New Dell PowerEdge Servers Elevate Performance, Reliability, Manageability; Feature Customer-Inspired Design Enhancements; Server Line Reduces Complexity and Power Consumption in the Data Center.

ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) today unveiled its ninth-generation PowerEdge servers that feature the most comprehensive enhancements ever to the widely installed product line and support the company's strategy to drive more complete and cost-effective enterprise technologies across a variety of information-technology environments.

The new PowerEdge servers will integrate high-performance Intel Xeon 5100 series processors that lower power consumption(1) and advances in memory technology with an enhanced industrial design to give customers cutting-edge capabilities without increased complexity or cost.

"Dell continues its laser focus on delivering exceptional value, performance and investment protection for customers," said Brad Anderson, senior vice president, Dell Product Group. "No other company can exceed our ability to combine customer feedback with the latest industry-standard technology to deliver complete enterprise offerings. Our ninth-generation servers deliver on the first in a series of steps Dell is taking to drive reduced complexity and simplified operations for our customers."

Higher Performance, Lower Power Demands

The Dell PowerEdge 1950, 2900 and 2950 servers and Dell PowerEdge 1955 blade server dramatically boost performance. For example, the new Dell PowerEdge servers powered by Intel Xeon 5100 series processors can deliver up to a 152 percent performance increase over the previous generation 2U Dell PowerEdge server.(2)

The new server portfolio can also lower power consumption by up to 25 percent, providing an increase in performance per watt of electricity of up to 169 percent and addressing customer requirements to reduce the cost and environmental impact of data center power demands.(1)

Enhanced performance and reliability are achieved through:

--Intel dual-core Xeon 5100 series processors, which significantly increase performance while reducing power requirements

--Fully buffered DIMMs that provide a new memory interface for faster data transmission, plus improved signal integrity and error detection

--SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) hard drives for faster, more reliable data transmission and reduced thermal output

--TCP/IP Offload Engine, which helps reduce traffic on a host processor to enhance system performance

--Enhanced virtualization technology for improved performance, management and utilization in virtualized workloads such as VMware ESX, Microsoft Virtual Server or Xen

--PCI-Express I/O, which delivers high-performance Ethernet, RAID, InfiniBand and Fibre Channel interconnect while providing investment protection for future technologies

Improved Design and Management for Reduced Complexity

Dell is introducing a number of industrial design and image management enhancements, many driven by Dell's direct relationship with customers. They include:

--Industry-first programmable LCD that enables quick and easy visual diagnosis of server faults

--Individually labeled hard drives that provide quick identification of the technology, capacity and speed

--Standardized color coding and cabling that make PowerEdge servers easier to manage and service today and with future generations

--Draw-latch design for tool-less access to server components

--The only server vendor that provides one system image (i.e., BIOS, drivers, operating systems and applications) to manage three servers: PowerEdge 1950, 2950 and 2900

--ImageWatch(TM), a Dell service that helps customers proactively manage the number of changes to system images, available in a block-release format further reducing the amount of image changes a customer has to manage.

Dell is continuing on its industry-first, fully integrated deployment and change management solution with Dell OpenManage(TM) 5.0. The enhanced systems management capabilities and tight partner integration give customers greater flexibility, security and control over their server environment. Dell Open Manage 5.0 delivers comprehensive hardware deployment, monitoring and management with features including:

--DRAC5 (Dell Remote Access Controller) for improved performance in secure remote management

--Integrated hardware and software management with partner applications like Altiris Server Management Suite, Microsoft SMS and MOM, and Novell ZENworks Linux Management - Dell Edition, providing single console management of enterprise resources

--Dell OpenManage Connections, which allows comprehensive hardware monitoring within industry management frameworks

--IMPI 2.0 and SMASH, which deliver simplified management capabilities today and in the future via a standardized management infrastructure

--Improved Linux Integration with full support for Novell SuSE Linux SLES9

--Improved integration between Dell OpenManage and VMware ESX 3.0, allowing simplified monitoring for customers' hardware devices dedicated to virtual machines

Driving Commonality and Simplified Operations in the Enterprise

Dell's ninth-generation PowerEdge servers anchor a broad initiative to drive commonality between server, storage and software technologies, making it easier and more cost-effective for customers to deploy enterprise technology in a variety of IT environments. This initiative will generate announcements throughout the year, furthering Dell's leadership in enterprise technologies and services for demanding workloads, such as database, with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and Oracle Database 10g; virtualization, with VMware ESX Server and Microsoft Virtual Server; and Microsoft Exchange.

In a related announcement, Dell enhanced its network-attached storage (NAS) portfolio with two new Dell Storage Servers. Optimized for file sharing, both NAS products are based on Dell's new PowerEdge 2900 and PowerEdge 2950 servers. The new storage products further Dell's efforts to simplify storing, managing and protecting data for enterprises of all sizes.

Customers can also benefit from Dell's approach to IT infrastructure services. The company applies its world-class process management and "no excuses" culture to deliver customer flexibility and repeatable quality. As customers grapple with managing IT costs, combining Dell services with the latest generation of server and storage products helps customers maximize their assets and minimize downtime. New and improved Enterprise support services to be announced later this month will continue to improve availability in customers' complex IT environments.

Pricing and Availability

The Dell PowerEdge 1950, 2900 and 2950 servers featuring Intel 5000 series dual-core Xeon processors are available today worldwide. Prices start at $1,749, $1,749 and $1,849 respectively. Dell PowerEdge 1950, 2900, 2950 servers featuring Intel 5100 series dual-core Xeon processors and PowerEdge 1955 blade servers featuring Intel 5000 and 5100 series dual-core Xeon processors and related pricing will be available in the coming weeks. Additional product information is available at http://www.dell.com/poweredge. Product photography is available at http://www.dell.com/photos.

About Dell

Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. Company revenue for the past four quarters was $56.7 billion. For more information, visit www.dell.com. To get Dell news direct, visit www.dell.com/RSS.

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(1) Based on testing performed by Dell Labs in May 2006 using the SPECjbb2005 benchmark on a PE2950 with two dual core Intel Xeon 5160 (3.0Ghz Woodcrest) processors, 4GB 667Mhz and 533Mhz FBD memory, 2x SAS 73GB/15k rpm HDDs, Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition OS as compared to a PE2850 with two dual core Intel Xeon 2.8Ghz Paxville processors, 4GB 400Mhz DDR2 memory, 2x SCSI 36GB/15K rpm HD's, and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition OS. Actual performance and power consumption will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability.

(2) Based on the SPECjbb2005 benchmark test performed by Dell Labs in December 2005 and April-May 2006 on a PE1950 with two dual core Intel Xeon 5160 (3.0Ghz Woodcrest) processors, 8GB 667Mhz FBD memory, 1x SATA 80GB/7.2K rpm HDD, and Windows Server 2003 Enterprise x64 Edition OS as compared to a PE2850 with two dual core Intel Xeon 2.8Ghz (Paxville) processors, 8GB 400Mhz DDR2 memory, 1x SCSI 36GB/15K rpm HDD, and Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition, SP1 OS. Actual performance will vary based on configuration, usage and manufacturing variability.