Dell introduces new SMB server line

Dell introduced two new servers aimed specifically at the Small to Mid-sized Business market on Tuesday, the PowerEdge T/R300s (the T variant being a standard tower and the R a rack-mountable device). Both are single-socket boxes with limited space and upgradability, but at a starting price of $999 you can get into them cheaper than some desktops.

The real question is whether or not an organization that is small enough to be adequately serviced by one of these types of SMB servers is really big enough to be running any servers at all. Dell is touting the new management tools included with the units, but any management seems like too much for many SMBs today.

These may, however, be the initial steps toward an offering of Microsoft's new 2008 Small Business Server products; now split into two versions, one oriented to the truly small business and the other toward the more mid-sized business, SBS2K8 will require multiple servers as a standard part of the package. Since this would be a flat-out waste with more conventional servers in the typical SMB environment, Dell could be rolling out these lightweight servers in anticipation of selling more of them with each of the SBS packages.

More specifics on the PowerEdge 300s can be found here.