¶ Dell Info
¶ Products Covered
Products likely to be referred to in this exam include but are not limited to:
- PowerEdge Rack Servers
- PowerEdge Modular Servers
- PowerEdge Tower Servers
- PowerEdge Cloud Servers
¶ Exam Topics
Topics likely to be covered on this exam include:
Introduction to Servers (30%)
- Describe the different types of servers
- Identify storage components
- Navigate to storage menu using the iDRAC UI
- Explain RAID concepts
- Create virtual disk using the iDRAC UI
- Explain server system setup
- Reboot server into system setup and create RAID storage
- Attach virtual memory and install the Windows operating system
Server Networking (11%)
- Distinguish between the types of roles and applications that servers perform
- Differentiate between the different types of Ethernet cables, the Ethernet speeds, Ethernet standards, and Network Daughter Cards (NDC)
- Describe the internet protocols and IP addressing and how to configure an IP address
- Understand the different types of network services
- Describe Virtualization and its benefits in the server infrastructure
Server Maintenance (46%)
- Differentiate between server components
- Identify the different server management applications
- Describe server power distribution
- Explain server environments and maintenance
- Explain how servers are monitored for benchmark performance using unique tools
- Understand server troubleshooting tasks
- Manage server configuration and apply change management
Server Security (13%)
- Define server security
- Explain how to accomplish server security
- Understand data backup (e.g. data backup plans, data backup policies, and backup execution.)
- Analyze storage solutions
The percentages after each topic above reflects the approximate distribution of the total question set across the exam.
¶ Introduction to Servers
¶ Form Factors
| Tower | Rack | Modular |
|---|---|---|
| These contain multiple disk drive bays, expansion card slots. They are compact. Usually found in an office space rather than in the datacentre. A good choice for a small company. | Rack servers are designed to fit in to the confined spaces of the datacentre. These are usually more expensive than tower servers. These are also better suited for medium to large businesses | Modular servers (aka sleds or blades) fit in to a dedicated chassis. The chassis usually provides power, networking and cooling. These further increase the compute density in a datacentre setting. |
¶ 16G PowerEdge Portfolio
| Mainstream | Mainstream Optimized | GPU Optimized | Specialised Modules | Edge Optimized |
|---|---|---|---|---|
For datacentres which require standardized hardware for several workloads. Providing the highest performance, capacity and configuration flexibility |
Feature optimized technology, full performance enterprise server for customer looking to scale out their compute environment without over provisioning |
Server platforms to optimize with next generation technologies. GPU density to provide maximum performance for all accelerated environments such as HPC, AI, DB analytics, and VDI |
High compute performance, higher core/node density per rack enables HPC, research, rendering, vectorized and advanced vector extensions. Features density optimized compute and low latency I/O configurations |
Designed to bring tier 1 features to Edge and Telco environments. Full PowerEdge features and management. Has a minimum footprint and enterprise compute to optimize expensive retail space and deliver a targeted virtual experience |
¶ Dell PowerEdge Naming Convention
¶ Three Number Naming Convention
| R | 7 | 6 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server Type | Server Class | Generation | CPU Type |
¶ Four Number Naming Convention
| C | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Server Type | Management Class | Generation | CPU Sockets | CPU Type |
¶ Technology Evolution
¶ Modular Server Characteristics
| PowerEdge FX series (Legacy) |
PowerEdge VRTX (Legacy) |
PowerEdge M1000e (Legacy) |
PowerEdge MX7000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The FX2 is a 2U hybrid rack-based computing platform which can be configured to host quarter, half and full width servers as well as a half width storage sled. FX2 includes a network swtich, eight PCIe slots. |
Dual SD cards for redundant hypervisors. Hotplug swappable HDDs, plus many RAID options tailored to specific needs including optional PERC for RAID controller failover inside the chassis. Optional hotswap PSUs and fans. VRTX management can integrate with major third-party manamgement tools, protecting installed investments and allowing users to work with tools familiar to them. This avoids additional cost and time relating to new management systems. VRTX was designed to |
Efficient with with power, thermal efficiency, performance, flexibility, and system-wide availability. The chassis integrates the latest in management, I/O, power, and cooling technologies. Highly efficient PSUs and large variable-speed fan are used to cool the whole chassis whilst consuming less power. |
Chassis hosts disaggregated blocks of server and storage to create on-demand resources. Shared power, cooling, networking, I/O, and in chassis management provide outstanding efficiencies. The MX creates shared pools of disaggregated compute and storage resources. Users can create workloads using pooled resources. When workload is no longer needed, resources are returned to the pool. On-demand capacity can be managed at a datacentre level instead of a per-server level. |
¶ Modular Server Comparison
| Characteristic | FX | VRTX | M1000e | MX7000 | C6620 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form factor | 2U Modular enclosure | Tower or 5U modular enclosure | 10U modular enclosure | 7U modular enclosure | 2U C6600 chassis |
| Server options | Four half width Eight quarter width |
Four half heigh Two full height |
Eight full height 16 half height 32 quarter height |
Eight standard size Four double width |
Two half width |
| Server Models | FC430 FC830 FC640 FM120x4 |
M520 M620 M630 M830 M640 |
M600 M506 M805 M905 M610 M610x M710 M710HD M910 M915 M420 M520 M620 M820 M630 M640 M830 |
MX740c MX750c MX840c MX760c |
C4140 C5400 C6420 C6500 C6520 C6525 C6600 |
| Storage Options | FD332 (up to 3) | Integrated | PSM410 (up to 4) | MX5016s (up to 7) | Up to 16x2.5" SAS/SATA/NVMe (HDD or SSD) drives max 61TB |
| PCIe Slots | 8 PCIe low profile slots | Three full height, five low profile | N/A | N/A | 2xPCIe Gen5, Low profile, half length |
| IOM quantity | 3 full width | One full height | Six full height | Four full width two half width |
N/A |
| IOMs | FN2210S, FN410s, FN410T, Pass Through | R1-2401, R1-2210, Pass Through | M8024-K, MXL, M6348, M6220, M6505, M5242, M4001F, M4000T, Pass-Through | MX9116n, MX7116n, MX5108 n, MXG640x, MX5000s, MX8116 n, Pass-Through | N/A |