14 DAY TRIAL // Dell has just announced two new PowerEdge servers that have been tweaked for improved performance per watt, making them the first "green" servers that have ever been produced by Dell. Customers can buy Energy Smart versions of Dell's two-socket 1950 and 2950 rack mountable servers. The systems include low voltage versions of Intel's Xeon chip, somewhat more energy efficient power supplies and a couple of new designed fans in order to improve the air flow at a lower cost. As a result, the modified systems show about 25% better performance per watt and 24% lower power consumption (on load) than the non-tweaked versions of the PowerEdge.
As always, acting in the name of your planet won't save your wallet. And this is exactly the case with the new servers. Dell officially says that the Energy Smart systems will cost about $100 more than the classical PowerEdge 2950 (2U) and 1950 (1U) servers. One might say that the higher cost will be compensated by the fact that the energy efficient servers consume less but as Dell did not release any specific comparison between the old and the new, we cannot say for sure that this is a good deal.
It is a known fact that Dell charges an $350 extra for the low voltage Xeons on its website so it's not a complete surprise that the servers equipped with such CPUs come out more expensive that their regular brothers. Behind this market move though, I can clearly see that Dell struggles to push forward with its green roadmap. And it's not just Dell who has developed an obsession for saving the planet as IBM, Sun Microsystems and HP have also announced all kinds of green parts and PCs. It seems that system integrators have launched a new wave of green. Unfortunately, they are charging more money than ever. I don't see where the green in that is.