Dell, Red Hat Bring Generative AI to PowerEdge Servers

Dell Technologies is teaming with Red Hat to bring its open-source Linux model to Dell's collection of PowerEdge servers, which provide server-based tools for IT needs.

The two companies announced on Wednesday that Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI, or RHELAI, would become the preferred platform for Dell's PowerEdge servers, including R760xa models. This addition will help customers and technology companies better implement AI and machine learning strategies into IT scaling and power enterprise applications across their businesses, the companies said.

Red Hat's Joe Fernandes

“AI by nature requires extensive resources spanning enabled servers, compute power and GPUs," said Joe Fernandes, VP and general manager of Red Hat's GenAI Foundation Model Platforms. "As organizations evaluate and implement gen AI use cases, it is imperative that they build on a platform that is able to scale with their business while also providing the agility to experiment and develop AI-driven innovations. By collaborating with Dell Technologies to validate and empower RHEL AI on Dell PowerEdge servers, we are enabling customers with greater confidence and flexibility to harness the power of gen AI workloads across hybrid cloud environments and propel their business into the future.”

RHEL AI combines open-source licenses Granite LLMs with IBM Research and its model alignment tools. This combination is then packaged as an optimized, bootable RHEL "image" that can be implemented in individual servers across hybrid clouds. It is also included in Red Hat OpenShift AI.

The new RHEL AI models will be available on Dell PowerEdge servers before the end of the quarter.

Dell, PowerEdge and Partners

Dell PowerEdge got its last update in 2023, with the R760 and HS5610/20 models becoming available in the spring.

Dell has been emphasizing a "partner-first" approach to its line of storage products for the last year. The new approach has been fairly profitable, according to Dell channel leader Denise Millard.

Red Hat recently revamped its partner program to include a modular design and an activity-based points system. It also made its OpenStack Services on OpenShift generally available.