Dell PowerEdge XE8640 Liquid-Cooled Servers | 2023

Designer: Dell Technologies, Austin, Texas, USA
Manufacturer: Dell Technologies, Austin, Texas, USA

With the introduction of the PowerEdge XE8640 liquid-cooled servers, Dell Technologies expands its high-performance computing (HPC) portfolio. The new XE server family is comprised of purpose designed and built servers for complex, emerging workloads that require unthrottled performance.

This design configuration enables organizations to harness high-performance computing needs such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) for model training, HPC modeling and simulation, core-to-edge inferencing, and data visualization. These PowerEdge XE servers have a familiar Dell Technologies design language appearance on the outside, maintaining a consistent aesthetic and user experience for customers whose server fleet consists of older models. However, much has changed inside.

Among several storage options, customers can specify solid state drives in the new E3 form factor. With the new slim design, customers can increase storage density with more drives per server. To enable the drives to be replaced while the server is in-operation, referred to as “hot-swapping,” a new drive carrier—also known as a drive sled or caddy—has been designed. Featuring an intuitive slide-to-release mechanism and sturdy die-cast aluminum construction, the design for the drive carrier allows users to hot-swap drives quickly and confidently.

Designed in collaboration with Intel and NVIDIA, the new systems use Smart Cooling (liquid) for superior thermal management and leak-sense technology to cool the Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) while the rest of the enclosure is cooled by front-accessible fans. The design team prioritized thoughtful serviceability throughout the design process making the front-accessible fans hot-swappable along with designing quick-release features to enable fast and efficient removal of the GPU liquid cooling assembly if necessary.