News

Dell to Ship Madison-based Servers

Dell officials on Wednesday said the company would ship two-way servers based on the upcoming Itanium 2 “Madison” 64-bit processor. The announcement marks the computermaker’s return to Itanium, after skipping the “McKinley” generation of the chip.

The new server will be called the Dell PowerEdge 3250. With a 2U form factor, maximum RAM of 16 GB and up to 292 GB of internal storage, Dell is aiming the server at the small but high-profile high-performance computing clusters (HPCC) market.

While Dell will offer the server with the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, the company has pushed hardest and had the most success in HPCC on the 32-bit side with Linux. Dell will offer Red Hat Enterprise Linux on the servers.

Pricing and availability will be announced after Intel formally launches the “Madison”, its third-generation Itanium processor.

Dell was among the first server vendors to ship a server, the Dell PowerEdge 7150, running the original “Merced” Itanium processor. The company chose not to reload that server with Itanium 2 “McKinley” processors when they came out last summer.

“We did not refresh that until Madison because we thought Madison was the right inflection point,” said Darrel Ward, a product manager for Dell, during a conference call announcing the server Wednesday afternoon.

Analyst Brooks Gray with Hampton, N.H.-based Technology Business Research says Dell’s decision to come back to Itanium helps Intel fend off two rivals -- AMD, which has a 64-bit processor that currently provides a smoother transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing; and Intel’s own powerful, 32-bit Xeon server processors.

”It’s significant in that Intel needs endorsement right now. I think Intel needs as much help as possible promoting its 64-bit processor,” Gray said.

Dell’s move also brings weight to the low-end side of the Itanium 2 “Madison” market. Most vendors rolling out Madison systems are focusing their marketing efforts on massive SMP systems, such as the 64-processor HP Superdome server and NEC’s 32-processor system.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

Featured

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

  • Windows 365 Reserve, Microsoft's Cloud PC Rental Service, Hits Preview

    Microsoft has launched a limited public preview of its new "Windows 365 Reserve" service, which lets organizations rent cloud PC instances in the event their Windows devices are stolen, lost or damaged.

  • Hands-On AI Skills Now Outshine Certs in Salary Stakes

    For AI-related roles, employers are prioritizing verifiable, hands-on abilities over framed certificates -- and they're paying a premium for it.

  • Roadblocks in Enterprise AI: Data and Skills Shortfalls Could Cost Millions

    Businesses risk losing up to $87 million a year if they fail to catch up with AI innovation, according to the Couchbase FY 2026 CIO AI Survey released this month.