Dell PowerEdge Servers for OpenRAN Edge Deployments
Download PDFMon, 16 Jan 2023 19:50:53 -0000
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SOLUTION BRIEF1•1Dell PowerEdge Servers forSummary
Dell Technologies is helping to shape the future of Open RAN solutions with our partnerships and our high performance, purpose-built XR11 and XR12 PowerEdge servers designed for Open RAN and edge deployments.
Introduction
The future of telecommunications includes an open, cloud-native architecture within an open ecosystem of vendors working together to build this new architecture. One of the more exciting aspects of this open future is Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN). Open RAN is an industry-wide movement that promotes the adoption of open and interoperable solutions at the RAN.
Dell Technologies is helping to shape the future of Open RAN solutions with our partnerships and our high-performance, purpose-built XR11 and XR12 PowerEdge Servers designed for Open RAN and edge deployments.
PowerEdge XR11/XR12: Designed for O-RAN
Open RAN provides opportunities to replace the proprietary, purpose-built RAN equipment of the past with standardized, virtualized hardware that can be deployed anywhere—at the far edge, regional edge, or centralized data centers. Also, intelligent controllers can provide optimized performance and enhanced automation capabilities to improve operational efficiency.
In the O-RAN frameworks, you can separate the baseband unit (BBU) of the traditional RAN into virtualized distributed unit (vDU) and virtualized centralized unit (vCU) components. You can also scale these components independently as control- and user-plane traffic requirements dictate. When building an open-hardware platform for a vRAN architecture, you must consider six critical factors:
Form factor | Environment | Components |
Security | Automation and management | Supply chain |
With the growing number of edge deployments required to support 5G O-RAN services, edge-optimized cloud infrastructure is essential. These six factors ensure that telco providers build their 5G RAN on a scalable, highly available, and long-term sustainable foundation. Dell Technologies considered each of these factors when designing their PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 servers. These servers are built specifically for O-RAN and edge environments, including multi-access edge computing (MEC) and content delivery network (CDN) applications. The following sections examine how the XR11 and XR12 servers meet, and in many cases exceed, the criteria for O-RAN and edge deployments across these six critical factors.
Best-of-breed components built for harsh environments
Unlike data centers, which are carefully controlled environments, RAN components are often subject to extreme temperature changes and less-than-ideal conditions such as humidity, dust, and vibration. For years, the telecommunications industry has used the Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) as a standard for telco-grade equipment design. The PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 are designed to exceed NEBS Level 3 compliance (meets or exceeds the GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE standards). They also meet military and marine standards for shock, vibration, sand, dust, and other environmental challenges.
Fully operational within extreme temperature ranges from -5° C (23°F) to 55° C (131° F), you can deploy XR11/12 servers in almost any environment, even where exposure to heat, dust, and humidity are factors. The XR11/12 series is designed to withstand earthquakes and is fully tested to the NEBS Seismic Zone 4 levels. As a result, you can trust Dell PowerEdge servers to keep working no matter where they are deployed.
The PowerEdge XR11 and XR12 provide significant flexibility over purpose-built, all-in-one appliances by using the industry’s most-advanced, best-of-breed components. Also, by providing multiple CPU, storage, peripheral, and acceleration options, PowerEdge XR11/12 servers enable telecommunications providers to deploy their vRAN systems in many different environments.
Both models feature the following components:
- 3rd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors
- Up to 8 DIMMs
- PCI Express 4.0 enabled expansion slots
- Choice of network interface technologies
- Up to 90 TB storage
One example test shows the performance possibilities that the PowerEdge XR12 enabled by 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors offers: The solution delivered 2x the massive MIMO throughput for a 5G vRAN deployment compared to the previous generation.1
Dell security, management systems, and supply-chain advantage
PowerEdge XR11/12 servers are designed with a security-first approach to deliver proactive safeguards through integrated hardware and software protection. This security extends from a hardware-based silicon root of trust to asset retirement across the entire supply chain. From the moment a PowerEdge server leaves our factory, we can detect and verify whether a server has been tampered with, providing a foundation of trust that continues for the life of the server. The Dell Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) is the source of this day-zero trust. iDRAC checks the firmware against the factory configuration down to the smallest detail after the XR11/12 server is plugged in. If you change the memory, iDRAC detects it. If you change the firmware, iDRAC detects it. Also, we build every PowerEdge server a cyber-resilient architecture2 that includes firmware signatures, drift detection, and BIOS recovery.
Besides providing proactive and comprehensive security, PowerEdge XR11/12 servers combine ease-of-management with automation to reduce operational complexity and cost while accelerating time-to-market for new services. Dell OpenManage provides a single systems-management platform across all Dell components. This platform makes it easier for telecommunications providers to manage their hardware components remotely, from configuration to security patches. Also, Dell delivers powerful analytics capabilities to help manage server data and cloud storage. The iDRAC agent-less server monitoring also allows telecommunications providers to proactively detect and mitigate potential server issues before they impact production traffic. By analyzing telemetry data, iDRAC can detect the root cause for poor server performance and identify cluster events that can predict hardware failure in the future.
In the last year, the importance of a secure and stable supply chain has become apparent while many manufacturers struggle to adapt to widespread supply-chain disruption. As telecommunications providers look to ramp up 5G services, they require partners they can depend on to deliver, innovate, scale, and support their plans for the future. Because we are the world’s largest supplier of data-center servers, telecommunications providers can depend on Dell Technologies. We operate in 180 countries worldwide, including 25 unique manufacturing locations, 50 distribution and configuration centers, and over 900 parts-distribution centers. Our global, secure supply chain means that telecommunications providers can grow their business with confidence.
Dell Open RAN reference architecture
Dell Technologies does not stop at the server. We work closely with our open partner ecosystem to integrate and validate our technology in multivendor solutions that provide a best-of-breed, end-to-end vRAN system. You will find this partnership at work in our latest technology preview of the Dell Open RAN reference architecture featuring VMware Telco Cloud Platform (TCP) 1.0, Intel FlexRAN technology, and vRAN software from Mavenir. Our O-RAN solution architecture delivers the disaggregated components that compose the RAN network—vRU, vCU and vDU. Also you can deploy it in hybrid (private and public) clouds plus as bare-metal server environments. Having a pre-built, integrated solution allows telecommunications providers to deploy O-RAN solutions quickly and confidently, knowing that they have the power of our global supply chain and expert services behind them.
Conclusion
With many initial 5G core network transformations complete, telecommunications providers are now turning their attention to the RAN. For them, there are several paths to choose. They can continue to work with legacy vendors by growing out their proprietary RAN systems, missing out on the opportunity to build a best-of-breed RAN solution from multiple partners. Or, they can follow the path of Open RAN with Dell Technologies as a trusted partner to assemble and manage the right pieces from the industry’s O-RAN leaders.
Dell PowerEdge XR11/12 servers are the latest examples of our commitment to open 5G solutions. These servers are built by telco experts specifically for telco edge applications, using a security-first approach and featuring high- performance compute, storage, and analytics components. Also, they have been bundled with our broader Open RAN reference architecture to form the foundation of a seamless, complete vRAN solution that includes hardware, software, and services.
O-RAN is more than the edge of the future. It is a competitive edge for telecommunications providers that must quickly deliver and monetize 5G services, from private mobile networks to high-performance computing applications. Make Dell Technologies your competitive edge, and ask your Dell representative about our portfolio of telco-grade edge solutions.
1 PowerEdge Cyber Resilient Architecture Infographic
2 Bringing high performance and reliability to the edge with rugged Dell EMC PowerEdge XR servers
OLUTION BRIEF1•1Dell PowerEdge Servers for OpenRANEdge Deployments
Automation
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Cloud Vs On Premise: Putting Leading AI Voice, Vision & Language Models to the Test in the Cloud & On Premise
Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:49:21 -0000
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| DEPLOYING LEADING AI MODELS ON PREMISE OR IN THE CLOUD
The decision to deploy workloads either on premise or in the cloud, hinges on four pivotal factors: economics, latency, regulatory requirements, and fault tolerance. Some might distill these considerations into a more colloquial framework: the laws of economics, the laws of the land, the laws of physics, and Murphy's Law. In this multi-part paper, we won't merely discuss these principles in theory. Instead, we'll delve deeper, testing and comparing leading AI models across voice, computer vision, and large language models both on premise and in the cloud.
In part one we’ll put leading CPUs to the test, with 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processor both in the cloud and on premise.
| LEVERAGING INTEL® DISTRIBUTION OF OPENVINO™ TOOLKIT & CORE PINNING FOR ENHANCED PERFORMANCE
To ensure enhanced performance across the cloud and on premise, we are using the Intel® Distribution of OpenVINO™ Toolkit because it offers enhanced optimizations of AI models runs and across a broad range of platforms and leading AI frameworks.
To further enhance performance, we conducted core pinning, a process used in computing to assign specific CPU cores to specific tasks or processes.
| AWS INSTANCE SELECTION
We have selected the AWS EC2 M7i Instance, specifically the m7i.48xlarge model, part of Amazon general-purpose instances that offers a substantial amount of computing resources making it comparable to Dell™ PowerEdge™ 760xa, the on-premise solution we selected.
- Processing Power and Memory: The m7i.48xlarge Instance is equipped with 192 virtual CPUs (vCPUs) and 768 GiB of memory. This high level of processing power and memory capacity is ideal for CPU-based machine learning.
- Networking and Bandwidth: This instance provides a bandwidth of 50 Gbps, facilitating efficient data processing and transfer, essential for high-transaction and latency-sensitive workloads.
- Performance Enhancement: The M7i Instances, including the m7i.48xlarge, are powered by custom 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors, also known as Sapphire Rapids.
As of November 2023, the pricing for the AWS EC2 M7i Instance, specifically the m7i.48xlarge model, starts at US$9.6768 per hour.
| HARDWARE SELECTION CONSIDERATIONS
For the cloud instance, we selected the top AWS EC2 M7i Instance with 192 virtual cores. For on premise, Dell™ PowerEdge™ portfolio offered more choice and we selected 112 physical core processor with 224 hyper threaded cores. While cloud offerings offer significant choice, Dell™ PowerEdge™ portfolio offered great choice of processors, memory, and networking.
In our analysis, we are providing performance insights as well as cost of compute comparisons. For deployment you will also want to consider the following factors:
- Operational expenditures including power and maintenance costs,
- Network costs including data transfer to cloud and local connectivity,
- Data storage costs including cloud cost versus local storage,
- Network latency requirements including lower latency as data is processed locally,
- Security and compliance costs.
| AI MODELS SELECTION
- LLama-2 7B Chat • OpenAI Whisper Base • YOLOv8n Instance Segmentation
To ensure we have a broad range of AI workloads tested on premise and in the cloud we opted for three of the leading models in their domains:
- VISION | YOLOv8n-seg
YOLOv8n-seg is model variant of YOLOv8 that is designed for instance segmentation and has 3.2 million parameters for the nano version. Unlike basic object detection instance segmentation identifies the objects in an image as well as the segments of each object and provides outlines and confidence scores.
- LANGUAGE | Llama 2 7B Chat
Llama-2 7B-chat is a member of the Llama family of large language models offered by Meta, trained on 2 trillion tokens and well suited for chat applications.
- VOICE | OpenAI Whisper base 74M
OpenAI Whisper is a deep learning model developed by OpenAI for speech recognition and transcription, capable of transcribing speech in English and multiple other languages and translating several non-English languages into English.
EDGE HARDWARE | DELL™ POWEREDGE™ R760XA RACK SERVER
The system we selected is Dell™ PowerEdge™ R760xa hardware powered by 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors.
The Air-cooled design with front-facing accelerators enables better cooling Cyber Resilient Architecture for Zero Trust IT environment.
Operations Security is integrated into every phase of Dell™ PowerEdge™ lifecycle, including protected supply chain and factory-to-site integrity assurance.
Silicon-based root of trust anchors provide end-to-end boot resilience complemented by Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and role-based access controls to ensure secure operations. iDRAC delivers seamless automation and centralize one-to-many management.
*Performance varies by use case, model, application, hardware & software configurations, the quality of the resolution of the input data, and other factors. This performance testing is intended for informational purposes and not intended to be a guarantee of actual performance of an AI application.
| PERFORMANCE INSIGHTS
The results selected for YOLOv8n Instance Segmentation running 12 processes as that threshold achieved targeted performance of >30 images per second. Llama-2 7B Chat was selected running 2 processes as it achieved targeted sub 100 ms per token user latency. OpenAI Whisper selected running 64 processes targeting user reading speed. Across vision, language, and voice, the on premise offering exceeded the cloud instance, including offering lower latency AI performance. From a computational cost comparison the on premise solution offered a payback period of nearly a year based on dell.com pricing indicating a TCO win for on premise as well.
| RETAIL USE CASE
- Drive-thru Pharmacy Pick-up
To demonstrate the practical application of these models, we designed a solution architecture accompanied by a demo that simulates a drive-through pharmacy scenario. In this use case, the vision model identifies the car upon its arrival, the language model gathers the client's information, and communication is facilitated via the voice model. As you can discern, factors such as latency, privacy, security, and cost play crucial roles in this scenario, emphasizing the importance of the decision to deploy either in the cloud or on premise.
In our drive-thru pharmacy pick-up scenario, we utilize a comprehensive architecture to optimize the customer experience. The Video AI module employs an Intel® OpenVINO™ optimized YOLOv8n Instance Segmentation model to accurately detect and track cars in the drive-thru zone. The Audio AI segment captures and transcribes human speech into text using an Intel® OpenVINO™ optimized OpenAI whisper-base model. This transcribed text is then processed by our Large Language Models segment, where an application leverages the Intel® OpenVINO™ optimized LLama 2 7B Chat model to generate intuitive, human-like responses.
| RETAIL USE CASE ARCHITECTURE
| SUMMARY
In this analysis, we put the leading voice, language, and vision models to the test on Dell™ PowerEdge™ and AWS on CPUs. Dell™ PowerEdge™ R760xa Rack Server exceeded the cloud instances on all performance tests and offers a payback period of nearly one year based on Dell™ public pricing. The drive-through pharmacy use case showcased the advantages of an on premise deployment to maintain customer privacy, HIPPA compliance, and ensure fault tolerance and low latency. Finally, in both instances we showcased enhanced CPU performance with Intel® OpenVINO™ and core pinning. In part II, we’ll compare GPU workloads in the cloud versus on premise.
APPENDIX | PERFORMANCE TESTING DETAILS
Performance Insights | 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors
- Yolov8n Instance Segmentation with Intel® OpenVINO™ & Core Pinning
| Test Methodology
YOLOv8n Instance Segmentation FP32 model is exported into the Intel® OpenVINO™ format using ultralytics 8.0.43 library and then tested for object segmentation (inference) using Intel® OpenVINO™ 2023.1.0 runtime.
For performance tests, we used a source video of 53 sec duration with resolution of 1080p and a bitrate of 1906 kb/s. The initial 30 inference samples were treated as warm-up and excluded from calculating the average inference metrics. The time collected includes H264 encode-decode using PyAV 10.0.0 and model inference time.
Output | Video file with h264 encoding (without segmentation post processing)
*Performance varies by use case, model, application, hardware & software configurations, the quality of the resolution of the input data, and other factors. This performance testing is intended for informational purposes and not intended to be a guarantee of actual performance of an AI application.
Performance Insights | 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors
- Llama 2 7B Chat with Intel® OpenVINO™ & Core Pinning
| Test methodology
The Llama-2 7B Chat FP32 model is exported into the Intel® OpenVINO™ format and then tested for text generation (inference) using Hugging Face Optimum 1.13.1. Hugging Face Optimum is an extension of Hugging Face transformers and Diffusers and provides tools to export and run optimized models on various ecosystems including Intel® OpenVINO™. For performance tests, 25 iterations were executed for each inference scenario out of which initial 5 iterations were considered as warm-up and were discarded for calculating Inference time (in seconds) and tokens per second. The time collected includes encode-decode time using tokenizer and LLM inference time.
Input | Discuss the history and evolution of artificial intelligence in 80 words.
Output | Discuss the history and evolution of artificial intelligence in 80 words or less.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has a long history dating back to the 1950s when computer scientist Alan Turing proposed the Turing Test to measure machine intelligence. Since then, AI has evolved through various stages, including rule-based systems, machine learning, and deep learning, leading to the development of intelligent systems capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as visual recognition, natural language processing, and decision-making.
Base Model | https://huggingface.co/meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-chat-hf
*Performance varies by use case, model, application, hardware & software configurations, the quality of the resolution of the input data, and other factors. This performance testing is intended for informational purposes and not intended to be a guarantee of actual performance of an AI application.
PERFORMANCE INSIGHTS | 4TH GEN INTEL® XEON® SCALABLE PROCESSORS
- OpenAI Whisper-base model with Intel® OpenVINO™ & Core Pinning
| Test methodology
The OpenAI Whisper base 74M FP32 model is exported into the Intel® OpenVINO™ format and then tested for inference using Intel® OpenVINO™. For performance tests, 25 iterations were executed for each inference scenario out of which initial 5 iterations were considered as warm-up and were discarded for calculating Inference time (in seconds) and tokens per second. The time collected includes encode-decode time using tokenizer and LLM inference time.
Input | MP3 file with 28.2 sec audio
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| 74 words transcribed.
Base Model | https://github.com/openai/whisper#available-models-and-languages
***Performance varies by use case, model, application, hardware & software configurations, the quality of the resolution of the input data, and other factors. This performance testing is intended for informational purposes and not intended to be a guarantee of actual performance of an AI application.
| About Scalers AI™
Scalers AI™ specializes in creating end-to-end artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to fast-track industry transformation across a wide range of industries, including retail, smart cities, manufacturing, insurance, finance, legal and healthcare. Scalers AI™ industry offering include predictive analytics, generative AI chatbots, stable diffusion, image and speech recognition, and natural language processing. As a full stack AI solutions company with solutions ranging from the cloud to the edge, our customers often need versatile common off the shelf (COTS) hardware that works well across a range of workloads.
- Fast track development & save hundreds of hours in development with access to the solution code.
As part of this effort, Scalers AI™ is making the solution code available. Reach out to your Dell™ representative or contact Scalers AI™ at contact@scalers.ai for access to GitHub repo.
A Path to Virtualization at the Edge
Thu, 14 Mar 2024 16:47:05 -0000
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Get next-generation performance at the edge from the Dell PowerEdge XR family of servers
Executive Summary
Edge sensors and devices generate data on a massive scale. And much of the data is generated in rugged environments. Heavy machinery used in underground mining operations, for example, can be outfitted with smart sensors to monitor gas concentrations, air quality, and temperature. Once this data is captured by a high-performance edge server, an analytics application processes the data to generate real-time insights.
Prowess Consulting investigated options for organizations looking for rugged edge servers with the performance needed for compute-intensive analytics. We started by evaluating the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620 server, a member of Dell Technologies’ PowerEdge XR rugged servers portfolio. We looked at performance, durability, and compliance to military and telecom industry standards.
We then compared the PowerEdge XR7620 server to the PowerEdge XE2420 server, a previous-generation rugged edge server, and observed significant generational performance gains. Finally, we compared the PowerEdge XR7620 server to another member of the PowerEdge XR family, the PowerEdge XR4000 series servers. This helped us summarize key differences between the PowerEdge XR7620 server and the PowerEdge XR4000 series. We found that, for organizations looking for the ideal edge server, the PowerEdge XR7620 server delivers high performance, including excellent virtualization capabilities and VMware vSAN™ performance, whereas the PowerEdge XR4000 series servers deliver excellent density and deployment flexibility.
Life at the Edge
Modern businesses are processing more data at the edge. This brings a unique set of requirements for edge servers: the need for high performance, the ability for a server to fit into tiny spaces, and the ability to tolerate the extremes of remote field deployments whether on a manufacturing floor or in a busy retail environment.
Workloads like data analytics and AI/ML that process data at the edge drive the need for high performance. Decoupled from your data center, servers at the edge combat a host of environmental and logistical challenges. A factory that combines Internet of Things (IoT) and digital twin technologies to automate resource allocation and optimize efficiency through analytics and AI will need servers on the factory floor to generate actionable data. And that means exposure to heat, vibration, dust, and more.
How your organization addresses the dual considerations of performance and durability inherent to edge computing is key. Regardless of your solution, maximizing performance and safeguarding against harsh environments is critical.
The PowerEdge XR7620 Server: Performance and Durability at the Edge
Performance
Research by Prowess Consulting shows that the new PowerEdge XR7620 server, powered by 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors, can meet the challenges of ensuring performance and durability. The PowerEdge XR7620 server is a two-socket server featuring data center–level compute with high performance, high capacity, and reduced latency. Moreover, its rugged form factor ensures performance-protecting durability, from military deployments to the factory floor. The PowerEdge XR7620 server can process and analyze data at the point of capture for maximum impact when away from the data center. Given its high performance, the PowerEdge XR7620 server excels at tasks like virtualization.
The PowerEdge XR7620 server also offers compact GPU- and CPU-optimized variants to further customize performance.
Durability
The PowerEdge XR7620 server—like the entire PowerEdge XR family—is purpose-built to withstand the most extreme environments. It can handle dust, humidity, extreme temperatures, shocks, and more. And it’s both MIL-STD-810G and Network Equipment Building System (NEBS) Level 3, GR-3108 Class 1, tested[1]. This means the PowerEdge XR7620 server is compliant with edge-computing standards for both the telecom industry (NEBS Level 3) and military-related applications (MIL-STD-810G). These are foundational requirements, and we dove deeper into their importance.
NEBS Level 3
“NEBS describes the environment of a typical United States Regional Bell Operating Company (RBOC) central office. NEBS is the most common set of safety, spatial, and environmental design standards applied to telecommunications equipment in the United States. It is not a legal or regulatory requirement, but rather an industry requirement.”[2]
NEBS levels relate primarily to the telecom industry and are rated 1–3. Whereas NEBS Levels 1 and 2 are essentially office-based and targeted toward more controlled environments like data centers, NEBS Level 3 is the standard. It’s what telecom and network providers base their installation requirements on, as this level ensures equipment operability. It also requires the most time, effort, and cost in terms of design and maintenance.
Table 1 illustrates the specific requirements for NEBS Level 3.
Table 1. NEBS Level 3 requirements[3]
MIL-STD
“This Standard contains materiel acquisition program planning and engineering direction for considering the influences that environmental stresses have on materiel throughout all phases of its service life. It is important to note that this document [the MIL-STD-810G standard] does not impose design or test specifications. Rather, it describes the environmental tailoring process that results in realistic materiel designs and test methods based on materiel system performance requirements.”[4]
A military standard (MIL-STD) is a US defense standard that centers around ensuring standardization and interoperability for the products used by the US Department of Defense (DoD). There are different standards for specific use cases and industries, and the PowerEdge XR7620 server specifically addresses the 810G standard. The 810G standard centers around environmental engineering and testing, and it provides a rigorous framework—rather than universal guidelines—for vetting potential deployments through extensive testing.
Figure 1 shows a decision tree from the 810G standard guidelines that illustrates how rigorous and extensive the requirements for testing are to meet 810G compliance.
Figure 1. A decision tree from the MIL-STD-810G guidelines[5]
The PowerEdge XR7620 Server: A New Generation
Prowess Consulting examined the performance difference between the PowerEdge XR7620 server and the previous-generation PowerEdge XE2420 server. We began by comparing the processors between the generations.
The 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors that power the PowerEdge XR7620 server provide a number of benefits over the 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors that power the PowerEdge XE2420 server. These benefits include:
- 1.53x average generation-on-generation performance improvement[6]
- Up to 1.60x higher input/output operations per second (IOPS) and up to 37% latency reduction for large-packet sequential reads using integrated Intel® Data Streaming Accelerator (Intel® DSA) versus the prior generation[7]
- Up to 95% fewer cores and 2x higher level-1 compression throughput using integrated Intel® QuickAssist Technology (Intel® QAT) versus the prior generation[8]
We then reviewed the top-line specs between the PowerEdge XE2420 server and the PowerEdge XR7620 server, shown in Table 3 in the Methodology section. These specs show a clear and consistent improvement between generations. Further analysis of SPEC® CPU 2017 Integer and Floating Point (FP) rates—both of which measure CPU processing power by integer and floating point rates, respectively—shows the same generational increase, with the PowerEdge XR7620 server and its 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors the clear winner. These results are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 2. SPEC® CPU INT Rate for the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620 server (with an Intel® Xeon® Gold 6448Y processor) versus the PowerEdge XE2420 server (with Intel Xeon Gold 6252, Intel Xeon Gold 6252N, and Intel Xeon Gold 6238 processors)[9]
Figure 3. SPEC® CPU FP rate for the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620 server (with an Intel® Xeon® Gold 6448Y processor) versus the PowerEdge XE2420 server (with Intel Xeon Gold 6252, Intel Xeon Gold 6252N, and Intel Xeon Gold 6238 processors)9
This performance improvement between generations can also be seen by comparing VMware vSAN deployments. The PowerEdge XE2420 server and the PowerEdge XR7620 server can both implement two-node vSAN deployments. However, as noted previously, the PowerEdge XR7620 server will be more performant with those deployments. This higher level of performance doesn’t just come from the upgraded processor, either. The 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in the PowerEdge XR7620 are optimized to take full advantage of the new features and software improvements in VMware vSphere® 8, including GPU- and CPU-based acceleration.
The PowerEdge XR Family
Before we examine the Dell PowerEdge XR family of servers in more detail, Figure 4 provides a quick visual reference of the servers discussed in this report.
- Venn diagram of the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XE2420, XR7620, and XR4000 series servers
VMmark® Examination of PowerEdge XR7620 and PowerEdge XR4000 Series Servers
The PowerEdge XR7620 server is part of the PowerEdge XR family of servers, all of which are built to handle the most extreme environments while still delivering performance and reliability. We wanted to examine the PowerEdge XR7620 server alongside some of its “younger siblings,” the PowerEdge XR4000 series servers, and investigate the inter-generational differences. (While not discussed in this study, PowerEdge XR8000 series servers provide excellent flexibility and stability, and would be the “elder sibling” in the family.)
To do this, we analyzed VMmark® results for both the PowerEdge XR4510c (representing the PowerEdge XR4000 series) and the PowerEdge XR7620, shown in Table 4 in the Methodology section. VMmark is a tool for hardware vendors and others to measure the performance, scalability, and power consumption of virtualization platforms. VMmark allows for: benchmarking of virtual data center performance and power consumption; comparing performance and power consumption between different virtualization platforms; and examining how changes in hardware, software, or configuration affect performance within the virtualization environment.[10]
The VMmark results show the PowerEdge XR7620 server can achieve more performance across more tiles (fourteen versus four). These results also illustrate what can be achieved with a full, dual-socket server with the latest-generation processors in a short-depth, 2U ruggedized chassis at the edge. Moreover, the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in the PowerEdge XR7620 server also account for the higher performance. While the PowerEdge XR7620 server’s overall performance wins are expected, what’s missing is how performant at the edge PowerEdge XR4000 series servers are. Given the smaller size and shorter form factor overall, the PowerEdge XR4000 series servers are very performant relative to size, and they are an excellent option when a smaller, denser, more flexible deployment is called for. Moreover, their redundancy allows for more hardware failures, making them resilient and durable.
- Optional witness node on the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR4000 series servers[11]
VMware vSAN is an “enterprise-class storage virtualization software that provides the simplest path to hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and multi-cloud.”[12] VMware vSAN is widely deployed, so we also compared vSAN deployments inter-generationally. While the PowerEdge XR7620 server (and PowerEdge XE2420 server, too) can implement two-node vSAN deployments, PowerEdge XR4000 series servers can implement four-node vSAN deployments. Additionally, the PowerEdge XR7620 server can also be deployed in a two-node architecture using a vSAN witness appliance to take advantage of the many benefits of vSAN—especially its performance benefits. While both servers take advantage of vSAN, the PowerEdge XR7620 server will offer more overall performance, whereas PowerEdge XR4000 series servers offer the highest density in the smallest form factor.
There is, however, another significant benefit to the upgraded PowerEdge XR7620 server: power savings and sustainability. As Table 4 in the Methodology section shows, the PowerEdge XR7620 server offers double the cores of the PowerEdge XR4510c server tested for less than double the wattage, resulting in a smaller power draw when the PowerEdge XR7620 is deployed the edge. The PowerEdge XR7620 server reduces power consumption, leading to higher energy efficiency and power availability for the PowerEdge XR7620 server. The reduced power consumption can also potentially lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and help meet your business’s sustainability goals.
Potential PowerEdge XR Family Use Cases
The PowerEdge XR family of servers has use cases in retail, manufacturing, defense, and telecom. We explore two specific use cases in the following sections.
The PowerEdge XR7620 Server: Autonomous Driving
Let’s examine how the PowerEdge XR7620 server—which excels at virtualization—might perform in a real-world setting in the auto industry. As demand increases for technologies such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving capabilities, the industry needs more efficient development and testing. Virtualization is a key strategy for generating this efficiency, and it’s leading to a change in the way vehicles are designed, developed, manufactured, tested, and maintained.[13]
As software becomes increasingly essential to the average vehicle, updating that software as efficiently as possible becomes a customer pain point and a business requirement. Vast amounts of data are generated when physically testing the update process in the factory or out on the track. You’ll need a high-performance server to capture and process that data as it’s generated for the fastest analytics and most actionable insights possible. Moreover, the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in the PowerEdge XR7620 server are optimized to use the software upgrades in vSphere 8, allowing you to modernize your hardware and software as you replace aging assets, while increasing capacity.
Additionally, this server must be able to withstand the dust and temperature fluctuations of the factory, or the vibrations and humidity of the track, or a host of other adverse conditions. The PowerEdge XR7620 server meets both performance and durability needs, offering the levels of performance required for intense data analytics and the ruggedized form factor required at the edge.
PowerEdge XR4000 Series Servers: Telecom Deployments
Let’s take a proper look at PowerEdge XR4000 series servers now. If the PowerEdge XR7620 server is at home on the factory floor, then the PowerEdge XR4000 series server is at home under the cell tower. While the PowerEdge XR7620 server is built for durability, PowerEdge XR4000 series servers are especially rugged and come in Dell’s smallest form factor for flexibility and customization in the most difficult deployments. They are NEBS Level 3 and MIL-STD-810H tested.[14] Moreover, their four sleds in a single 2U chassis offer excellent scalability and portability when in the field. They have “rackable” and “stackable” configuration options for maximum deployment flexibility, and they support multiple configurations within each option. And PowerEdge XR4000 series servers do so while still offering the high performance needed for analytics and virtualization at the edge.
Finding an Edge Within the PowerEdge XR Family
While the PowerEdge XR family of servers all feature a ruggedized, short-depth form factor, there’s a spectrum of purpose-built options to consider, varying from maximum performance at one end to maximum density and durability at the other.
As our research shows, the PowerEdge XR7620 server is an excellent choice for maximum performance within the PowerEdge family of servers examined. It’s powered by the next-generation Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y processor, giving the PowerEdge XR7620 server excellent virtualization capabilities and vSAN performance. And the PowerEdge XR7620 server does all this in a ruggedized, short-depth form factor that provides the durability required for intense edge computing.
The PowerEdge XR7620 Server: Under the Hood
The performance of the PowerEdge XR7620 server shouldn’t be seen as a simple generational update. It owes some of its performance to the 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and the Dell™ PowerEdge RAID Controller 12 (PERC 12).
Intel® Xeon® Gold 6448Y Processor
The Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y processor found in the PowerEdge XR7620 server is based on 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor architecture, representing a serious upgrade from 2nd and 3rd Gen processors in several ways. With double the cores, a higher max turbo frequency, and a larger cache than the previous model’s processor, the Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y processor is built for performance. Moreover, the processor features Intel DSA, which helps speed up data movement and improve transformation operations to increase performance for storage, networking, and data-intensive workloads.[15]
Dell™ PERC 12
PERC 12, Dell’s latest RAID controller, features the new Broadcom® SAS4116W series chip and offers increased capabilities compared with its predecessor, PERC 11. These capabilities include support for 24 gigabits per second (Gb/s) Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) drives, increased cache memory speed, and a single front controller that supports both NVM Express® (NVMe®) and SAS. Table 2 shows the generational improvement between PERC 11 and PERC 12.[16]
Table 2. IOPS/bandwidth comparison between the Dell™ PERC 11 and PERC 12 controllers16
PowerEdge XR4000 Series Servers: Inside the Box
At the density end of the spectrum, we have the PowerEdge XR4000 series servers. These are Dell Technologies’ shortest-depth servers to date: modular 2U servers with a sled-based design for maximum flexibility. They come in two new 14”-depth form factors called “rackable” and “stackable,” and they offer rack or wall mounting options.
PowerEdge XR4000 series servers also feature an optional nano-server-sled that can serve as an in-chassis witness node for the vSAN cluster. This replaces the need for a virtual witness node and establishes a native, self-contained, two-node vSAN cluster—even in the 14” x 12” stackable configuration. You can choose between two and four nodes in a chassis while still using vSAN because of the in-chassis witness node. This makes virtual machine (VM) deployments possible where latency or bandwidth constraints previously prevented doing so. PowerEdge XR4000 series servers offer high-performance edge computing in a form factor small enough to fit in a backpack.[17] This form factor and size also lead to high computing density, which is the measurement of the amount of information that can be stored and processed in a given area to determine efficient use of space.
When Rugged Matters as Much as Performance
Our research concludes that the Dell PowerEdge XR family of servers is a great option for organizations looking for reliable, high-performing servers in ruggedized, short-depth form factors designed specifically for edge computing. Among the range of PowerEdge XR family servers examined by Prowess, the PowerEdge XR7620 server represents a solid upgrade from the previous generation, and is the performance-focused offering in the new PowerEdge XR family of servers. PowerEdge XR4000 series servers are the high-density, performant option when durability and space constraints are primary concerns.
Learn More
For more information on the Dell PowerEdge XR7620 server, see “Dell’s PowerEdge XR7620 for Telecom/Edge Compute” and the PowerEdge XR7620 server product page.
For more information on the new offerings in the PowerEdge XR family, see “Dell PowerEdge Gets Edgy with XR8000, XR7620, and XR5610 Servers.”
Methodology
Table 3 shows the configuration details for the comparison between the PowerEdge XE2420 server and the PowerEdge XR7620 server.
Table 3. Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620 server versus PowerEdge XE2420 server comparison
Server | ||
Processor | 2nd Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors | 4th Gen Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors |
Cores per Processor | Up to 24 | Up to 32 |
Number of Processors Supported | 2 | 2 |
Memory | 16 x DDR4 RDIMM/LR-DIMM (12 DIMMs are balanced), up to 2,993 megatransfers per second (MT/s) | 16 x DDR5 DIMM slots, supports RDIMM 1 TB max, speeds up to 4,800 MT/s; supports registered error correction code (ECC) DDR5 DIMMs only |
Drive Bays | Up to 4 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe® solid-state drives (SSDs); up to 6 Enterprise and Data Center SSD Form Factor (EDSFF) drives | Front bays: Up to 4 x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe® SSDs, 61.44 TB max; up to 8 x E3.S NVMe® direct drives, 51.2 TB max |
Dimensions | 2 x 2.5-inches or 4 x 2.5 with seven possible configurations | Rear-accessed configuration:
Front accessed configuration:
|
Weight | 17.36 kg (38.19 pounds) to 18.93 kg (41.65 pounds), depending on configuration | Max 21.16 kg (46.64 pounds) |
Form Factor | 2U rack | 2U rack |
Table 4 shows the configuration details for the VMmark comparison between the two PowerEdge XR family servers.
Table 4, VMmark® comparison between the Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620 server and the PowerEdge XR4510c server
VMmark® 3.1.1 Results | ||
Summary | ||
Category | Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR4510c[23] | Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR7620[24] |
VMmark® 3 Average Watts | 1,085.50 | 1,878.63 |
VMmark® 3 Applications Score | 4.93 | 14.08 |
VMmark® 3 Infrastructure Score | 2.15 | 1.06 |
VMmark® 3 Score | 4.37 | 11.48 |
VMmark® 3 PPKW | 4.0285 at 4 tiles | 6.1093 at 14 tiles |
Configuration | ||
Server | Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR4510c23 | Dell™ PowerEdge™ XR762024 |
Nodes | 4 physical (with local hardware-based witness node) | 2 (with VMware vSAN™ witness appliance) |
Storage | VMware vSAN™ 8.0—all-flash | VMware vSAN™ 8.0—all-flash |
Hypervisor | VMware ESXi™ 8.0 GA, build 20513097 | VMware ESXi™ 8.0b, build 21203435 |
Data Center Management Software | VMware vCenter Server® 8.0 GA, build 20519528 | VMware vCenter Server® 8.0c, build 21457384 |
Number of Servers in System Under Test | 4 | 2 |
Processor | Intel® Xeon® D-2776NT processor | Intel® Xeon® Gold 6448Y processor |
Processor Speed (GHz)/Intel® Turbo Boost Technology Speed (GHz) | 2.10 GHz/3.20 GHz | 2.10 GHz/4.10 GHz |
Total Sockets/Cores/Threads in Test | 4 sockets/64 cores/128 threads | 4 sockets/128 cores/256 threads |
Memory Size (in GB, Number of DIMMs) | 512 GB, 4 | 2,048 GB, 16 |
Memory Type and Speed | 128 GB 4Rx4 DDR4 3,200 MT/s LRDIMM | 128 GB DDR5 4Rx4 4,800 MT/s RDIMMs |
The analysis in this document was done by Prowess Consulting and commissioned by Dell Technologies.
Results have been simulated and are provided for informational purposes only. Any difference in system hardware or software design or configuration may affect actual performance.
Prowess Consulting and the Prowess logo are trademarks of Prowess Consulting, LLC.
Copyright © 2023 Prowess Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.
Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
[1] Dell. “Dell’s PowerEdge XR7620 for Telecom/Edge Compute.” May 2023. https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/p/dell-s-poweredge-xr7620-for-telecom-edge-compute/.
[2] Cisco. “Cisco Firepower 4112, 4115, 4125, and 4145 Hardware Installation Guide.” June 2023. www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/security/firepower/41x5/hw/guide/install-41x5.html.
[3] Dell. “Computing on the Edge: NEBS Criteria Levels.” November 2022. https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/p/computing-on-the-edge-nebs-criteria-levels/.
[4] MIL-STD-810. “Environmental Engineering Considerations and Laboratory Tests.” May 2022. https://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=35978.
[5] US Department of Defense. “Environmental Engineering Considerations And Laboratory Tests.” Revision G Change 1 (change incorporated). Figure 402-1. Life Cycle Environmental Profile Development Guide. April 2014. https://quicksearch.dla.mil/qsDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=35978 [then select the "Revision G Change 1 (change incorporated)" document].
[6] Intel. Performance Index (4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, G1). Accessed May 2023. www.intel.com/PerformanceIndex.
[7] Intel. Performance Index (4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, N18). Accessed May 2023. www.intel.com/PerformanceIndex.
[8] Intel. Performance Index (4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, N16). Accessed May 2023. www.intel.com/PerformanceIndex.
[9] Data provided by Dell Technologies in May 2023.
[10] VMware. “VMmark.” Accessed June 2023. www.vmware.com/products/vmmark.html.
[11] Dell. "XR4000w Multi-Node Edge Server (Intel)." Accessed July 2023. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/ipovw/poweredge-xr4000w.
[12] VMware. “What Is VMware vSAN?” Accessed July 2023. www.vmware.com/products/vsan.html.
[13] Luxoft. “Achieving the benefits of SDVs using virtualization.” May 2023. www.luxoft.com/blog/virtualization-revolutionizing-software-defined-vehicles-development.
[14] Dell. “Dell PowerEdge XR4000 Specification Sheet.” Accessed June 2023. www.dell.com/en-us/dt/oem/servers/rugged-servers.htm#pdf-overlay=//www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/solutions/oem-solutions/technical-support/dell-oem-poweredge-xr4000-spec-sheet.pdf.
[15] Intel. “Intel® Accelerator Engines.” Accessed June 2023. www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/docs/accelerator-engines/overview.html.
[16] Dell. “Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller 12.” May 2023. https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/p/dell-poweredge-raid-controller-12/.
[17] Dell. “VMmark on XR4000.” January 2023. https://infohub.delltechnologies.com/p/vmmark-on-xr4000/.
[18] Intel. “Intel Xeon D2776NT Processor.” Accessed June 2023. https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/226239/intel-xeon-d2776nt-processor-25m-cache-up-to-3-20-ghz.html.
[19] Dell. “Dell EMC PowerEdge XE2420 Technical Specifications.” Accessed June 2023. https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/poweredge-xe2420_reference-guide_en-us.pdf.
[20] Dell. “PowerEdge XE2420 Specification Sheet.” Accessed June 2023. https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Product_Docs/en/PowerEdge-XE2420-Spec-Sheet.pdf.
[21] Intel. “Intel Xeon Gold 6448Y Processor.” Accessed June 2023. https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/232384/intel-xeon-gold-6448y-processor-60m-cache-2-10-ghz.html.
[22] Dell. “PowerEdge XR7620 Specification Sheet.” Accessed June 2023. www.delltechnologies.com/asset/en-us/products/servers/technical-support/poweredge-xr7620-spec-sheet.pdf.
[23] VMmark. “VMmark® 3.1.1 Results, November 29, 2022.” www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/vmmark/2022-11-29-Dell-PowerEdge-XR4510c-serverPPKW.pdf.
[24] VMmark. “VMmark® 3.1.1 Results, May 16, 2023.” www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/vmmark/2023-05-16-Dell-PowerEdge-XR7620.pdf.