The PowerEdge (PE) line is

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

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product line. PowerEdge machines come configured as

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

rack-mounted A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or ''ears'' that protrude from each side of the ...

, or

blade server A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, wh ...

s. Dell uses a consistent chip-set across servers in the same generation regardless of packaging, allowing for a common set of drivers and system-images.

Lifecycle and Remanufactured Hardware

Dell offers remanufactured PowerEdge servers through its Global Dell Outlet (GDO) program. These systems undergo a rigorous refurbishment and testing process to meet Dell’s original specifications. Remanufactured units are backed by warranty and offer a cost-effective, enterprise-grade option for organizations managing server refresh cycles or expanding infrastructure without compromising on performance. In 2025, Synergy Associates was recognized by CIOInsights as one of the Top 10 Leading Dell Partners Companies to Watch, in part due to their work with Dell Recertified hardware through the GDO program. A 2024 article from StorageReview highlights that Dell Recertified servers offered through the Global Dell Outlet (GDO) undergo full functional testing, firmware updates, and a complete operating system reset. The review notes that performance is comparable to new PowerEdge hardware, making them a viable option for production environments with tighter budgets. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and

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s also offer solutions based on PowerEdge servers. Loaded with custom software and with minor cosmetic changes, Dell's servers form the underlying hardware in certain appliances from IronPort,

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Exinda Exinda is a company that provides computer networking hardware for improving the performance of wide area networks (WANs), known as WAN optimization. In 2017, the company was acquired by GFI Software. Services As of 2008, Exinda provided wide a ...

Networks, and

Enterasys Enterasys Networks, Inc. was an American networking company. Enterasys products included networking equipment ranging from routers, switches, and IEEE 802.11 wireless access points and controllers. The company formed in March 2000 as a spin-off ...

History

The first PowerEdge systems were released in February 1994. The initial PowerEdge line comprised a range of 15 models, with the lowest-end entries powered by

Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...

i486 The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor introduced in 1989. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the i386, Intel 386. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the Inte ...

processor and the highest-end entries powered by the newest

Pentium Pentium is a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel from 1993 to 2023. The Pentium (original), original Pentium was Intel's fifth generation processor, succeeding the i486; Pentium was Intel's flagship proce ...

processors. The PowerEdge replaced Dell's earlier PowerLine SE server range. Most PowerEdge servers use the

x86 architecture x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel, based on the 8086 microprocessor and its 8-bit-external-bus variant, the 8088. T ...

. The early exceptions to this, the PowerEdge 3250, PowerEdge 7150, and PowerEdge 7250, used Intel's

Itanium Itanium (; ) is a discontinued family of 64-bit computing, 64-bit Intel microprocessors that implement the Intel Itanium architecture (formerly called IA-64). The Itanium architecture originated at Hewlett-Packard (HP), and was later jointly dev ...

processor, but Dell abandoned Itanium in 2005 after failing to find adoption in the marketplace. The partnership between Intel and Dell remained close, with Intel remaining the exclusive source of

processors Processor may refer to: Computing Hardware * Processor (computing) ** Central processing unit (CPU), the hardware within a computer that executes a program *** Microprocessor, a central processing unit contained on a single integrated circuit ( ...

in Dell's servers until 2006. In May 2006 Dell announced that it also intended to develop servers using

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

Opteron Opteron is AMD's x86 former server and workstation Microprocessor, processor line, and was the first processor which supported the AMD64 instruction set architecture (known generically as x86-64). It was released on April 22, 2003, with the ''Sl ...

processors. The first Opteron-based PowerEdge systems, the PowerEdge 6950 and the PowerEdge SC1435, appeared in October 2006. In 2007 the PowerEdge line accounted for approximately 15% of Dell's overall revenue from computer-hardware sales. In subsequent years Dell made the transition from a pure hardware vendor to a solutions-provider and services company, as evidenced, for example, by the acquisition of

Perot Systems Perot Systems Corporation was an information technology services provider founded in 1988 by a group of investors led by Ross Perot and based in Plano, Texas, United States. Perot Systems provided information technology services in the industries ...

and KACE Networks and the setup of a special global services department within Dell.

PowerEdge RAID Controller

Dell uses the name PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC) for proprietary versions of its

RAID RAID (; redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks) is a data storage virtualization technology that combines multiple physical Computer data storage, data storage components into one or more logical units for th ...

computer storage controllers. The related software in the PERC Fault Management Suite offered facilities such as the Background Patrol read, which aims to fix bad sectors on online RAID disks running under some of the PERC controllers around 2006. These cards were equipped with hardware from

LSI Corporation LSI Logic Corporation was an American company founded in Santa Clara, California, was a pioneer in the ASIC and EDA industries. It evolved over time to design and sell semiconductors and software that accelerated storage and networking in dat ...

or Intel, 256 MBytes of memory (upgradeable on the 5/i to 512 MB), support up to 8x SATA 3.0 Gbit/s drives without the use of expanders. They had an optional Battery Backup Unit (BBU) to allow more flexible use of the memory during writes, enhancing performance in RAID5 and 6, and operate over the

PCI Express PCI Express (Peripheral Component Interconnect Express), officially abbreviated as PCIe, is a high-speed standard used to connect hardware components inside computers. It is designed to replace older expansion bus standards such as Peripher ...

interface.

Chassis systems

Although PowerEdge is mainly used to refer to servers there are a few systems where the term PowerEdge refers to systems of which servers are (just) a part. Examples of these usages are: : PowerEdge M1000e - the Dell blade-server system where the complete system uses the term PowerEdge, and M1000e refers to the chassis and the complete combination of components in them. The individual non-server components have also their own name in their 'own' family such as PowerConnect M-switches or

EqualLogic EqualLogic, Inc. was an American computer data storage company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, active from 2001 to 2007. In 2008, the company was merged into Dell Inc. Dell-branded EqualLogic products are iSCSI-based storage area network (SAN) sy ...

blade-SAN. : PowerEdge VRTX - the converged system consisting of (up to) 4 PowerEdge M-blade servers, the built-in storage solution and the I/O networking module.

Model naming convention

Since the introduction of the generation 10 servers in 2007 Dell adopted a standardized method for naming their servers; the name of each server is represented by a letter followed by 3 digits. The letter indicates the type of server: R (for Rack-mountable) indicates a 19" rack-mountable server, M (for Modular) indicates a blade server, while T (for Tower) indicates a stand-alone server. This letter is then followed by 3 digits: * The first digit refers to the number of CPU sockets in the system: 1 to 3 for one socket, 4 to 7 for two sockets, and 9 for four sockets. 8 can be either two or four sockets depending on generation and CPU maker * The second digit refers to the generation: 0 for Generation 10, 1 for Generation 11, and so on. * The third digit indicates the maker of the CPU: 0 for

or 5 for

Advanced Micro Devices Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a Information technology, hardware and F ...

(AMD). For example: The Dell PowerEdge M610 was a modular two-socket server of the 11th generation using an Intel CPU while the R605 was a rack-mountable two-socket AMD-based rack-server of the 10th generation. Prior to the Generation 10 servers, the naming convention was as follows: * First digit – Height of the server in

rack unit A rack unit (abbreviated U or RU) is a unit of measure defined as . It is most frequently used as a measurement of the overall height of 19-inch and 23-inch rack frames, as well as the height of equipment that mounts in these frames, whereby th ...

s * Second digit – Generation of server (up to 9th generation) * Third digit – Server type (5 for rack server, 0 for tower server, although tower servers could be outfitted with a rack chassis) * Fourth digit – Indicated whether blade or independent box (5 for blade, 0 for normal independent box) Example 1: PowerEdge 2650 ( 2 = 2U server, 6 = 6th generation, 5 = rack server, 0 = normal ) Example 2: PowerEdge 6950 ( 6 = 4U server, 9 = 9th generation, 5 = rack server, 0 = normal ) Example 3: PowerEdge 2800 ( 2 = ased on2U server 2850, 8 = 8th generation, 0 = tower server, 0 = normal ) Example 4: PowerEdge 1855 ( 1 = 1U server, 8 = 8th generation, 5 = rack server, 5 = blade ) Most servers had a tower equivalent. For example, the PowerEdge 2800 was the tower equivalent of the 2850. The naming applies to the tower version too, but the tower version will usually be between 5U and 6U.

References

External links

Dell Server Documentation

Review Dell PowerEdge R810

Review Dell PowerEdge R815
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PowerEdge The PowerEdge (PE) line is Dell's server computer product line. PowerEdge machines come configured as tower, rack-mounted, or blade servers. Dell uses a consistent chip-set across servers in the same generation regardless of packaging, allowing ...

Server hardware

Computer-related introductions in 1994