Home > Servers > Specialty Servers > White Papers > Bringing high performance and reliability to the edge with rugged Dell EMC PowerEdge XR servers > Keep workloads up and running in harsh environments
While datacenters are specialized environments built specifically for server hardware, edge computing means fitting hardware into harsh locations that first and foremost serve other purposes. These locations can face a host of challenges, including heavy dust, poor airflow, shock or vibrations, extreme temperatures, and electromagnetic interference.
Outdoor environments or infrequently accessed storage closets with poor airflow can introduce excess dust into server hardware, eventually causing failures. To combat dust intrusion, both the PowerEdge XR11 and PowerEdge XR12 have an optional metal bezel that mounts to the front of the chassis to provide ingress protection from sand and dust using a removable filter. While the bezel is available for both rear- and front-accessed chassis versions of the PowerEdge XR12, on the PowerEdge XR11 this bezel option is available for rear-accessed chassis only.
Because some operating environments experience shock or vibration from manufacturing activities, travel over rugged terrain, and other environmental impacts, Dell EMC PowerEdge XR servers utilize 13-gauge steel rack ears for shock durability to maintain business continuity in sites that experience vibration, shock, impacts, and/or seismic activity. Rugged retention of other hardware components, including PCI cards, HDDs, and power supplies, is built into both models.
Outside the datacenter, temperatures fluctuate, which can cause hardware to malfunction, causing workloads to slow down or stop. The PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 servers offer features that increase reliability in a wide range of operating environments. The server design provides maximum airflow coverage to critical components, optimizing thermal management, and a thermal control system regulates fan speeds based on monitoring of components. These design characteristics allow for continuous operation at extended ambient temperature ranges of -5° C (23°F) to 55°C (131°F). Additionally, Dell EMC PowerEdge XR servers feature cooling fan redundancy and allow users to configure certain thermal settings to best meet individual needs.
For customers implementing military/defense use cases, PowerEdge XR11 and PowerEdge XR12 servers also feature EMI emissions gasketing that meets Department of Defense interface standards for electromagnetic interference characteristics of subsystems and equipment (MIL-461G).