Dell Technologies expands AI Innovations at the Edge

Dell Technologies has unveiled advancements to its Dell NativeEdge edge operations software platform, aimed at simplifying how organisations deploy, scale, and utilise AI at the edge.

Why It Matters

According to Gartner, “by 2025, more than 50% of enterprise-managed data will be created and processed outside the data centre or cloud.” As organisations increasingly shift data to the edge and AI accelerates new workloads, there is a growing demand for agile, connected, and secure systems to deploy and manage AI models across multiple edge locations.

Today’s enhancements to Dell NativeEdge, part of Dell AI Factory capabilities, address these challenges by providing AI software integrations and high-availability (HA) capabilities, ensuring greater resilience and reliability in the deployment and management of AI at the edge.

Boosting Edge and AI Workload Efficiency with NativeEdge

Dell NativeEdge is the industry’s only edge operations software platform that offers secure device onboarding at scale, remote management, and multicloud application orchestration. The latest NativeEdge software enables multinode high-availability (HA) clustering for NativeEdge Endpoints, including Dell PowerEdge servers, OptiPlex and Precision workstations, and Dell Gateways.

These endpoints can be clustered together by NativeEdge software to function as a single system, allowing organisations to:

Ensure high-availability capabilities to maintain critical business processes and edge AI workloads, even during network disruptions or device failures. Features such as virtual machine (VM) migration and automatic application, compute, and storage failover enhance reliability and continuous operations.

• Easily adapt to changing workload demands across diverse environments, from retail outlets to utility companies.
• Integrate NativeEdge Endpoints with external storage solutions, such as Dell PowerStore and Dell PowerVault, to support the training and deployment of AI models using single, two-tier, or three-tier solutions at the edge.

Simplifying Edge AI Deployments with NativeEdge AI Software Integrations

Organisations implementing AI inference at the edge often find it laborious to deploy AI applications across hundreds, if not thousands, of edge locations. Dell provides a comprehensive catalogue of over 55 pre-built Dell NativeEdge Blueprints that automate the deployment of chosen AI applications and frameworks, facilitating a faster time to value. The NativeEdge Blueprints serve as an easy solution for assembling and deploying new use cases and AI inference capabilities at the edge, significantly reducing manual setup time and minimising errors.

Dell is expanding this catalogue to include:

• Open-source tools such as Apache Spark, Apache Airflow, MLflow, and Grafana to support continuous MLOps workflows tailored for edge use cases, ensuring quick and efficient deployment of AI-enhanced solutions.
• Aveva Unified Operations Center to facilitate city infrastructure modernisation in integrated operations, building systems, master planning, intelligent urban mobility, and critical connectivity.
• EPIC iO, which leverages real-time analytics for retail operations to enhance the in-store shopper experience.
• Dell Data Collector, designed to collect and transfer data from sensors and IoT devices to various locations in near real-time.Organisations can utilise Dell Data Lakehouse to query this data for real-time insights and AI workloads.
• The Intel Geti software solution, which accelerates the development of computer vision AI models at the edge.
• Updates to the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, which includes NVIDIA NIM microservices, enabling developers to deploy AI inference capabilities at the edge more efficiently and securely, while reducing manual setup time and minimising errors.

Dell Services for NativeEdge Blueprints assist organisations in designing and developing custom NativeEdge Blueprints for Dell-validated and customer-owned applications, ensuring seamless deployment using Dell NativeEdge software.

Perspectives

“AI is driving new edge workloads and opportunities at an unprecedented rate, and organisations across various industries are seeking simpler, more reliable ways to implement AI at the edge,” said Gil Shneorson, Senior Vice President of Solutions and Platforms at Dell Technologies. “Our NativeEdge expansion automates the deployment and management of edge AI workloads, featuring capabilities that support business continuity, allowing organisations to leverage the latest AI advancements at the edge to drive revenue and enhance customer outcomes.”

“With over 1,000 IoT-enabled facilities, Dell NativeEdge helps monitor real-time infrastructure elements, ensuring optimal conditions for our produce while providing comprehensive insights into our packaging operations,” said Keith Bradley, Vice President of Information Technology at Nature Fresh Farms. “Dell NativeEdge has enhanced our operational efficiencies and reduced costs, supporting our ongoing growth and innovation in yield optimisation and environmental monitoring.”

Availability

• The advancements to Dell NativeEdge will be available by January 2025.
• Dell NativeEdge customers can purchase and activate NVIDIA AI Enterprise licences for NVIDIA GPUs directly from Dell to simplify NativeEdge deployment and support.