Productivity
The first workstations appeared in the late 60’s and are now widely used for working with 2D and 3D graphics, computer-aided design and construction systems ation, to video editing and intensive computing.
The equipment of workstations provides high performance in the design, realistic visualization of wireframe and textured 3D models, rapid results of scientific calculations, processing of high-resolution video and the creation of various video effects. Form factors of workstations are very diverse: desktop and floor, mobile and rack, monoblocks and industrial solutions. The range of tasks they solve is equally wide.
Professional workstations are designed to run resource-intensive applications and make high demands on system performance and reliability. Designers and designers using workstations perform important tasks and must strictly meet the deadlines, and inefficient operation of the equipment and its failure can affect the business processes of the manufacturing enterprise.
So, the tasks of automated design require high performance for working with complex mock-ups, so they use processors and graphics cards of professional level. This allows, for example, a design engineer to more quickly analyze the results of each stage of the project, make changes quickly and run the next iteration.
How to achieve from a workstation maximum performance, stable and efficient operation? For this, there are special solutions. One of them will be discussed.
Workstation Optimizer
Due to the automatic system configuration, Dell Precision Optimizer (DPO) software can increase productivity of applications running on Dell workstations by 121%
Dell Precision Optimizer software Dell workstations from competitive offers.
It is free installed on all new Dell Precision workstations and supports common third-party software products such as Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop; Autodesk AutoCAD, Inventor and Maya; Dassault SolidWorks and CATIA; Siemens NX; Schlumberger Petrel; ANSYS Fluent and Workbench, and also provides for the centralized management of several workstations over the network using SCCM and KACE tools. Dell Precision Optimizer automatically optimizes system performance, monitors resource usage and updates software.
Dell Precision Optimizer automatically optimizes system performance, monitors resource usage and software updates.
With it, you can collect statistics from remote workstations, download certified drivers, update the BIOS, software and firmware. The application will help you to understand exactly where bottlenecks arise and what system resources are used irrationally in order to take action in advance – this will help the analyst and automatically generated notifications.
Analytics and notifications help to identify bottlenecks in the system.
26 special profiles are provided to optimize application performance. If settings are not in conflict, it is possible to optimize the performance of multiple applications simultaneously.
Tips for increasing productivity.
DPO software is also able to provide useful advice and recommendations, suggest a solution in a specific
Recommendation for the selection and use of the application profile.
An application is currently being developed that will allow customers to create profiles on their own For your software. If you close the Optimizer, the profile still remains active. The Load Dell Default Settings option allows you to restore the system to its original state.
Dell Precision Optimizer allows administrators from Microsoft System Center (SCCM) or Dell KACE software remotely manage application profiles, optimize workstation performance, deliver new profiles, monitor application usage, collect statistics for users and groups .
The System Analysis report helps to understand the behavior of the system under load. It is possible to set the frequency of generation of reports, the number and type of data being tracked.
The Systems Management tab allows you to update the system – plan and automate updates by the types of changes.
Dell Precision Optimizer helps To understand the reason for the appearance of bottlenecks in the system under a specific load. The Workload Analysis report can be printed and sent to the IT department. The Upgrade Options button allows you to update the system components.
Dell Precision Optimizer displays data and graphics for each CPU, Processor Boost, Processor Queue Length and Number of threads (Number of System Threads).
Along with the analytics on the CPU, statistics and trends for GPU graphics processors AMD and NVidia are available. Optimizer collects data on the graphics adapter and software, as well as data on the GPU in real time: the use of video core and video memory, temperature and fan speed. The Intelligence GPU widget can also be moved and used to monitor the GPU in real time.
Application-certified graphics drivers improve system reliability. Download them with one click.
In the version of Dell Precision Optimizer v4.0, the user interface has been updated and new profiles have been added (for Cakewalk Sonar, Maxon Cinema 4D applications, Landmark DecisionSpace G1 10ep) and certified graphics drivers, and to accelerate work with repositories You can use the Intel CAS-W plug-in.
With Dell Precision Optimizer, you can download and install the Intel CAS-W plug-in. This software eliminates bottlenecks in the I / O subsystem and increases performance when working with the data store.
When the specified thresholds for resource usage are reached, the system gives a warning message – you can take action in advance. The Radeon ProRender plug-in is used for photorealistic rendering of images.
After downloading and installing the plug-in Radeon ProRender, you can use the “ray tracing” supported by AMD and NVIDIA graphics processors. Images will become even more realistic.
So, Dell Precision Optimizer provides users with the following options, eliminating them from an independent selection of the system configuration parameters that are unfamiliar to them:
| Automatic performance optimization ] | DPO comes with configuration profiles for such popular applications as Autodesk Maya, PTC Creo and Dassault SolidWorks. Unlike other tools, this software solution you need to run only once. DPO automatically configures the processor, memory, disk, graphics, and operating system settings every time a working application is started. This ensures optimum performance at the transition from one program to another. |
| System maintenance | IT professionals and users gain additional control and the ability to automatically or manually update drivers, BIOS, software, firmware and other important components. This helps to make sure that the workstation is in optimal condition and increase productivity. |
| Monitoring and notification | DPO includes advanced tools for analyzing and modeling the system load, including information on available memory and processor load, data from temperature sensors, batteries, etc. There is a possibility of regular reports and analysis of system load at any time, even with parallel implementation of such complex tasks as compilation of code and processing of 3D graphics. |
What do the tests show?
The result of using DPO really becomes a significant increase in performance. The following are the results of testing specific systems and applications:
Increasing the performance of the Precision 5810 and 7910 workstations in the tower case on standard SPEC benchmarks with respect to the default settings when using Dell Precision Optimizer.
Increasing the productivity of the Precision 3620 workstation in the tower and mobile workstations Precision 7710, 7510, 5510 and 3510 at Standard reference tests SPEC regarding the default settings when used And Dell Precision Optimizer.
Petrel and Bentley Microstation with Dell Precision Optimizer.
Dell Precision Software Optimizer supports operating systems Windows 7, 8.1 and 10, from June 2017 – Red Hat Enterprise Linux. However, there is no support for workstations of other vendors: Dell Precision Optimizer operates exclusively on Precision workstations. Other vendors offer their own solutions.
Case Studies
The results of tests are confirmed by real examples of using Dell Precision Optimizer. One of the customers, KNAPP (Austria), specializes in customer service and owns a network of automated warehouses. KNAPP specialists prepare their presentations on workstations, and then show them to clients on tablets. Along with mobility, KNAPP attaches great importance to the performance and manageability of software products, such as AutoCAD, Vectorworks and PTC Creo.
The management of the company wants designers to use the applications “to the maximum” and do not spend hours of their working hours, optimizing the performance manually and – most importantly – trying to understand how it is done. About 500 Dell Precision 15 series 7000 workstations are deployed in the central office of KNAPP, and another 400 are used in the company’s branches.
To optimize their performance in KNAPP, they decided to apply Dell Precision Optimizer software. Now it gives detailed statistics to eliminate bottlenecks and speeds up application performance. For example, when working with AutoCAD or PTC Creo, system settings change dynamically. IT professionals can centrally apply Dell Precision Optimizer policies with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) and receive analytical reports from remote workstations and update software.
For mobile employees, KNAPP selected Dell Precision 15 7000 Series compact workstations. They are equipped with displays with 4K resolution, Intel Core and Xeon processors of the sixth generation, professional graphics cards AMD or NVIDIA with 4 GB of memory.
After the introduction of KNAPP product Dell Precision Optimizer on average by 20% All workstations, including older models. The level of customer satisfaction grew, employees began to work more productively. According to KNAPP, overall performance has increased by 5-10%. And the productivity of key applications in the company increased by 100%.
Another example is the Japanese company Mikuni, which with the help of Dell Precision Optimizer 20% increased the productivity of its software SolidWorks. Mikuni also notes that Dell’s new workstations are 40% smaller than those used in the company before, which saves space in the workplace.
Professionals, whose activities are connected with video processing, always needed powerful tools and increased productivity. Dell Precision Optimizer gives a huge advantage to users, as it contributes to the implementation of projects in a shorter time and helps to realize the creative potential of employees.
Dell Precision Optimizer – one of the promising innovative tools. Easy to use, it helps customers achieve high performance and reliability. With this product, users working at Dell Precision stations can create better content and implement projects in less time.
