Profitable hosting companies have an opportunity to increase revenues and decrease costs by deploying right-sized technology. Where overprovisioning positions hosters for future business and ensures that capacity will meet service-level agreements, the practice risks profits by raising costs. In contrast, right-sized technology maximizes revenue generation across servers, racks, and every square foot of data center space. Dell PowerEdge C5125 microservers with AMD Athlon™ II and Phenom™ II processors allow hosters to realize the most revenue from the least space. Innovations in hardware infrastructure and processor capabilities combine to significantly increase density, performance, energy and maintenance efficiency to deliver true business advantage.

1. The Dell PowerEdge C5125 ™ ™
Microserver: Right-sized for
Maximum Return on Investment
Contents
Abstract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Hosting Opportunities and Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Right-sizing the Data Center with Dell PowerEdge C5125 Microservers . . . . . . . . . 2
Ensuring ROI with Dell Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Abstract
Profitable hosting companies have an opportunity to increase revenues and decrease costs by
deploying right-sized technology. Where overprovisioning positions hosters for future business
and ensures that capacity will meet service-level agreements, the practice risks profits by raising
costs. In contrast, right-sized technology maximizes revenue generation across servers, racks,
and every square foot of data center space. Dell PowerEdge C5125 microservers with AMD
Athlon™ II and Phenom™ II processors allow hosters to realize the most revenue from the least
space. Innovations in hardware infrastructure and processor capabilities combine to significantly in-
crease density, performance, energy and maintenance efficiency to deliver true business advantage.
Hosting Opportunities and Challenges
Hosted service providers have a golden opportunity to build their client bases. However, they
are challenged to deliver more online services and provide better access to applications without
increasing IT spending. As a result, budget-minded IT directors and their budgets are turning
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to hosted service providers for more capacity at a volume discount. With shared infrastructure
and resources already in place, hosted service providers can provide almost-instant access to the
required technology, while providing cost-effective pricing and service levels to their customers.
A hosted service provider’s ability to maintain profitability while shifting quickly to meet customer
demands depends directly on deploying the right technology. Performance, availability, and agility
are all essential characteristics of a profitable server infrastructure that is based on a service-level
agreement (SLA) deliverable. Clients expect hosters to meet the delivery speeds, downtime limits,
and response time criteria specified in their SLAs. Technical problems that cause missed SLAs can
create costly customer service issues, and negatively impact revenue and customer retention.
Hosters often overprovision in an attempt to ensure SLA compliancy. That practice might offer
a safety net, but it definitely wastes resources and cuts into profit margins. Hosting websites,
streaming video, or lightweight applications don’t require intensive data processing or the
overprovisioned computing horsepower, advanced memory options, large storage capacities,
and management tools typically found in data center servers. Hosters that right-size servers
for the workloads they support can increase their revenue potential and profitability.
Recognizing the impact of technology on profitability, some members of the investment community
rate a hosted service provider’s financial performance on revenue per square foot of data center
floor space. From that perspective, a right-sized server infrastructure — one that allows IT
directors to meet client needs, limits operational costs, and increases revenues — can be
an important component of the hosted service provider business strategy.
Right-sizing the Data Center with Dell™ PowerEdge™ C5125
Microservers
Dell’s PowerEdge C5125 microservers with AMD Phenom™ II and Athlon™ II series processors
are purpose-built for hosted service providers that deliver web content and run lighter weight
applications. Developed at the request of hosted service providers seeking to increase revenue
potential without adding significant costs, they offer profitable innovations in density, perfor-
mance, energy efficiency, and cost-effective maintenance and management at both the server
and rack level.
The Dell PowerEdge C5125 contains up to 12 single-socket server nodes inside a single 3U chassis. Server nodes share
highly efficient power supplies and fans. Density is significantly increased, while power consumption costs are reduced.
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Density
PowerEdge™ C5125 microservers significantly maximize rack and data center revenue potential.
Four to 12 server nodes are packed into a single PowerEdge C5000 3U chassis. At the maximum
number of nodes, PowerEdge C5125 servers offer four times the number of traditional single-
socket 1U servers. As a result of the density alone, hosters get more compute power per server,
per rack, and per square foot of data center space.
It’s at the rack level that Dell™ PowerEdge C5125 microservers distinguish themselves as right-
sized revenue generators. Consider how the 3U architecture compares with a traditional 1U
server architecture in terms of its ability to serve more clients from the same amount of 42U
or 48U rack space.
42U rack comparison 48U rack comparison
Number of C5125 servers — 144 Number of C5125 servers — 168
Number of DL160 servers — 40 Number of DL160 servers — 46
The difference in servers per rack translates directly to a significant increase in revenue potential.
The calculations and C5125 revenue advantage below are based on a per-server revenue estimate
of $1,098 per month (based on pricing for Rackspace Managed Dedicated Enhanced Servers).
C5125 HP DL160 C5125 advantage
Per-server revenue $1,098 $1,098
Revenue per month/rack $184,464 $50,508 + $133,956
Revenue per year/rack $2,213,568 $606,096 + 1,607,472
It’s important to note that increased server density also saves on data center space. For some
hosters, that might mean that smaller data centers with lower real estate and utility costs will
help increase profit margins. More typically, hosters will be able to remain in one data center
facility for more time even as their client base grows.
Performance
Reliable performance is a central concern of hosting clients. Failure to meet requirements as out-
lined in SLAs risks the hoster’s revenue and reputation. At the same time, profitability demands
that the cost of SLA compliance is kept to a minimum. Performance per PowerEdge C5125 server
is enhanced through AMD Phenom™ II and Athlon™ II series processors and included feature sets.
Besides boosting processing speeds, the processors enhance connection speeds, reduce latency,
and optimize bandwidth to eliminate management overhead and manual IT processes.
The processors improve performance further by using direct connections between the processor,
the memory controller, and the I/O to the CPU. Direct connections reduce the bottlenecks that
form when multiple components vie for processor access. By eliminating the single front-side
bus that typically carries memory access, graphics, and I/O traffic, delays caused by competing
components are also eliminated.
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Memory latency is reduced by an Integrated Memory Controller that automatically scales mem-
ory bandwidth and performance to current requirements. Included HyperTransport™ Technology
makes maximum use of bandwidth by providing up to 16GB per peak bandwidth per processor,
effectively reducing I/O bottlenecks and up to 37GB in total processor-to-system bandwidth.
Energy Efficiency
Not only do the PowerEdge C5125 servers ensure the right performance levels, but they also
minimize power and cooling costs through innovative infrastructure and features included
in AMD Phenom™ and Athlon™ processors. In fact, the PowerEdge C5125 has the lowest average
power draw and a lower active idle power than similarly configured HP ProLiant or
SuperMicro servers.1
The shared PowerEdge C5000 3U chassis infrastructure allows server nodes to share power
supplies and fans and consume a fraction of the cooling required by a comparable stack of 1U
servers.2 Power supplies, tested to be 92% efficient, further reduce power consumption over
traditional servers.3 Idle power improvements include low core voltages and enhanced cache
power management. And PowerEdge C5125 microservers use only one-sixth of the number
of fans required by traditional servers. Only eight shared, high-efficiency fans are used to cool
all 12 servers in the chassis. That compares with the 48 fans that would be needed to cool the
equivalent traditional 1U servers.
At the rack level, data center technicians realize the advantage of power supplies, cables, and
servers all being cold-aisle accessible. Data center temperatures can be higher, which further
reduces cooling requirements and costs. With 12 servers in 3U, cooling can be reduced by 75%
when compared with the cooling required by racks of 1U servers.
Additional power consumption reductions are realized through AMD processor technology. AMD
PowerNow!™ Technology automatically optimizes power consumption in accordance with current
processing requirements. Processors respond to changes in client workload demands to minimize
latency but conserve energy. AMD CoolCore™ Technology automatically turns parts of the
processor on and off as needed, while Smart Fetch Technology allows cores to share data
before entering a halting state so that cores don’t have to activate just to retrieve data.
AMD’s power-saving technology lowers consumption for basic tasks by 50%.4 Power required by
heavy workloads is decreased by 40%, and idle servers consume 40% less power.5 (It’s important
to remember that even idle resources consume power — another reason to deploy only as much
technology as is required by current client workloads.)
1
Benchmark results based on SPECpower_ssj2008 performance testing by Dell Labs in June 2011. Actual performance will vary based on configuration, usage,
and manufacturing variability. SPEC and the benchmark name SPECpower_ssj are trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. For the latest
SPECpower_ssj2008 benchmark results, visit http://www.spec.org/power_ssj2008/results/power_ssj2008.html. Dell pricing taken from dell.com as of September
2011; HP pricing based on reseller quotes obtained June 2011.
2
Shared Infrastructure: Scale-Out Advantages and Effects on TCO, Dell™ Technical White Paper, http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/Shared_
Infrastructure_Scale_Out_Advantages_and_Effects_on_TCO.pdf
3
Highly efficient microserver in a shared-infrastructure chassis, http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-c5125/pd?refid=poweredge-c5125&isredir=true
4
AMD Athlon™ II Processor Product Brief, http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/athlon-ii-x2/Pages/amd-athlon-ii-x2-dual-core-processors-
product-brief.aspx
5
AMD Athlon™ II Processor Product Brief, http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/athlon-ii-x2/Pages/amd-athlon-ii-x2-dual-core-processors-
product-brief.aspx
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Comparison of Microserver and IU Server Energy Use
Cooling Power Mechanicals
12U
th
1/6 the 40% less power
4x the density
amount of fans per node
Dell PowerEdge C5125 3U microservers provide 4x more capacity and require one-sixth of the number of fans and
40% less power than traditional 1U servers.
Taken together, power efficiencies at the rack level translate to 40% reduction in OpEx and
$35,502 cost savings over a three-year period when compared with traditional 1U server racks.
Applying a $1.05/year/watt charge to running a server 24/7 and a Power Usage Effectiveness
(PUE) factor of 1.7, 168 PowerEdge C5125 servers in a rack cost $20,290 to power and cool
versus $32,124 per year for the same number of HP DL160 1U servers.
Cost-Effective Maintenance and Expansion
Besides lowering costs through power efficiency, PowerEdge C5125 microservers streamline
expansion and maintenance to lower IT overhead.
Depending on the number of current clients, hosting providers might begin with four servers
inside a single 3U chassis and then simply add servers as clients are added. (Server sleds simply
slide into a slot in the chassis.) This precludes investment in capacity that won’t immediately
contribute revenue. Some service providers opt to add one or two more servers than are
immediately necessary in order to have spares available without having to allocate space
to back up servers.
Ensuring availability is critical to customer satisfaction and typically a major contributor to
maintenance operations. Making sure that servers are up and running takes time and manual
effort. PowerEdge™ C5125 servers include hot-swappable, redundant power supplies to eliminate
maintenance emergencies. Should the primary power supply fail, the redundant power supply
automatically steps up. Technicians are able to replace failed components without taking the
server off-line. The result: Server operations and connected end users are not interrupted by
power supply issues.
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Overhead is also reduced by vastly simplified network cabling. All servers inside a PowerEdge
C5000 3U chassis are able to share a single network connector. Although it is possible to cable
each server, connecting to the network via a single port that communicates with all servers
reduces 11x when compared with a traditional server environment. Fewer ports mean less
management, and connection problems are much easier to diagnose. And when new servers
are added to the chassis, cabling is already in place.
Cold-aisle accessibility, redundant power supplies, and reduced cabling all simplify servicing.
The ability to add, remove, or swap servers while others in the chassis are up and running enables
hosted service providers to work with a single client’s resources without impacting other clients.
Ensuring ROI with Dell™ Services
Achieving returns on investment in a time frame that will truly benefit the bottom line requires
deployment that is both fast and successful. Dell consultants and technicians can help reduce
time to revenue with Rack Integration services. Data center components — server clusters,
storage devices, network equipment — are configured and cabled by Dell, either on-site or
before they are packaged and shipped. When systems arrive in the data center, they are simply
powered on, tested, and integrated into the existing environment.
Since technology is often at the heart of the hosted service provider business strategy, achieving
high returns from investments requires routine optimization. Dell ProSupport™ allows data center
managers to customize a support plan that delivers services required by the business. Services
might include remote monitoring and management; remote and on-site support for specialized
applications; data and asset protection; or online “self-dispatch” of parts and labor. Support can
also be comprehensive, including configuration, deployment, patches, updates, and upgrades,
collaborative to include third-party vendors, or extended to incident-based third-party trouble-
shooting software. Training and certification for IT staff is available and allows for the ability
to self-identify the severity of issues to initiate mission-critical response.
Through service relationships with Dell consultants and technicians, hosted service providers
can get just the level of service they need to help keep their IT environments optimized and
continually maximize revenue potential while controlling costs.
Conclusion
Hosted service providers are well positioned to take advantage of increasing market demands
for high-performance web, print, content, and file services. However, failure to deliver those
services from a right-sized server environment will reduce both revenue potential and profitability.
In order to maintain and grow profit margins, hosters have to perform to client service-level
agreements and build client bases without significantly increasing overhead costs associated
with space, power, and cooling requirements. Dell™ PowerEdge™ C5125 microservers with AMD
Athlon™ II and Phenom™ II processors have proven their ability to contribute to the revenue potential
of each server, rack, and square footage of floor space, while reducing power and cooling
requirements and facilitating maintenance and expansion.
6 ©2012 Dell and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.