DELL VRTX 5U rack server 2x M630 2x E5-2670v3 2.3GHz 12-Core 256GB 12x 2.4TB 10K SAS

Dell VRTX 5U server with dual M630 blades

This 5U rack server integrates two PowerEdge M630 blade servers inside a single VRTX chassis. Each blade carries an Intel E5-2670v3 processor running at 2.3GHz with 12 cores and 30M cache. The system ships with 256GB of DDR4 memory across 16 modules and twelve 2.4TB 10K SAS drives. It is aimed at organisations that want dense compute and shared storage in one enclosure.

S130 controller and 1Gb switch set throughput

The installed S130 storage controller provides basic RAID functions but lacks the cache and advanced features of a full PERC card, limiting write performance on the twelve 3.5-inch drive bays. The internal VRTX 1GB switch module caps east-west traffic between blades at gigabit speeds, so workloads that need 10Gb or faster fabric will require an additional switch module. Eight flexible PCIe slots (three full-height, five low-profile) are available for expansion cards.

Blade insertion is straightforward but cabling

Installing the M630 blades is a matter of sliding them into the front bays until they lock, then attaching the four redundant 1600W power supplies at the rear. The single CMC and iDRAC8 Express give remote access once network cables are connected. Common issues arise when the 10Gb Intel X520 dual-port mezzanine cards are not seated firmly or when SAS cables to the shared backplane are misrouted, causing drives to disappear from the RAID BIOS.

12x 2.4TB SAS storage with single PERC8 RAID

Twelve 2.4TB 10K SAS drives fill every 3.5-inch bay, delivering high-capacity nearline storage for virtualisation or database workloads. A single PERC8 RAID controller manages the array, so there is no controller redundancy; a controller failure takes the whole volume offline until replaced. The blades also include dual 16GB SD cards each for hypervisor boot, leaving the SAS array free for data.