Dell PowerEdge R750xs Server

The Dell PowerEdge R750xs is powerful 2U rackmount server. It is a variant of the PowerEdge R750, but it has some minor differences. We will compare and contrast the R750xs chassis options. We will also highlight some of the similarities and differences between the R750 and the R750xs.

R750 vs R750xs

The PowerEdge R750 and R750xs look like the same system on the outside, however they do have some differences. The R750xs is meant for businesses or individuals who need a lower cost server. The R750xs has less features and scalability than the R750, but this is on purpose. The R750xs is made for those who do not need every feature that is included in the R750. The R750xs supports CPUs with lower core counts, has less DIMM slots, and has less storage options. Only 3rd generation Intel Xeon Silver and Gold processors are supported. There is also a total of 16 DIMM slots instead of 32. Both power supply bays for the R750xs are adjacent to each other, while on the R750, they’re spread apart.

Bay Counts

The Dell PowerEdge R750xs has a total of six bay count and form factor options. These options are: 8 Bay LFF, 12 Bay LFF, 8 Bay SFF, 16 Bay SFF, 24 Bay SFF, and a 0 Bay chassis. The 8 Bay LFF chassis accepts up to eight 3.5” SATA or SAS drives in the backplane. The 12 Bay LFF chassis accepts up to twelve 3.5” SATA or SAS drives in the backplane. The 8 Bay SFF chassis can hold up to eight 2.5” SATA, SAS, or NVMe drives in the backplane. The 16 Bay SFF chassis can accept a max of sixteen 2.5” SATA or SAS drives in the backplane. The 24 Bay SFF chassis can accept a total of sixteen 2.5” SATA or SAS drives and eight 2.5” NVMe drives. Lastly, the zero bay chassis accepts no drives at all. This may sound unusable, but it is great for In-memory computing (IMC), computation, and Storage Area Networks (SANs). For all of these chassis options you have the ability to install a drive kit that adds an addition two 2.5” drive bays in the rear of the server.

Chassis Rear and PCIe Slots

There is a total of five different rear and PCIe configurations for the Dell PowerEdge R750xs. The first configuration has six x16 low-profile PCIe slots, and a hot-plug BOSS-S2 module. The second rear configuration has five x16 low-profile PCIe slots, one x8 low-profile PCIe slot, a BOSS-S2 module, and two 2.5” drive bays. The third configuration has five x16 low-profile PCIe slots, one x8 low-profile (x4) PCIe slots, a BOSS-S2 module, and two 2.5” drive bays. The fourth rear configuration has three x16 low-profile PCIe slots, a x8 low-profile (x4), and a BOSS-S2 module. The last rear configuration for the R750xs has one x16 low-profile PCIe slot, one x8 low-profile (x4) PCIe slot, and a BOSS-S2 module. Each rear configuration has two 1GbE RJ45 ports, a dedicated RJ45 iDRAC port, two USB ports, a VGA port, a x16 OCP slot, and two power supplies.

The Dell PowerEdge R750xs has two CPU sockets. These sockets utilize 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors. The R760xs has a 32 CPU core limit, meaning that a total of 64 CPU cores can be achieved. This may be an issue for those who are looking to use high end, platinum processors. For those who are looking for a more budget friendly option, this it’s a great fit, and is what the R750xs is meant for.

The PowerEdge R750xs server has a handful of different storage solutions. The form factor of your server chassis plays a big role in the drives you can install into your server. For the 8 Bay LFF and 12 Bay LFF chassis, you can install 3.5” drives. For the 8 Bay SFF, 16 Bay SFF, and 24 Bay SFF chassis, you can install 2.5” drives. If you system has two rear drive bays, you can install two additional 2.5” drives. The Dell PowerEdge R750xs supports the use of HDDs, SSDs, M.2s, and uSDs. Supported drive interfaces include: SATA, SAS, and NVMe.

Supported Drives

NVMe is in wide demand in datacenters all over the world. NVMe drives are lightning fast when compared to most non-NVMe drives. For applications where speed is key, NVMe is essential! The PowerEdge R750xs has lots of NVMe support.

U.2 NVMe and Backplane NVMe

Some of the R750xs chassis have NVMe capabilities built into the backplane. This means you can install NVMe drives directly into the backplane, without the use of an NVMe enablement kit. These chassis are the 8 Bay SFF and the 24 Bay SFF chassis. All drive bays on the 8 Bay SFF chassis can accept NVMe drives along with SAS and SATA drives. For the 24 Bay SFF chassis, only the last eight slots can accept NVMe drives while the first sixteen accept SAS or SATA only. Both the 8 Bay LFF and 12 Bay LFF chassis do not have NVMe capable backplanes, but with a rear drive kit, you can install two 2.5” NVMe drives. This kit can be installed on all R750xs chassis.

M.2 NVMe

A maximum of two M.2 NVMe drives can be installed into the PowerEdge R750xs with using the Dell BOSS-S2 module. The BOSS-S2 is hot-swap, which allows you to replace M.2 drives while the system is powered on. This is useful in case an M.2 drive fails and it needs to be replaced. The BOSS-S2 does support hardware RAID.

How Many Power Supplies does the R750xs Take?

The Dell PowerEdge R750xs can hold up to two hot-swap power supplies. Because the power supplies are hot-swap, you can add or remove one unit while the system is powered on. This will only work as long as one unit remains within the server.

Wattage Options

There are four power supply wattage options for the PowerEdge R750xs server. These options are 600W, 800W, 1100W, and 1400W. The R750 does not have a 600W option. The 600W is great if you’re on a budget. It is also good for applications that don’t require a ton of power. On the other hand, if your server has a high demand for power, then the 1100W and 1400W options are the best choice for you.

Voltage

Each wattage option has a few voltage options to choose from. The voltage of a power supply can be easily overlooked. It is important to make sure that your power supply supports the voltage range of you connection. The 600W, 800W, 1100W, and 1400W all have AC/100~240v and DC/240v voltage options. There is also a DC/-48~-60v option for 1100W power supplies. If you use a power supply with a voltage that isn’t supported by the voltage of you connection your server will either not power on or will operate a lower wattage.

Power Supply Placement

Power supply bays for the R750xs are adjacent to each other in a corner of the server’s rear. The bays for the R750 are spaced out, having one bay in each corner of the server’s rear.

Network Interface Cards (NICs) are required to connected your server to the Internet. You can use the two integrated 1GbE RJ45 ports for Internet access, however there are only two, and you will run out of ports quick. There is also no support for 10GbE speeds or fiber. You can purchase a separate NIC to expand the networking capabilities of your R750xs. There are options with RJ45 and/or fiber connections. The 15th generation of Dell servers have moved away from network daughter cards (NDCs) and towards the OCP standard. There is a OCP 3.0 slot in the back of the system. PCIe network cards are also supported.