Dell launched two new server products yesterday which it is touting as being virtualization-optimized, the R805 and R905 models. Apparently "optimized" simply means beefed-up memory and I/O capabilities, and an integrated VMware ESXi 3.5 or Citrix XenServer hypervisor. The hypervisor options will also soon be offered standard on a range of other PowerEdge models.

I've been wondering for a while how exactly hardware manufacturers are going to jump on the virtualization bandwagon; after all, the concept implicitly strikes at their core business, allowing fewer boxes to serve more purposes, and there is little that they can do to compete besides offering more and larger, which has pretty much always been their schtick anyway. As Dell and HP have come forward recently to pledge support for various integrated hypervisor options, I've been curious about what their angle is. I think I found it, unsurprisingly, buried in yesterday's announcement: it's the consulting services. Dell, graciously, offers to "right-size" their virtualization services for your business, which conveniently allows them to bill you consulting services while also pushing more hardware at you than you probably need.

I'm not knocking them for this, mind you; it's good business, and anyone who accepts "consulting" from a vendor probably winds up with what they deserve, anyway. It's clear, however, that services will probably be the key differentiator for the major hardware vendors in coming years, and this is another indication that Dell is joining HP in moving firmly in that direction.