Dell Introduces the Dell Validated System for Virtualization

At VMworld 2016, Dell  introduced the Dell Validated System for Virtualization, which it calls the industry’s most flexible converged system to-date. Dell also announced new client virtualization solutions with enhanced performance for demanding power users and that VMware has selected Dell Financial Services as its preferred financing partner.

“For more than a decade, Dell and VMware have closely collaborated to help customers achieve greater efficiencies from their datacenters and simplify IT operations,” said Jim Ganthier, vice president and general manager, Dell Engineered Systems, HPC and Cloud. “With today’s announcements, we continue to demonstrate how our innovations can enable customers of all sizes to accelerate their journey to hyperconvergence, convergence, and the cloud.”

Converged Systems for Virtualized Environments

Converged systems combine compute, storage and networking components to help simplify deployed and managed systems. Dell says its service-defined infrastructure approach addresses the need for improved infrastructure agility and simplified systems management. In support of this approach, Dell unveiled:

• The new Dell Validated System for Virtualization, intended to allow customers of all sizes to accelerate their journey toward converged infrastructure. The system incorporates a range of form-factors, technology choices and deployment options. Dell says a validated system can be configured, quoted and ordered in minutes, while automated lifecycle management tools allow customers to easily deploy, scale and update the system.
• A customizable, modular, self-service hybrid VMware cloud, as a proof of concept for customers moving beyond virtualization to cloud. The Dell Validated System for Virtualization, with the addition of the VMware vRealize Suite, is designed to allow efficient delivery of services and enables an organization to gain greater control of IT resources. The combination of VMware vRealize and Dell’s automated provisioning across physical and virtual environments is intended to make it easier for customers to plan and operate their own cloud.

The Dell Validated System for Virtualization will be released in September 2016 under directed availability with planned general availability in Q4 of 2016.

New Client Virtualization Solutions for End-User Computing

Dell is also expanding its client virtualization solutions for VMware to provide customers with the manageability, flexibility and performance they require in their virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. These include:

• The Dell Solutions for VMware Virtual SAN Ready Nodes, a "hyperconverged" solution for desktop and application virtualization that Dell says delivers simple, elastic and efficient infrastructure optimized for virtual desktops. Deployment options range from a reference architecture to a fully configured VMware Virtual SAN appliance that’s been certified by VMware. Configuration options include discrete GPU graphics as well as storage options including hybrid storage (HDD & SDD) or an all-flash SSD configuration.
• Support for VMware Blast Extreme remote display protocol, which will be incorporated on Dell Windows Embedded thin clients running VMware Horizon 7 with Horizon Client 4.0. This enables Horizon end users to access their virtual desktops via a Web browser or a VMware Horizon client.
• The next-generation of the Dell Precision Appliance for Wyse, which offers a new configuration based on the Dell PowerEdge R730 server and the NVIDIA Tesla M60 GRID 2.0 graphics card. This solution offers customers higher user density with up to 32 users per appliance.

Dell is also introducing two new security solutions, Dell Data Protection | Threat Defense for Windows Embedded (WES) thin clients and Dell Data Protection | Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise for persistent virtual machines. These solutions provide organizations with advanced threat protection powered by Cylance that spans from the endpoint (including thin clients, traditional PCs and even Mac OS systems) to the data center.

“Organizations are looking to Dell to provide them with true end-to-end client virtualization solutions that are easy to plan, deploy and run--and take the guess work out of VDI,” said Steve Lalla, vice president and general manager, Dell Commercial Client Software & Solutions. “The Dell VDI Solutions for VMware Virtual SAN Ready Nodes with Horizon and support for Blast Extreme remote protocol on Windows thin clients gives our customers solutions that are tailored for their environment, as well as high performance and manageability.”

Dell also announced that Dell Financial Services (DFS) has been selected as VMware’s preferred financing partner, offering payment plans for VMware solutions. This new partnership offers VMware customers and channel partners access to all of DFS’ traditional financing options, in addition to a variety of solutions to help them finance their virtualized environments.

For more information, visit Dell.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.