DELL PowerEdge R730xd rack server 2x Xeon E5-2680 v3 256GB DDR4 24x 600GB SAS H730

2U 24-bay SAS server

The Dell PowerEdge R730xd is a 2U rack system with twenty-four 2.5-inch drive bays wired for 12 Gb/s SAS connectivity. Two Xeon E5-2680 v3 processors deliver twenty-four cores at 2.5 GHz with 3.3 GHz turbo, backed by 256 GB of DDR4-2133 registered ECC memory across eight 32 GB modules. A PERC H730 controller with 1 GB cache manages RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60, while an Intel X520/I350 daughter card provides two 1 GbE and two 10 Gb SFP+ ports. iDRAC8 Enterprise and redundant 750 W platinum power supplies complete the package.

Suits dense storage workloads

This configuration fits databases, virtual desktop infrastructure, data-warehouse nodes and HPC storage tiers that demand high spindle count in a 2U footprint. The twenty-four 600 GB 10 K SAS drives and twelve-core CPUs balance throughput and capacity for read-heavy applications. Buyers needing solid-state media, larger per-drive capacity or more than two processor sockets should evaluate other platforms.

PERC H730 RAID controller

The installed PERC H730 1 GB controller is the single component that defines which drive types, RAID levels and cache policies are supported. It handles SAS and SATA drives at 12 Gb/s, enables the full RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60 stack and includes a battery-backed write cache. Confirm that your drive mix and redundancy requirements match this controller before purchasing.