Lenovo will soon be offering entry-level servers as part of the ThinkServer family. The ThinkServer RD530 and RD630 are designed to enable SMB partners to offer an end-to-end product to its customers, regardless of size. The scalability and performance met virtually any workload, at 80 percent faster than previous generation technology.
The ThinkServer RD530 and RD630 are designed for clusters, virtualization, and LOB applications. The new servers fit into the environment with open standards, easing compatibility issues. New robust power and cooling and mechanical designs bring down the rate of vibration and shock failures.
In addition to powerful performance capabilities, the intelligent server designs drive 30-45 percent power efficiency improvement. Available in either 1U (RD530) or 2U (RD630) configurations with tool-less rail kits, Lenovo’s two-socket rack servers come equipped with choices of processors from the Intel Xeon E5-2600 product family. With up to eight cores per processor, the Intel processors achieve up to 30 percent greater CPU performance and more than twice the memory bandwidth compared to the current Lenovo server platform. Both servers feature up to 320GB of RAM deployable in 20 DIMM slots, hardware and advanced RAID (redundant array of independent disks) controller options and large memory capacity that provides full redundancy with up to eight (RD530) or 16 (RD630) hot-swappable hard drives.
The servers are also designed to help partners boosts profits. With a best-case scenario model, Kevin Nelson, executive director for Lenovo’s Enterprise Systems Group, demonstrated at Lenovo Accelerate 2012 how partners can develop a 46 percent margin using benefits like Lenovo SPIFF Program, volume delegation, top seller rebate program, new customer bonus programs, and instant rebate.
Nelson emphasized where Lenovo’s emphasis is, however. “The feedback we’re getting from our customers and partners in the space, they keep telling us to not forget about our imperative — to think,” he said. “Our strategy is to help partners make a lot of money in this space. But [the advisory council told us], don’t just sell on price point and partners making a lot off money — focus on your heritage. That’s what’s gotten [us] to this point, this is what makes Lenovo so successful.”
Nelson also highlighted Lenovo’s commitment to its partners, and how the partner program is an integral part of Lenovo’s overall strategy in the servers and workstation space. “If we’re going to be successful in the next few years, it’s going to be hand in hand with our partners,” he said.
