Dell S4100-ON Server Review: The best choice for your data centers

When it comes to data centers, no one wants to take shortcuts with the systems they use. That’s why organizations turn to Dell S4100-ON servers, which have become renowned for their reliable performance and scalability. But what makes this server so special? In this blog post, we will provide a detailed review of the Dell S4100-ON server, looking at its features, strengths, and weaknesses. We will also cover how this server can benefit your business and if it is the best choice for your data center needs.

What to look for when buying switches and servers for data centers?

When it comes to choosing servers and switches for data centers, there are many factors to consider. Here are some of the most important things to look for when making your decision:

1. Reliability – You need to be sure that the servers and switches you choose are reliable and will be able to handle the demands of your data center.

2. Scalability – As your data center grows, you’ll need to be able to scale up your server and switch infrastructure. Make sure that the products you select can accommodate future growth.

3. Ease of use – You don’t want to have to spend a lot of time configuring and managing your servers and switches. Look for products that are easy to set up and use.

4. Support – When something goes wrong with your servers or switches, you’ll want to be able to get help from the manufacturer quickly. Make sure that the company you purchase from offers good technical support.

Dell S4100-ON Server: An overview

The S4100-ON 10GbE switches comprise Dell Technologies’ latest disaggregated hardware and software data center networking solutions, providing state-of-the-art 100GbE uplinks and a broad range of functionality to meet the growing demands of today’s data enter the environment. These innovative, next-generation top-of-rack open networking switches offer optimum flexibility and cost-effectiveness for enterprise, midmarket, and tier 2 cloud service providers with demanding computing and storage traffic environments. 

The compact S4100-ON models provide industry-leading density with up to 48 ports of 10GbE or up to 48 ports of 10GBaseT ports, 2 ports of 40Gb,E, and 4 ports of 100GbE in a 1RU form factor. The S4112-ON is a half-rack width model that supports up to 12 ports of 10GbE or 12 ports of 10GBaseT, and 3 ports of 100GbE. Using industry-leading hardware and a choice of Dell SmartFabric OS10 or select 3rd party network operating systems and tools, the S4100-ON Series offers flexibility by the provision of configuration profiles and delivering non-blocking performance for workloads sensitive to packet loss. 

The compact S4100-ON models provide multi-rate speed, enabling denser footprints and simplifying migration to 100Gbps. Also unique to the S4100-ON series is the ability to meet the demands of converged and virtualized data centers by offering hardware support for the L2 and L3 VXLAN gateway. 

Priority-based flow control (PFC), data center bridge exchange (DCBX), and enhanced transmission selection (ETS) make the S4100-ON ideally suited for DCB environments. Dell PowerSwitch S4100-ON switches support the open source Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) for zero-touch installation of Dell SmartFabric OS10 networking operating system, as well as of alternative network operating systems.

Key applications

• Organizations looking to enter the software-defined data center era with a choice of networking technologies designed to maximize flexibility
• Multi-functional 1/10/25/40/50/100 GbE switching in High-Performance Computing Clusters or other business-sensitive deployments requiring the highest bandwidth. High-density 1/10 GbE ToR server access in high-performance data center environments
• iSCSI storage deployment, including DCB converged lossless transactions
• Small-scale data center fabric implementation via the S4100-ON switch in leaf and spine along with S-Series 1/10GbE ToR switches
• VXLAN layer 2/layer 3 gateway support

Features of the Dell S4100-ON Server

• 1RU high-density 10/40/100 GbE ToR switches with up to 48 10GbE (SFP+) or 10GBaseT ports, and up to 4 ports of 100GbE (QSFP28)
• The S4112 is a 1RU, half-rack width 10/100GbE ToR switch with up to 12 ports of 10GbE (SFP+) or up to 12 ports of 10GBaseT ports, and up to 3 ports of 100GbE (QSFP28)
• Multi-rate 100GbE ports support 10/25/40/50 GbE.40GbE ports support 10GbE. 10GbE ports  support 1GbE. Up to 4 different simultaneous speeds are possible in a given profile 

DELL POWERSWITCH S4100-ON 

High-performance open networking top-of-rack switches with multi-rate Gigabit Ethernet and unified ports 2 Dell PowerSwitch S4100-ON Series
• 1.76Tbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4148F-ON and S4148T-ON
• 960Gbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4128F-ON and S4128T-ON
• 840Gbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4112F-ON and S4112T-ON
• VXLAN gateway functionality support for bridging and routing the non-virtualized and the virtualized overlay networks with line rate performance
• Converged Network support with DCB
• IO panel to PSU airflow or PSU to IO panel airflow
• Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans (S4112-ON has redundant, fixed power supplies and fans)
• IEEE 1588v2 supported on 48 port models

Key Features with Dell SmartFabric OS10

• Consistent DevOps framework across compute, storage, and networking elements
• Standard networking features, interfaces, and scripting functions for legacy network operations integration
• Standards-based switching hardware abstraction via Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI)
• Pervasive, unrestricted developer environment via Control Plane Services (CPS)
• OS10 Enterprise Edition software enables Dell Technologies layer 2 and 3 switchings and routing protocols with integrated IP services, quality of service, manageability, and automation features
• OS10 supports Precision Time Protocol (PTP, IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize clocks on network devices.
• Leverage common open-source tools and best practices (data models, commit rollbacks)
• Increase VM Mobility region by stretching L2 VLANwithin or across two DCs with unique VLT  capabilities
• Scalable L2 and L3 Ethernet Switching with QoS, ACL, and a full complement of standards-based IPv4 and IPv6 features including OSPF, BGP, and PBR
• Enhanced mirroring capabilities including local mirroring, Remote Port Mirroring (RPM), and Encapsulated Remote Port Mirroring (ERPM)
• Converged network support for Data Center Bridging, with priority flow control (802.1Qbb), ETS (802.1Qaz), DCBx and iSCSI TLV Enhanced mirroring capabilities including local mirroring, Remote Port Mirroring (RPM), and Encapsulated Remote Port Mirroring (ERPM)
• Converged network support for Data Center Bridging, with priority flow control (802.1Qbb), ETS (802.1Qaz), DCBx, and iSCSI TLV

Conclusion

The Dell S4100-ON Server is an invaluable addition to any data center. With its powerful features and performance, it can provide a reliable platform for all of your networking needs. Its redundant power supplies ensure that your operations are up and running at optimal levels even in the event of a power outage. The Dell S4100-ON Server is one of the best choices out there when it comes to providing efficient and effective network solutions for your organization’s data centers.