Dell Technologies

The Dell servers and storage we deploy

Dell is one of the brands we build our clients' server and storage infrastructure on. We work mainly with PowerEdge servers, in rack or tower form factor depending on the space available in the server room, and with PowerVault storage for environments that need shared capacity beyond a server's local disks. We don't repurpose consumer hardware for server duty: the difference shows up in redundant power supplies, hardware RAID support and the availability of spare parts over the long term, all things that matter when a server has to stay powered on for years without unplanned downtime.

On these servers we almost always deploy a virtualised environment on Proxmox, the platform behind most of the virtualisation projects we manage, to host multiple Windows or Linux virtual machines on a single physical host. We size the processor, RAM and RAID configuration around the number of virtual machines planned, the storage required and the redundancy level the business needs, avoiding both under-sizing and spending that the real workload doesn't justify.

• PowerEdge rack and tower servers
• PowerVault storage for shared capacity
• Virtualisation on Proxmox
• Hardware RAID and redundant power supplies

When Dell is the right call, and when it isn't

Dell is the right choice when a business needs to consolidate several physical servers into one virtualised infrastructure, when shared storage is needed for a multi-host environment, or when an existing server has reached end of life and needs replacing with hardware sized around today's workload, not the one from five years ago. It's also the right option for anyone who wants a hardware vendor with long-term spare parts availability and support, a critical factor for a server that has to stay in production.

It isn't the right choice for an office notebook or desktop fleet, where we more often recommend HP or Lenovo, nor for a micro-business running a single server where an enterprise-grade Dell configuration would be oversized for the actual need. In these cases we discuss simpler options together, not necessarily Dell, because the criterion we follow is the company's real workload, not a single brand's catalogue. We say this openly from the first analysis meeting.

How we run a Dell project

A Dell hardware project starts with an assessment of the expected virtual workloads: how many virtual machines, how much storage, what level of redundancy is actually needed. From there we size the server or storage system, check compatibility with the existing network infrastructure and plan the installation in phases, without stopping services already in production during the migration. Testing always includes a verified rollback plan, checked before we switch off the previous environment.

After go-live we stay on with ongoing maintenance and hardware health monitoring, not just Dell's factory warranty. Our 25 years of server support experience and ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified processes apply just as much to Dell hardware already in your business and not purchased through us: we take on support after an initial check of disk health, power supplies and the existing RAID configuration.

Security, backup and operational rental

On every Dell server we install we plan a backup independent from the data it hosts, often with Proxmox Backup Server when the environment is virtualised, with incremental, verified copies rather than a job installed once and forgotten. We monitor power supply health, RAID disk status and firmware updates, because on a server preventive maintenance avoids far more downtime than an emergency call after a failure. We also plan for hardware end of life, flagging when a server is approaching the end of manufacturer support.

For infrastructure refreshes we also offer operational rental on Dell hardware, with a fixed fee and maintenance included, useful for businesses that want to update their server fleet without a significant upfront investment. It's a model we discuss together based on the infrastructure's expected lifecycle: for a server meant to stay in production for many years, direct purchase is often still the better choice. We talk this through openly during the initial analysis.