Dell Technologies is expanding its AI capabilities in collaboration with NVIDIA to introduce a range of new servers, edge solutions, and services designed to accelerate AI adoption and innovation. The latest advancements, showcased under the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA initiative, aim to simplify the implementation of AI technologies for businesses, helping them leverage the power of AI to drive digital transformation.

Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, emphasized the importance of this collaboration in helping organizations capture AI opportunities.Announced at Dell Technologies World 2024 this week in Las Vegas, the The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA integrates Dell’s robust AI portfolio with NVIDIA’s AI Enterprise software platform. This combination leverages NVIDIA Tensor Core GPUs, NVIDIA Spectrum-X Ethernet networking fabric, and NVIDIA Bluefield DPUs to deliver powerful performance. Customers can choose tailored capabilities or pre-validated, full-stack solutions to address AI use cases that demand accelerated performance, such as model training and inferencing.

Among the new offerings is the Dell PowerEdge XE9680L server, which supports eight NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs in a compact 4U form factor. This server would boast 33% more GPU density per node, 20% more PCIe Gen 5 slots, and double the North/South network expansion capacity compared to previous models. With direct liquid cooling (DLC) technology, the XE9680L would enhance cooling efficiency for CPUs and GPUs, improving overall performance and energy efficiency. This server will be available fully configured for rack-scale deployments and onsite installation in the second half of 2024.

Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, emphasized the importance of this collaboration in helping organizations capture AI opportunities. “Our expansion of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA continues our joint mission – we’re making it easy for organizations to implement AI so they can move boldly into this next technological revolution.”

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang highlighted the necessity of an AI-specific infrastructure to support modern AI applications. “Generative AI requires a new type of computing infrastructure – an AI factory that produces intelligence,” Mr. Huang explained. He pointed out that the partnership with Dell provides industries with a comprehensive stack of computing, networking, and software solutions essential for deploying AI technologies such as digital assistants, customer service agents, and industrial digital twins.

Large GPU-Accelerated Deployments

Dell is also launching energy-efficient rack-scale solutions to facilitate large GPU-accelerated deployments. Options include an air-cooled design supporting 64 GPUs per rack and a liquid-cooled variant featuring 72 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs per rack.

The introduction of Dell NativeEdge would mark a significant step in edge AI application deployment. NativeEdge is the first edge orchestration platform that automates the delivery of NVIDIAAI Enterprise software, enabling developers and IT operators to deploy AI applications and solutions at the edge more efficiently. Businesses across various sectors can use NativeEdge deployment blueprints, which include NVIDIA Metropolis for video analytics, NVIDIA Riva for speech and translation capabilities, and NVIDIA NIM for inference microservices.

Dell’s new Generative AI Solution for Digital Assistants aims to expedite the deployment of digital assistants that provide personalized self-service experiences. This full-stack solution, combined with Dell and NVIDIA technology, helps organizations design, implement, and scale digital assistant applications quickly and effectively.

Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA

The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA would simplify AI environment setup through full-stack deployment automation, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA. This automation can reduce the time to value by up to 86% compared to self-deployment. When paired with NVIDIA NIM inference microservices, the time from delivery to running inferencing jobs is further minimized. These microservices offer optimized inference engines for popular AI models, streamlining the development process.

New Dell Accelerator Services for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) on Precision AI Workstations are also available. These services help organizations shorten AI development cycles and enhance application performance by using RAG on Dell Precision workstations with NVIDIA AI Workbench, a platform for experimenting, testing, and prototyping AI and ML projects securely.

Dave Vellante, Chief Analyst at theCUBE Research, noted that while AI promises simplification, it also introduces complexities. “Dell’s end-to-end capabilities are a core differentiator that we believe will translate to AI. The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA is a leading example of an AI solution designed to simplify adoption for emerging AI workloads,” said Mr. Vellante.

In summary, Dell’s latest advancements in collaboration with NVIDIA would provide a robust framework for organizations looking to adopt AI technologies efficiently. By offering a comprehensive suite of servers, edge solutions, and AI deployment services, Dell and NVIDIA are paving the way for faster, more efficient AI adoption across various industries.