Dell and Nvidia Collaborate to Enhance AI Manufacturing

Dell Technologies is enhancing its AI Factory by incorporating technology from Nvidia, introducing new rack-based servers, edge devices, workstations, and services. This strategic move is part of the broader shift towards AI infrastructure, with the Nvidia Blackwell GPU playing a pivotal role. According to Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, Dell will leverage this technology to cater to its enterprise customers.

The latest addition to the Dell PowerEdge lineup, the XE9680L, is designed to support up to eight Blackwell GPUs within a compact 4U form factor, offering a higher rack-scale GPU density compared to its predecessors. This server stands out for providing 33% more GPU density per node, along with 20% more PCIe Gen. 5 slots and double the North/South network expansion capacity.

"We now have the ability to manufacture intelligence," remarked Jensen Huang. "The last Industrial Revolution focused on software manufacturing, preceded by electricity manufacturing. Today, we are in the era of manufacturing intelligence. At its core, every company is an intelligence manufacturer."

Cooling plays a crucial role in the AI factory ecosystem, and Dell is implementing direct liquid cooling (DLC) to enhance overall efficiency by boosting cooling capacity for both CPUs and GPUs. The turnkey rack-scale solution offers flexibility, with options for air-cooled designs supporting 64 GPUs in a single rack or liquid-cooled configurations accommodating 72 Blackwell GPUs per rack. These configurations come fully integrated for seamless deployment and installation.

The Dell server is powered by NativeEdge, an innovative edge orchestration platform that streamlines the delivery of Nvidia AI Enterprise software, including the Nvidia NIM AI model distribution service. Leveraging Nvidia Tensor Core GPUs, Spectrum-X Ethernet networking fabric, and Bluefield data processing units (DPUs), the Dell AI Factory is equipped to handle a wide range of AI use cases requiring accelerated performance.

"Generative AI necessitates a new breed of computing infrastructure – an AI factory dedicated to intelligence production," explained Jensen Huang. "Through our collaboration, Nvidia and Dell are offering industries a comprehensive solution encompassing computing, networking, and software to drive innovations like copilots, coding assistants, virtual customer service agents, and industrial digital twins."

Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, emphasized the significance of the partnership with Nvidia in seizing the AI opportunity swiftly. He stated, "Our continued collaboration with Nvidia is instrumental in simplifying AI adoption for organizations, empowering them to embrace the forthcoming technological revolution with confidence." The Dell PowerEdge XE9680L servers, along with NativeEdge deployment blueprints, are slated for release in the latter half of 2024.

Sources: www.dell.com; www.nvidia.com