Summary
Dell Technologies offers its own DellEMC drives as an alternative to traditional drive manufacturers. But why should PowerEdge customers choose DellEMC drives over other drives? This brief DfD will discuss various requirements set in place to ensure DellEMC drives are high quality components that are fully compatible with DellEMC product lines, and as a result, why choosing these drives will provide users the highest-quality solution for their server needs.
Dell-branded hard drive disks (HDD’s) and solid-state drives (SSD’s) are high quality components that are fully compatible with DellEMC PowerEdge servers. We suggest that our customers buy these drives for the following reasons:
- DellEMC drives are manufactured by premium, selective partners that Dell Technologies has strong relationships with, including Samsung, Kioxia, Western Digital, Seagate, Hynix, Intel, and Toshiba. These drive suppliers have been thoroughly vetted to ensure that Dell is able to specify premium bill-of-materials, manufacturing process control of hardware subcomponents, and control the firmware development to ensure best-in-class interoperability. There is also a Dell advantage for continuous process improvements to enhance quality and reducing the costs of maintenance. As a result, customers receive improved performance and drive reliability frequently higher than the reliability of generic or channel drives.
- Stringent component testing is enforced to ensure DellEMC drives meet quality standards in all operational environments. Dell Technologies requires high-quality manufacturing processes, including long test times and burn-in, ongoing sample testing, component stress testing, firmware interoperability testing, and reliability testing. As a result, DellEMC drives are extremely high- quality components that customers can consistently rely on.
- All DellEMC drives have been developed and validated to function as designed on the Dell platforms for which they are offered. Dell Technologies defines and controls the operational capabilities of DellEMC drives with the complete storage subsystem in mind. In short – these drives are designed for Dell products resulting in specific capabilities, including the following:
- Quality tracking and monitoring
- Material traceability to the supplier manufacturing line
- Continuous firmware improvements, faster bug fixes, and integrated update packages
- Performance optimization for various DellEMC product lines
