Dell is extending its AI Factory range at the Supercomputing 2024 (SC24) event in Atlanta with Data Lakehouse and AI-focused server announcements.
It says the Data Lakehouse updates provide modern architectures for efficiently managing and analyzing data for AI tasks. It will expand to include Apache Spark for distributed data processing at scale. This Spark integration "will provide significant efficiency gains, with a unified approach for data analytics, management, processing and analysis for faster, more actionable insights."
Arthur Lewis, president, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies, stated: "Getting AI up and running across a company can be a real challenge. We're making it easier for our customers with new AI infrastructure, solutions and services."
Dell's Data Lakehouse was announced back in March and featured the Starburst Trino query engine, Kubernetes-orchestrated lakehouse system software, and scale-out S3-compatible object storage based on Dell's ECS, ObjectScale, or PowerScale storage products. The Starburst code included so-called Warp Speed technology, with Apache Lucene indexing and caching technology.
Apache Spark is a distributed data processing engine designed for batch processing, real-time streaming, machine learning, and advanced analytics. Starburst Trino is a distributed SQL query engine intended for interactive and ad hoc queries across heterogeneous data sources.
The company boosted lakehouse query speed, added and upgraded connectors, and improved monitoring and security in June.
Dell announced two new servers in 4RU chassis for its 19-inch IR5000 rack:
Dell has a new XE server coming that will support Nvidia's GB200 Grace Blackwell Superchip, with up to 144 GPUs per IR7000 rack (see bootnote).
It is also introducing:
It says the Agentic RAG with Nvidia design "helps organizations with large datasets use AI agents to improve RAG workflow performance, handle complex queries, and deliver higher quality outcomes."
Dell's Professional Services can, it says, ease AI adoption with Advisory and Implementation Services for Sustainable Data Centers, Data Management Services, Design Services for AI Networking, and Implementation Services for ServiceNow Now Assist.
The Dell Integrated Rack Scalable Systems (IRSS) program is a turnkey factory integration program that delivers fully loaded, plug-and-play rack-scale systems with Dell Smart Cooling. IRSS has one-call service and support options for the entire rack and Dell takes care of the packaging waste and recycling.
The IR5000 is a standard 19-inch rack engineered for general-purpose datacenter applications. The IR7000 is a 50U standard rack incorporating liquid cooling, with the ability for near 100 percent heat capture, and has 21-inch wide sleds. This rack is for large-scale HPC and AI workloads requiring high power.