Dell targets SMBs with server, storage and networks refresh

Dell has announced a portfolio of new products aimed at small and medium sized businesses (SMBs), including entry-level servers, network-attached storage (NAS) and low-cost Ethernet switches for networking.

Available immediately, the products are aimed at helping SMB customers tackle the growing volume of data, Dell said, especially with multimedia content on the increase and creeping adoption of devices such as smartphones.

"One thing we're hearing from customers, amongst their many concerns, is: 'Can my back-end can scale to meet the onslaught of data coming from these new client devices?'," said Tony Parkinson, director of Dell's enterprise business division for small and medium customers.

Dell sees its role as helping SMB customers to make the best use of their IT, he added, with Dell's ProSupport services providing technical backup.

Dell's new servers are the entry-level PowerEdge T110 II and mid-level PowerEdge R210 II, which are refreshed versions of the existing T110 and R210, but featuring Intel's recently launched Xeon E3-1200 quad-core processors.

The T110 II is a standalone tower system designed to be a customer's first server, while the R210 II is for slightly larger companies with rack-mounted infrastructure.

Both can be configured with up to 32GB of memory and up to four SAS or Sata hard drives, and are available with Windows Server 2008 or Windows Small Business Server 2011, which includes Exchange email and Sharepoint collaboration services.

Prices for the PowerEdge T110 II and R210 II start at £349 and £509 respectively.