Networking equipment maker QLogic announced that its 8200 Series 10Gb Ethernet CNAs and 3200 Series 10GbE network adapters have been certified as being  interoperable with Dell’s Force10 S-Series S4810 10/40 GbE switches.

The two companies promise that facilities running their gear side-by-side get better management of LAN iSCSI storage and Network File System traffic, in addition to an open setup that works with a long lineup of other data center solutions.  In addition, there’s also the usual reiteration of cost efficiency and simplification.

“Application performance, scalability and flexibility are critical requirements for our customers,” said Amit Vashi, vice president of marketing, Host Solutions Group, QLogic. “The 8200 Series and 3200 Series are designed to excel in dense computing and high-performance virtualized environments and with our unique suite of ‘Flex’ technologies, these adapters deliver advanced virtualization services and best-in-class application performance, making them highly suitable for Dell Force10 S-Series deployments.”

This agreement between QLogic and Dell represents the expansion of an existing relationship between the two companies. QLogic’s  8200 10GbE converged network adapters run inside the 12th generation PowerEdge servers, and hardware from the networking solutions provider can be also be found in Gen8 – the HP-made competitor of PowerEdge.

And as far as things go for Dell, the manufacturer is looking at data centers as its big opportunity to become less dependent on the PC market, which currently accounts for roughly half of its annual revenue. This vision is being realized from several angles: via deals such as this latest one with QLogic to enhance the broader enterprise portfolio, and via Dell’s own data centers.

Last week the company announced its plans to build 20 new facilities in Asia to offer cloud services to customers in the region – mainly China, India and Japan.