Administrator Guide

Direct from Development
Server and Infrastructure
Engineering
Internal Use - Confidential
Copyright © 2019 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell, EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries
The Advantages of Configuring a PowerEdge
Server with Agnostic SSD Drives
What is an Agnostic Drive?
When configuring a PowerEdge server with components, Dell EMC
prefers to give customers ample solid-state drive (SSD) options to meet
their server requirements. These choices have traditionally consisted of
approved drive vendors, such as Intel or Samsung, but now include one
more alternative; agnostic (Dell-branded) SSDs.
The underlying concept is that without an agnostic choice to select,
customers may be subject to trade-offs associated with a specific brand,
such as prolonged lead times or premium pricing. By purchasing a large
pool of SSD hardware from approved vendors, Dell EMC can provide a
drive configuration with minimal trade-offs. The primary drawback of
agnostic is that customers can’t pick the exact drive brand they want.
However, this strategy is advantageous for the 65% of customers who
do not prefer one
brand name over
another or are
willing to disregard
brand name for the
advantages that
will be discussed
within this paper.
Rigorous
Validation
Agnostic SSD
drives are put
through the same
rigorous qualification process as vendor-specific drives. First, the
manufacturing process is heavily scrutinized for quality standards,
including quality control processes that will confirm every drive is
compatible with all other components installed in PowerEdge servers.
Then once within a server, each drive must meet the exact specifications
for performance, duty cycles, mean time between failure (MTBF) and
rotational vibration to pass reliability testing standards and move forward
for sales distribution. Additionally, once off the shelf, a full history report
for traceability is available in case proactive replacement is needed.
Tech Note by
Matt Ogle
Paul Lambert
Jeff Kimber
Summary
Dell EMC gives customers
the option to purchase an
Agnostic (Dell Branded),
SSD drive with their
PowerEdge server
configuration.
Although some customers
prefer specific SSD
vendors, most PowerEdge
owners do not prefer one
brand name over another,
especially when they
benefit from picking
agnostic offerings
This DfD debriefs why
agnostic drives are included
as an option and highlights
how PowerEdge customers
benefit from going agnostic
with their SSD drive
selection.
Figure 1: Agnostic (Dell Branded) SSD