Dell PowerEdge R730xd Server

The PowerEdge R730xd server is a Dell 13th 2U server which builds upon the PowerEdge R730. The R730 and R730xd are nearly identical, but the R730xd is the go-to option for storage. There are two different chassis options for the PowerEdge R730xd which are the 12 Bay LFF and 24 Bay SFF. The main differences between each option is total number of drives bays, as well as the form factor of the drives they accept. Each PowerEdge R730xd chassis option supports hot-swap drives and power supplies. This means that either the drive or power supply can be removed while the system is powered on. It is important to note, that when removing a power supply, one must remain the system, for the system to remain powered on.

Chassis Options

The three chassis options are the 12 Bay LFF and 24 Bay SFF. The 12 Bay LFF chassis for the PowerEdge R730xd supports a total of twelve 3.5” SAS, SATA, or SDD drives. The 24 Bay SFF chassis on the other hand can accept a total of twenty-four 3.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. As you tell, these chassis can hold a lot of drives! Each of the chassis’ options have potential to add an additional two drive bays to the back of the system. To do this, you will need an additional kit that needs to be installed to the back of the system, above the power supply bays.

PCIe Slots

PCIe slots and riser are the same across each R730xd chassis option. There is a total of six PCIe slots. Three of those slots accept high profile cards, while the other three accept low profile cards. There is a total of three riser cards for the PowerEdge R730xd.

The Dell PowerEdge R730xd server utilizes Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 and E5-2600 v4 series processors and can handle a maximum of twenty-two cores per processor.

DIMM Slots & Channels

The Dell PowerEdge R730xd server has a total of 24 DDR4 DIMM slots. There are 8 total memory channels. Each memory channel consists of 3 DIMM slots.

Memory Types & Module Capacities

The R730xd accepts DDR4 memory and can take either ECC Registered memory (RDIMMs) or Load Reduced memory (LRDIMM). Module capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB can be used within this system. 64GB and 128GB modules can only be used with one type of RAM, which is Load Reduced. With LRDIMMs, you can reach an overall greater capacity than if you were to use RDIMMs.

Max Configurations

With RDIMMs, the maximum possible RAM you can reach is 768GB with a 24x32GB configuration. With LRDIMMs, you can reach a max capacity of 3TB with a configuration of 24x128GB.

Supported Memory Speeds

The memory speeds that the R730xd accepts varies depending on the processor that you are using. If your system has an Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 processor, then fastest memory speed you can achieve is 2133MT/s. You can put in higher speeds, such as 2400MT/s, 2666MT/s, 2933MT/s, and 3200MT/s, but these will all clock down to 2133MT/s. Alternatively, if your system is using E5-2600 v4 processors, the R730xd’s true fastest speed will be 2400MT/s. Again, you can put in speeds greater than 2400MT/s, but if you do, the modules will clock down to 2400MT/s.

The drives you use for your PowerEdge R730xd will depend on what chassis you have. If you have a 24 Bay SFF chassis, then you can use 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SDD drives. If you have an 12 Bay LFF chassis, then you can only use 3.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. Each chassis supports hot-swap drives, meaning you can remove and/or add drives while the machine is powered on.

Supported Drives

NVMe is an awesome storage solution that is in demand across datacenters around the globe. People are always looking for ways to implement NVMe within their system. NVMe drives are much faster than traditional drives. Generally, there are three types of NVMe solutions. These solutions are U.2, M.2, and PCIe. The R730xd supports two of these options: PCIe and M.2.

PCIe NVMe

The PowerEdge R730xd can accept PCIe NVMe drives, but there are some limitations. Firstly, the card must have Dell firmware. A OEM PCIe NVMe drive without Dell firmware will not work. Even if you have a card with Dell firmware, there are a lot of limitations. You won’t be able to install an operating system on it, you cannot use in a RAID configuration, and you cannot install a virtual machine on it. Really the only thing you can use the drive for is extra storage. For an NVMe PCIe drive to work with the R730xd, slot disablement in the BIOS must be enabled.

M.2 NVMe

M.2 NVMe is by far the best NVMe solution for the PowerEdge R730xd server. M.2 has a lot more possibilities than the PCIe solution. With the M.2, you can install an operating system on it, can install a virtual machine on it, and you can pretty much do anything that a normal drive can do. There is no M.2 connection on the R730xd’s motherboard, so you must use a PCIe to M.2 adapter in order to use M.2 drives. One thing to note is that 14th gen Dell BOSS cards are not backwards compatible and will not work with the R730. For this solution to work, you must enable slot bifurcation in the BIOS. If there is not slot bifurcation setting on your server, you will have to update your BIOS.

How Many Power Supplies does the R730xd Take?

The Dell PowerEdge R730xd Server can accept a total of two hot-swap power supplies. Because the power supplies are hot-swap, you can remove and/or add one from the system while it is powered on. This will only work in one power supply remains connected to the server.

Wattage Options

There are three power supply wattage options for the PowerEdge R730xd: 495W, 750W, 1100W. All three wattages are great choices, but the best one for your system depends on your application. Systems that utilize more high-end components are generally going to require more power to operate. Also, if your server performs resource intensive tasks, then there will be more of a demand for power. In both cases, it is a good idea to go with a 750W or 1100W PSU.

Voltage

One thing to be aware of is the power supply’s voltage. You want to make sure you purchase a power supply with the voltage that is supported you connection. Voltage options include 110V and 220V. If you use a 220V power supply, but only have a 110V connection, the system will not power on. Before purchasing a power supply for your server, find out what connection you need, and then make sure the power supply supports that connection.

If you want to connect your PowerEdge R730xd to the Internet, you will need to install a network card. There is a variety of different network cards you can install into your R730xd. You can either install a daughter card or a PCIe card. On the back of the motherboard, there is a slot for a daughter card, which is nice since you don’t use up a PCIe slot. You can get cards that support Ethernet, Fiber, or both. You can also get cards with speeds of 1 gigabit, 10 gigabit, or both.