DELL PowerEdge R740xd 2U rack server 2x Xeon 8160 2.1GHz 24-core 512GB DDR4 H730P 2x 300GB SAS

Dense storage server for virtualised workloads

The Dell PowerEdge R740xd is a 2U rack server built around two Intel Xeon Platinum 8160 processors running at 2.1 GHz with 24 cores each. It ships with 512 GB of DDR4 registered ECC memory across 16 modules and a PERC H730P controller with 2 GB cache. Two 300 GB 10K SAS drives and a quad-port network daughter card providing two 1 GbE and two 10 Gb SFP+ connections are included. Redundant 1100 W platinum power supplies, iDRAC9 Enterprise, rails and bezel complete the package.

Suited to software-defined storage and VDI clusters

This platform fits organisations deploying software-defined storage, service-provider infrastructure or virtual desktop farms that benefit from 24 front-accessible 2.5-inch bays in a 2U envelope. Buyers who need a tower chassis, a 1U rack height, or a single-socket design to minimise processor licensing should evaluate other form factors. Environments requiring installed solid-state drives or memory capacities beyond the 3 TB maximum will also need a different configuration.

24-bay 2.5-inch SAS/SATA backplane defines capacity

The single specification that determines fit is the 24-bay 2.5-inch drive backplane connected to the H730P controller, which supports SAS and SATA media in RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60 plus pass-through. This density and interface mix dictates whether the server matches the storage scale and protocol requirements of the target deployment.