dell Labs in August 2006 on a PE6850 with four dual core Intel Xeon 7120M (3.0Ghz, 95 watt Tulsa) processors, 16GB 400Mhz DDR2 memory and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition+SP1 OS as compared to a PE6850 with four dual core Intel Xeon 7041 3.0Ghz (Paxville MP) processors, 16GB 400Mhz DDR2 memory and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition+SP1 OS. Actual power consumption will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability.

SPEC and the benchmark name SPECjbb are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation.  For the latest SPECjbb2005 benchmark results, visit http://www.spec.org/jbb2005

MEDIA CONTACTS:                                                                                   
Karim Hodroj                                                                                   
Headline Public Relations                                                                                   
+971 4 228 9655 ext. 105                                                                                   
+971 4 228 2125 fax
karim@headlinepr.com

© Press Release 2006