Dell gets on The Green Grid

AUSTIN, Texas--Dell has agreed to join an Advanced Micro Devices-backed nonprofit organization to reduce power in the data center, AMD CEO Hector Ruiz announced Wednesday at the 2006 World Congress on Information Technology here.

Dell joins AMD, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard and IBM, the founding members of The Green Grid, announced last month. Rackable Systems and Egenera have also joined the consortium, which seeks to provide a discussion forum and best-practices resource for IT managers trying to control power consumption in their data centers.

Power consumption has become one of the most pressing issues for IT managers. Not only do the processors in servers consume a lot of power, but more and more electricity is required to run the cooling infrastructure needed to keep rooms of servers up and running.

Michael Dell, the PC maker's founder and chairman, plans to give more details on the company's decision to join The Green Grid on Thursday during his keynote at WCIT, Ruiz said. Dell is an exclusive customer of AMD's fierce rival, Intel, despite years of flirtation between the two companies. But AMD's most recent server chips consume less power than Intel's, which AMD's partners have tried to use as a selling point against Dell.

The WCIT meets every two years to discuss the world's technology problems and opportunities. Delegates from more than 80 countries plan to vote later on Wednesday on specific recommendations for solving problems related to digital access, health care, and privacy and security.

[fred dunn]

WHAT? Then Hades Really is Freezing Over?

Just because Dell joins the consortium doesn't mean that Dell will start using AMD products. Intel's Otellini has Michael Dell on a short leash and seldom takes him for walks in neighborhoods where AMD is present.
This is just another means for Dell to leverage AMD against Intel for a better price point as well as gaining insight into how REAL enterprise servers are supposed to be built.
How many times have we seen this before?
Dell is Intel and I wouldn't put money on that EVER changing.

[fred dunn]

WHAT? Then Hades Really is Freezing Over?

Just because Dell joins the consortium doesn't mean that Dell will start using AMD products. Intel's Otellini has Michael Dell on a short leash and seldom takes him for walks in neighborhoods where AMD is present.
This is just another means for Dell to leverage AMD against Intel for a better price point as well as gaining insight into how REAL enterprise servers are supposed to be built.
How many times have we seen this before?
Dell is Intel and I wouldn't put money on that EVER changing.