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Server Portfolio Comparison

Dell EMC vs. HPE

Printed in the United States of America

Copyright 2018 Edison Group, Inc. New York.

Edison Group offers no warranty either expressed or implied on the information contained herein and

shall be held harmless for errors resulting from its use.

This report was commissioned by Dell EMC.

The information contained in this document is based on Dell EMC provided materials and independent

research and was aggregated and validated for Edison Group, Inc. by the Edison Group Analyst team.

All products are trademarks of their respective owners.

First Publication: February 2018

Produced by: Harold Kreitzman, VP, Strategic Advisory Services

Table of Contents

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. 1

Working with Dell EMC .......................................................................................................................... 3

Server Market Success ............................................................................................................................. 4

Server Technology Distinctions ............................................................................................................. 5

Performance Innovations ...................................................................................................................... 5

Unique Power and Cooling Capabilities ............................................................................................ 6

Enhanced Silicon-based Security ......................................................................................................... 7

Differentiated Manageability and Serviceability ............................................................................... 8

A Revolutionary Modular Hardware Design .................................................................................. 10

Summary ................................................................................................................................................... 11

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 1

Executive Summary

Transforming IT to meet the emerging requirements of a rapidly advancing digital economy is a

priority for most companies today. Market economies and quickly evolving digital interactions

are driving new and increasing demands on IT infrastructure for organizations of all kinds –

from small businesses to enterprises to public institutions. IT requirements to support a variety

of digital use paradigms (personal devices, IoT, VMs, VDI) are changing quickly, and

organizations need to respond in order to be competitive in this evolving digital world.

In a recent PwC survey, 45 percent of business and IT executives across 51 countries identified

growing revenue via digital transformation as a top priority.1 To be successful, businesses must

transform their IT infrastructure to achieve new levels of flexibility and responsiveness –

including supporting software-defined infrastructure. IT must support these changing needs in

a variety of environments.

At the heart of any IT infrastructure is the compute engine – specifically servers. New

technologies in processors, storage, I/O and security come together in servers to enable higher

application productivity within a more efficient and secure infrastructure. These technology

developments are key to the advancing requirements inherent with IT transformation, where

greater performance, agility and security are new imperatives of modern infrastructure.

According to IDC, updating servers on a faster refresh cycle can vastly improve ROI. Server

refreshes can deliver payback in less than a year, with up to 59 percent lower OPEX costs over

three years and help fund IT Transformation initiatives by lowering server infrastructure costs

by 61 percent.2

The latest generation of PowerEdge servers powered by Intel® Xeon® processors can deliver

differentiated business agility over older-generation infrastructure. IDC asserted that updating

servers can help businesses deploy applications up to 22 percent faster and improve application

performance up to 29 percent over outdated infrastructure.3 According to a study performed by

1 Lauchlan, Stuart, “Top ten digital transformation actions from PwC,” Diginomica, October 1, 2015,

http://diginomica.com/2015/10/01/top-ten-digital-transformation-actions-from-pwc/#.Vg5tk8vovmI 2 IDC, “Accelerate Business Agility With Faster Server Refresh Cycles,” May 2017

https://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/accelerate-business-agility-with-faster-server-refresh-cycles.pdf

3 Ibid

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 2

Principled Technologies, the time to deploy is 99 percent faster with the latest Dell EMC Zero

Touch auto configuration, eliminating over 200 hands-on processes.4 These ROI and agility

advantages logically map to infrastructure cost savings resulting from greater efficiencies, as

well as new revenue through faster, more effective applications. The resultant cash flow can be

used to fund IT transformation.

4 Based on August 2014 Principled Technologies report, “Simplifying systems management with Dell OpenManage

on 13G Dell PowerEdge servers,” commissioned by Dell, testing Dell's 13th generation R730 with Enterprise-level

Dell systems management

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 3

Working with Dell EMC

Dell EMC and HPE are both global providers of servers, and Dell EMC has been shipping

PowerEdge servers since 1996. In October of 2016 Dell and EMC became a single company,

bringing PowerEdge server products together with the storage and Hyper-Converged

Infrastructure (HCI) leader to create a formidable capability to provide differentiated edge-to-

core-to-cloud value. Furthermore, Dell EMC provides services that simplify integration of

systems, which is a key concern for many IT implementers. As an example, Dell EMC

ProSupport Plus with SupportAssist technology resolves server issues up to 90% faster

compared to systems covered by a basic warranty,5 and PowerEdge Servers deployed by Dell

EMC experts have up to 56% fewer technical support contacts within the first 90 days versus

self-installed servers.6

At the same time – Hewlett-Packard broke into separate entities, Hewlett Packard and Hewlett-

Packard Enterprise – with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise as the company that houses servers,

storage and networking. HPE sold off software assets and acquired other technology assets

including HCI (SimpliVity), but so far the transitions HPE has made have not moved the needle

for company’s server business.

The various companies that comprise Dell Technologies – including Dell consumer solutions,

Dell EMC infrastructure solutions, VMware, and others – represent an extensive portfolio of

end-to-end offerings, including edge-to-core to cloud systems. With this product breadth, Dell

Technologies’ greater purchasing power gives it a strategic relationship with component

suppliers that helps deliver greater value to customers.

5 Based on Sep 2015 Principled Technologies Test Report commissioned by Dell EMC. Actual results may vary. For

the full report visit: http://facts.pt/1P56lW0 6 Based on a December 2017 internal analysis of support data from Oct. 2015 through June 2017 for Dell EMC

PowerEdge Servers. Actual results may vary.

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 4

Server Market Success

Dell EMC has seen server market share momentum in both units and revenue: Dell EMC has

overtaken HPE in units as of CY Q4 2016, and for revenue as of Q3 2017. x86 servers are now

the predominant platform for the vast majority of server workloads. This is expected to

continue into the future based on projected growth of traditional applications, as well as

emerging edge and cloud requirements. Within this dynamic, Dell EMC has surpassed HPE as

the market share leader in the X86 server market. The company attributes its success to a more

customer-centric innovation strategy that has led to technology distinctions in areas such as

hardware-accelerated processing offload, low-latency storage (especially NVMe), intelligent

automation and cybersecurity.

Chart of Dell EMC versus HPE server performance on units and revenue7

7 IDC Worldwide Quarterly Server Tracker, November 30, 2017

0

100,000

200,000

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2015Q4 2016Q1 2016Q2 2016Q3 2016Q4 2017Q1 2017Q2 2017Q3

Server Unit Shipments: Dell EMC and HPE

Dell Inc Hewlett Packard Enterprise

$0

$1,000

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$4,000

2015Q4 2016Q1 2016Q2 2016Q3 2016Q4 2017Q1 2017Q2 2017Q3

$Millions Server Revenue: Dell EMC and HPE

Dell Inc Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 5

Server Technology Distinctions

Dell EMC and HPE both offer a broad portfolio of server offerings to address a variety of

customer environments and workloads. Furthermore, both offer servers that leverage Intel

processors and commodity parts such as memory and drives (HDD, SSD, NVMe). In addition,

many server form factors have become de facto standards, such as racks, towers and blades.

However, true differentiation lies beyond the commodity components and standard form

factors.

In the past, HPE has developed innovative technologies, such as hot-plug PCI adapters and hot-

plug memory, but these innovations are no longer in use in any server on the market. HPE has

also developed unique form factors like its Moonshot platform, which has benefits for niche

application environments. However, while Dell EMC has incorporated many innovations

designed to support the advanced demands of IT transformation, HPE has not.

Performance Innovations

Although server performance is typically tied to the capabilities of the processor, memory and

I/O, Dell EMC has developed innovations that enable these components to operate at their peak.

The following is a summary of these Dell EMC innovations:

First to deliver hot plug, easy access PCIe SSDs/NVMe drives8— For many generations of

server systems, mechanical hard disk drives were a negating factor on system performance.

Solid state drives improved storage I/O performance, but the biggest breakthroughs came

with Express Flash PCIe SSDs and NVMe drives.

In 2012, Dell EMC was the first vendor to introduce PCIe SSDs in a front accessible, hot plug

form factor in PowerEdge 12th generation servers.9 HPE also had PCIe SSDs in its servers at

that time – but they were internal access only as PCIe boards – and were not hot plug. HPE

brought out front accessible hot plug PCIe SSDs on ProLiant servers in its Gen9 systems that

it introduced in 2014. At that time, in PowerEdge 13th generation servers, Dell EMC

introduced a common backplane for PCIe SSD/NVMe drives and standard HDDs.

8 PCIe is the follow-on I/O standards technology to PCI. PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect, an

industry standard means of connecting peripherals. PCIe is the next generation: Peripheral Component Interconnect

Express. 9 Based off of performance numbers from Intel’s S3700 SATA SSD and Express Flash results from the Storage

Networking Industry Association

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 6

Acceleration Technology— Intel “Turbo Boost Technology” on designated Intel® Xeon®

processors can help increase performance by pushing the processor to the highest possible

frequency. This is very attractive to customers whose workloads are very low latency

performance sensitive, like high-frequency traders and other financial applications where

transactions are time-sensitive.

By enabling flexible control of Intel® Turbo Boost, Dell EMC Processor Acceleration

Technology (DPAT) allows you to run trading applications on a single thread at the highest

frequencies as you reduce “jitter” (inconsistent trading frequency). It also helps minimize

overall system and processor latency due to varying data loads, thermal changes and

current demands. This unique Dell EMC technology not only supports Turbo Boost, it does

so while maintaining efficient use of power.10

Unique Power and Cooling Capabilities

The thermal challenges in server design have been created by the increasing number of

components and the higher wattage of processors, memory, and PCIe cards (including GPUs) –

all within the same size chassis generation over generation. But there are also external

environmental factors that affect server design, including temperature, humidity, and

pollutants. To address these challenges, Dell EMC has developed numerous server capabilities,

including:

Fresh Air— In response to regulatory pressures and high energy costs, Dell EMC

introduced its Fresh Air initiative to ensure that PowerEdge servers with Intel® Xeon®

processors can operate in an extended range of environments without the need for external

cooling or dehumidifying. Dell EMC started offering Fresh Air server configurations in

201211 – with other vendors following in later generations, including HPE. Now on Fresh Air

2.0, Dell EMC has extended the humidity and operating temperatures for specific

configurations of PowerEdge servers.

Multi-Vector Cooling— Featured in PowerEdge 14th generation servers, unique multi-

vector cooling provides customized cooling to individual PCIe slots. This helps customers

target cooling to make the system more efficient to cool, use less power, and potentially

enable a broader range of higher wattage components within the system. This innovation is

unique to Dell EMC.

10 For more information on Dell EMC Processor Acceleration Technology, visit http://www.dell.com/en-

us/work/learn/financial-services-markets-solutions-processor-acceleration-technology 11 https://www.infoworld.com/article/2622589/servers/dell-warranties-servers-for--fresh-air-cooling-.html

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 7

OpenManage Power Center (OMPC)— Dell EMC’s power management tool is designed to

help customers optimize their power use not just for individual servers, but also for the

entire data center. Unique capabilities of OMPC include data center server planning,

monitoring of servers that are not Dell EMC branded (including HPE), and power

monitoring not only of system components, but also down to the virtual machine. OMPC

also manages at the server level, not through the PDU, which enables faster alerts.

Enhanced Silicon-based Security

While both HPE and Dell EMC offer silicon-based security, Dell EMC has leveraged silicon-

based security to secure firmware and protect sensitive user data in PowerEdge servers for the

past two generations. The new 14G PowerEdge product line features an enhanced Cyber

Resilient Architecture that uses silicon-based root of trust to harden server security to a new

level with innovative features such as:12

Cryptographically Trusted Booting— Anchors end-to-end server safety and overall data

center security. It includes features like silicon-based root of trust, digitally signed firmware

and automatic BIOS recovery.

iDRAC Credential Vault— Secure storage space for credentials, certificates, and other

sensitive data that is encrypted with a silicon-based key that is unique for every server.

System Lockdown— Capability unique to PowerEdge, helps secure any system

configuration and firmware from malicious or unintended changes while alerting users to

any attempted system changes. HPE does not offer a way to lockdown a configuration on its

servers.13

System Erase— Allows users to easily retire or repurpose their 14th generation PowerEdge

servers by securely and quickly wiping data from storage drives – including NVMe – and

other embedded non-volatile memory. HPE enables wiping data from HDDs and SSDs, but

not from NVMe drives.14

Dynamically enabled USB ports— Allows administrators to disable all USB ports and then

enable them dynamically for local crash cart usage (to let a local technician have temporary

access) – all without rebooting the server. This capability is unique to Dell EMC – to ensure

12 https://www.emc.com/about/news/press/2017/20170711-01.htm 13 Verified by Dell EMC internal evaluation team at Dell EMC labs in Round Rock, Texas (2017) and not mentioned as

a feature in the iLO5 user guide at https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=a00018324en_us 14 According to the HPE Gen 10 Security Reference Guide

https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=a00018320en_us, HPE supports secure erase of NAND with

no mention of NVMe drives

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 8

that even if someone has unauthorized access to the server, that he/she will not be able to

make any changes to the system using the USB ports.15

Differentiated Manageability and Serviceability

Dell EMC and HPE have fundamentally different approaches to manageability. HPE has

focused its announcements on a hardware virtualization platform called Synergy that is enabled

through its OneView tools while Dell EMC has been working to extend its leadership in

manageability through tighter integration with industry leading management consoles like

VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center.

With HPE’s Synergy architecture, it has focused on “Composable Infrastructure,” which

essentially describes an environment where hardware-based virtualization is utilized to

respond to changing business dynamics. Re-provisioning of hardware is accomplished through

HPE OneView management tools, and while plug-ins are available to integrate some OneView

functions with leading management tools like VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center,

fundamental activities like configuration and tuning takes place in the OneView console

requiring users to switch between the two. Similarly, maintenance activities like firmware

updates require additional tools and consoles such as HPE System Update Manager.

Meanwhile, Dell EMC has focused development on tighter integration of its management

functions into these third-party consoles. In fact, Dell EMC doesn’t call them “plug-ins” rather,

they are referred to as “OpenManage Integrations.” Similarly, rather than develop proprietary

hardware virtualization technologies, Dell EMC has instead focused on using these integrations

to expand the capabilities of the industry’s leading software virtualization environments. For

example, using the Dell EMC OpenManage Integration for vCenter, an administrator can auto-

detect a new server, automate the configuration of that server and install an Operating system

all without leaving the vCenter console.

While both approaches discussed in the previous two paragraphs can work, today’s user

experience environment demands one console for all operations as switching between consoles

requires additional training, additional layers of administrator access, and adds latency to

operations.

Dell EMC PowerEdge servers with Intel® Xeon® processors contain automation capabilities

that can help reduce administrator errors and speed deployment and updates. Dell EMC was

15 Verified by Dell EMC internal evaluation team at Dell EMC labs in Round Rock, Texas (2017) and not mentioned as

a feature in the iLO5 user guide at https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=a00018324en_us

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 9

the first vendor to factory-embed a high-functioning agent-free management capability in its

servers with the introduction of the Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) with

Lifecycle Controller in PowerEdge servers in 2009.16 This capability in PowerEdge servers

requires no OS or hypervisor to operate and enables agent-free management of all aspects of

PowerEdge servers, including NICs and storage. This can drive significant operational

efficiencies and continued production value for any user.

PowerEdge servers have additional manageability innovations that set them apart from HPE

offerings, including the following:

At-server Management— In 2014 Dell EMC introduced “iDRAC Direct” - a front USB port

that enables at-server management by plugging in a notebook, and also allows

administrators to update the system with a USB drive. HPE introduced the iLO5 service

port to this capability in its ProLiant Gen10 servers.17 In 2014 Dell EMC began offering

iDRAC QuickSync NFC wireless management at the server, with the latest version –

QuickSync 2 with Blue Tooth Low Energy – in 2017. As of January 2018, HPE does not offer

this wireless at-server management capability for its servers.18

Automation for Deployment and Updates— Deploy a server configuration automatically

as soon as a server is connected to the network: iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller

automatically retrieves the server’s entire configuration profile from Dell Repository

Manager. This Includes BIOS, iDRAC/LC, RAID and LOM/NIC configuration settings. Dell

EMC also offers automated updates of firmware.

Automation for Parts Replacement—Automated backup and “Easy Restore” for replacing

parts – including NICs, CNAs, PSUs, RAID controllers, and the motherboard.

Tool-less Component Removal— Dell EMC offers tool-less, color coded servicing – all the

way down to the motherboard.

16 Dell 12G servers required no agents, while HP Systems Insight Manager 6.3.1 required several agents. Calculations

based on February, 2012 testing by Principled Technologies on an enterprise with 1,000 servers supporting a total of

20 configurations of operating systems, applications, and hardware with a fully-loaded system administrator cost of

$98,000. Assumed servers have a 4-year lifecycle and require a patch every 2 months on at least one of their HP

Systems Insight Manager 6.3.1 agents. The patches for each 2-month period, applied in a single group, are first tested

on one server for each of 20 platforms (prepare test platform, patch, health check of platform, remediate problems),

and then rolled out to production servers. 17 https://www.hpe.com/us/en/pdfViewer.html?resource=/content/hpe/country/us/en/resources/servers/reference-

guide/ilo-4-quickSpecs&parentPage=/us/en/products/servers/integrated-lights-out-ilo (page 9)

18 Verified by Dell EMC internal evaluation team at Dell EMC labs in Round Rock, Texas (2017) and not mentioned as

a feature in the iLO5 user guide at https://support.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=a00018324en_us

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 10

Rear Handles— Dell EMC includes rear handles on rack servers – which help users to

install the systems in a rack (the handle can support the weight of the server fully

configured). HPE does not offer handles on its rack servers.19

First to Offer QRL Codes on all Servers— Dell EMC was the first to offer quick access to

system information through QRL codes, including service information. This feature was

introduced on all PowerEdge servers in 2012.20

A Revolutionary Modular Hardware Design

Both Dell EMC and HPE have complete portfolios of mature designs across standard server

form factors. Emerging modular hardware designs are gaining importance as converged

approaches to infrastructure are gaining traction in modern data center build-out. Here, the Dell

EMC PowerEdge FX modular server architecture with Intel® Xeon® processors features a

differentiated hardware design. Compared to HPE’s 10U Synergy hardware design, the 2U FX2

server form factor is uniquely rack-dense.

PowerEdge FX2 features a variety of configuration options with compute, storage and I/O

nodes that enable users to customize the system for specific workloads, while still maintaining

the advantages of a shared infrastructure system. Perhaps most critically, PowerEdge FX2 is

managed in exactly the same way as other current and legacy PowerEdge servers and can be

managed without disruption in a heterogeneous environment – so it does not result in a

management island when it is deployed.21

19 Based on observation of HPE rack servers purchased by Dell EMC – there are no rear handles and they are not

available as an option 20 https://blog.dellemc.com/en-us/qr-code-blog-post/ 21 http://www.storagereview.com/dell_poweredge_fx2_review

Edison: Dell EMC Server Competitive White Paper Page 11

Summary

Market economies and quickly evolving digital interactions are driving new and increasing

demands on IT infrastructure for organizations of all kinds. Organizations need to be ready to

support the rapidly evolving workloads that are a result of the new use paradigms (IoT, VMs,

VDI, etc.). Servers and the IT professionals that manage them are at the heart of IT

transformation that is driven by the emerging digital economy. Dell EMC’s achievements in

server modernization serve a distinct role among the marketplace of vendors addressing the

needs of IT transformation. The following is a summary of those achievements:

Market success— Dell EMC is the market leader in x86 servers, overtaking HPE in both

units and revenue. This is expected to continue into the future based on projected growth in

traditional applications, as well as emerging edge and cloud requirements (Artificial

Intelligence, Big Data, IoT, etc.).

Server innovations— There are several areas where Dell EMC provides unique functions

and features made possible by technological innovations and an awareness of end-user

requirements. For example, Dell EMC was the first to deliver hot plug, easy access PCIe

SSDs/NVMe drives, and a common backplane for PCIe SSDs/NVMe drives and standard

HDDs.

Heating and power advancements— Dissipating heat generated from server

components and power conservation are continual challenges for server manufacturers. Dell

EMC approaches this from multiple perspectives including “Fresh Air” configurations that

extend the operating range of its servers to combat energy costs, multi-vector cooling, and

OpenManage Power Center (OMPC) power management tool to enable single pane-of-glass

data center power management capability.

Design breakthroughs— While both Dell EMC and HPE have complete portfolios of

mature designs across standard server form factors, Dell EMC PowerEdge FX modular

server architecture features a rack-dense hardware design (2U) when compared to HPE’s

(10U) Synergy hardware design.

In addition, PowerEdge FX2 is managed in exactly the same way as other current and legacy

PowerEdge servers, and can be managed without disruption in a heterogeneous

environment – so it doesn’t result in a management island when it is deployed.

When looking for secure, innovative, high performing server solutions with a company that is

the market leader, Dell EMC is the clear choice.

To learn more about Dell EMC servers, visit DellEMC.com/Server.