ROUND ROCK, Texas--Competitors criticize Dell for a lack of engineering expertise, but the company said one significant computer due to launch in November is its own design: its second-generation blade server, the PowerEdge 1855.
The PowerEdge 1855--and a successor, the 1955, due in February--is expected to use a chassis 12.25 inches tall that can accommodate 10 dual-processor blades, according to sources familiar with the design. With Dell's blades, 60 servers can fit in a single rack, which can accommodate only 42 of today's conventional dual-processor servers.
Though Dell says it's unashamed of its low development expenses and its reliance on partners' computing engineers, when it comes to servers, the company also touts its own research investments.
"We still spend probably 60 percent of our research and development budget on enterprise (products), and (they bring in) 20 percent of the revenue," said Chief Executive Kevin Rollins, in a meeting with CNET News.com editors here. "As we come out with new products, whether they be blades, whether they be superthin architectures, whether they be new multicore processors from Intel, we have to do that R&D ourselves. These aren't cookies--they don't just pop out of a bag."
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Nov 1, 2004, 07:32 PM
