DELL PowerEdge R740xd 24 Bay 2.5" 2U rack server 2x Xeon Gold 6134 3.2GHz 8 Core 256GB DDR4

Dense 2U Storage Server

The Dell PowerEdge R740xd is a 2U rack server built for storage-heavy workloads. It mounts twenty-four 2.5-inch drive bays behind a two-socket Intel Xeon Gold 6134 platform running at 3.2 GHz with eight cores each. The system ships with 256 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz registered ECC memory across eight 32 GB modules. A PERC H730P 2 GB controller provides RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60 support for SAS and SATA drives. Dual 1100 W platinum power supplies and iDRAC9 Enterprise complete the baseline configuration.

Target Workloads and Limits

This server suits software-defined storage clusters, virtual desktop infrastructure farms and service-provider hosts that need high drive count in a 2U form factor. The quad-port X520/I350 daughter card delivers two 1 GbE and two 10 Gb SFP+ links for storage and management traffic. Buyers who need more than two processors, GPU acceleration or a smaller chassis footprint should evaluate different platforms. The installed 300 GB 10K SAS drives offer a starting point but most deployments will replace or expand the drive set.

Deciding Specification

The twenty-four 2.5-inch SAS/SATA bays connected to a 12 Gb/s PERC H730P controller are the single specification that determines fit. If the workload requires that many hot-swap drives behind dual Xeon Gold 6134 CPUs with 256 GB of DDR4 ECC memory, this configuration matches the requirement. If fewer bays, a different RAID controller or a different memory capacity are needed, the buyer must select another system.