DELL PowerEdge™ R740 2U Server

Dell PowerEdge R740 Review

Dell EMC PowerEdge R740 is a two-processor medium-level 2U server mounted in a 19″ cabinet or rack. R740 is perfect for a wide variety of tasks which require high computing powers, storage, scalability, graphics and other resources. You can use it to work with data storage, virtualization, private cloud, VDI, as well as to implement high performance computing (HPC) and more.

Scaleability

Dell R740 is a highly scalable general-purpose server with flexible configurations and parameters. To make this server a highly effective solution, Dell Technologies engineers gave it the following characteristics:

• Support of up to two Intel Xeon Scalable 2nd generation (up to 28 cores and 56 thread) processors,

• Up to 24 DDR4 slots, RDIMM and LRDIMM support, max 7.68 TB, 2666 MT/s. 12 slots can be used with NVDIMM,

• Support of PCIe 3.0 standard with ability to scale it to 8 × PCIe 3.0 (various combinations of x16/x8),

• Support of various network parameters:

• 4 RJ-45 × 1 Gbps,

• 2 RJ-45 × 10 Gbps and 2 RJ-45 × 1 Gbps,

• 4 RJ-45 × 10 Gbps,

• 2 RJ-45 × 1 Gbps and 2 SFP+ × 10 Gbps,

• 4 SFP+ × 10 Gbps,

• 2 SFP28 × 25 Gbps.

• Hot-swappable disks and various bins:

• Up to 16 х 2.5 SAS/SATA/NVMe,

• Up to 8 × 2.5 SAS/SATA,

• Up to 8 × 3.5 SAS/SATA,

• Software S140 and hardware RAID controllers support, including BOSS (Boot Optimized Storage Subsystem) with the ability to install two M.2 SSD drives,

• Hot-swappable power supplies: Gold 1100W 48V DC, Titanium 750W, Platinum 495W, 750W, 750W AC and 240V DC mixed mod, 1100W, 1100W AC and 380V DC mixed mod, 1600W, 2000W and 2400W.

Control and automation

Dell R740 supports iDRAC 9 Express out-of-the-box technology: it is a proprietary implementation of IPMI 2.0 protocol to control the server as if it is right in front of you. Express level license is part of rack-mounted server, tower server and modular 600-series (and above) system scope of supply. Fee-based Enterprise- and Datacenter-level licenses include additional functionality.

Dell EMC OpenManage to easily control equipment and automate routine processes.

OpenManage Essentials to save system administrators' time spent on implementation, update, monitoring and maintenance of IT infrastructure. You can centralize control and decrease labour payment expenses.

iDRAC Quick Sync 2 technology with wireless NFC module and OpenManage Mobile app to get important notifications and monitor and control the server using your smartphone.

Security

Dell R740 is based on Dell Technologies cybersecure architecture. The server receives firmware updates and security patches during its whole lifecycle. That's why your system administrator can reliably implement critical business processes and cybersecure them.

• Secure logistics ensure that the server will travel from the manufacturing plant to the end-client safely,

• Cryptographic signature and Secure Boot protocol (part of UEFI specification) ensure data security,

• Cryptoprocessor (TPM 2.0) installed in a motherboard chipset is available as an option,

• IDRAC 9 Server Lockdown function prevents any unauthorized access and protects the server from malware (requires Enterprise-level or Datacenter-level fee-based license),

• System Erase function to remove all data (including cache and logs) from any drives (HDD, SSD, system memory) remotely, quickly, and securely. Thanks to that, you can reset the server to factory settings, dispose it or sell it after use without any risks of confidential data leak,

• Software and hardware RAID controllers.

What's new

Compared to the previous generation of R730, R740 server has become more energy efficient and powerful, and has been equipped with the latest generation of iDRAC 9. It has an upgraded M.2 SATA interface, a C620 chipset, a modern generation of processors, more disk holder options and more power supplies for VDI, NVMe drives support, new RAID controllers, an additional PCIe 3.0 slot and more.