DELL PowerEdge R740xd2 26x 8TB SAS 2x Gold 6150 32GB DDR4 H330 2U rack server

High-density 2U rack server

The Dell PowerEdge R740xd2 is a 2U rackmount server built for data-intensive workloads that demand high storage density. It ships with two Intel Xeon Gold 6150 processors, each running 18 cores at 2.7 GHz with a 3.7 GHz turbo frequency. The system includes 32 GB of DDR4 ECC registered memory across 16 DIMM slots, supporting up to 1 TB total capacity. Twenty-six 3.5-inch 8 TB SAS drives operating at 7.2K RPM provide extensive raw capacity, managed by a Dell PERC H330 12 Gb/s storage controller.

Storage-focused deployments vs compute-heavy needs

This server suits organisations building software-defined storage clusters, large backup repositories or media archives where drive count and throughput matter more than maximum processor performance. The dual 18-core CPUs deliver strong multi-threaded performance, yet buyers who need higher core counts per socket, faster memory speeds or GPU acceleration for compute-intensive analytics should evaluate alternative platforms. The 32 GB base memory may also limit virtualisation density without additional DIMMs.

26-bay 3.5-inch SAS drive configuration

The defining specification is the 26-drive bay layout populated with 8 TB 7.2K SAS hard drives on a PERC H330 controller. This combination fixes the storage interface, drive form factor and maximum device count in a single 2U chassis. Buyers must confirm that their rack infrastructure, cabling and workload I/O profile align with this high-density SAS architecture before deployment.