Dell, Google Get Together for Server Sales

Dell, the world’s largest retailer of personal computers by market share, has tasked search heavy Google with selling upgraded versions of its server offerings, called PowerEdge systems, which will include the upcoming Intel “Woodcrest” microprocessor, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The PowerEdge systems are expected to be available within a few weeks, according to the Journal.

Just last month, Dell announced it would use chips from Advanced Micro Devices in a handful of its high-end servers, which the company had never done, having used only Intel microprocessors in the past, the Journal reports. The two companies also announced plans in May to preinstall Google software on millions of Dell PCs.

Dell’s inclusion of the as-of-yet-unreleased Intel microprocessors, code-named “Woodcrest,” could end up marking the first time the product is used within servers, and Dell expects them to improve performance per watt of electricity employed and cut power consumption by as much as 25 percent, according to the Journal.

Google will use the PowerEdge systems as “search appliances,” which it offers to businesses to help search internal databases or files, according to the Journal, and the hardware/software bundles will start at roughly $30,000 each. 

Neither company offered any specific financial details of the deal, the Journal reports.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell owns the PC space, but it has seen a boom in competition in the server market in recent days, namely from Hewlett-Packard.

For related news coverage, read Dell to Add 1,000 Jobs in Tenn.

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.