Dell is strategically expanding its AI Factory with advanced infrastructure and comprehensive services designed to empower businesses with more effective tools for AI deployment. Recognizing that AI adoption presents significant challenges for many organizations, the company simplifies the solution
As part of Supercomputing 2024, Dell is announcing innovations for its AI Factory. The majority of the innovations are centered around the foundation of the AI Factory: data storage and computing resources. This infrastructure is complemented by an open ecosystem of strategic partnerships with key players in the AI field, supported by Dell’s proprietary services. The end result is the Dell AI Factory, which converts data into use cases and plots out for companies where deploying AI can be useful for business operations.
Server products
On the infrastructure side, Dell is focusing on expanding its Dell Integrated Rack Scalable Systems (IRSS) program. This is a program that offers instantly deployable rack-scale systems. These systems provide flexible cooling options, utilizing both air and water-based solutions according to specific requirements. Additionally, users can rely on immediate technical support through a single point of contact with a Dell representative.
The following servers will also be offered in the program from now on: Dell PowerEdge XE9685L and PowerEdge XE7740. These can be added to the standard Dell Integrated Rack 5000. The latter server contains Xeon 6 processors and is built to support enterprise AI, with a specific focus on AI inferencing and model fine-tuning.
“The XE9865L can support up to 96 Nvidia GPUs per rack. In addition, it delivers up to 20 percent better IO connectivity and includes eye-tracking functionality for remote maintenance,” clarified Arunkumar Narayanan, SVP for Compute and Networking Portfolio Management at Dell.
Renewal of existing partnerships
Then, there are announcements in the ecosystem. Dell says it wants to unite as many different parties as possible into an ecosystem. The most important partner in the ecosystem is Nvidia, which is evident in the announcement.
The first innovation is focused on the new offering of Nvidia GPUs that “will be supported before the end of 2024,” Dell indicates. “Inferencing will be a critical factor in determining AI’s enterprise effectiveness,” noted Varun Chhabra, SVP of ISG at Dell. “Supporting the latest GPUs, which achieve up to 1.9 times higher inference performance, is therefore crucial.”
Furthermore, Dell Agentic RAG with Nvidia will become part of the company’s joint offering. “RAG allows customers to add their own data to an LLM without too much work,” Chhabra says.
Finally, the last development is not in collaboration with the AI partner. Dell is releasing Validated Designs for AI desktops. These designs are open source and created for developers who experience problems developing AI apps that deploy the NPUs in AI desktops.
Sharing expertise
Good infrastructure and partnerships with strong players in the AI field are not as valuable if companies do not know how to get started with AI. Indeed, according to Chhabra, the lack of expertise and skills is one of the biggest problem areas currently holding back AI adoption. This is alongside challenges related to data quality, implementation costs, sustainability concerns, and security considerations.
To address these challenges, Dell offers comprehensive consulting services supporting companies in developing environmental strategies, AI networking, and data management.. Finally, it offers a service to add GenAI features into service management workflows with Now Assist.
Dell is renewing every part of its AI Factory with the latest updates. Besides simply being a matter of keeping up with the innovations in the AI field that follow each other at lightning speed, the company aims to provide compelling solutions that encourage businesses to embrace artificial intelligence confidently.