The R720 has three total bay count options. These are 8 Bay SFF, 8 Bay LFF, and 16 Bay SFF. The R720 supports hot-swap, which means that drives can be added or removed while the server is on. Power supplies for the R720 are also hot-swap.

8 Bay SFF

The 8 Bay SFF chassis supports a total of eight 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. There is a total of two low-profile PCIe slots and four full-height PCIe slots.

8 Bay LFF

The 8 Bay LFF chassis support up to eight 3.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. 2.5" drives can be installed by using a 2.5" to 3.5" drive converter. There is a total of two low-profile PCIe slots and four full-height PCIe slots.

16 Bay SFF

The 16 Bay SFF chassis supports a total of sixteen 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. There is a total of two low-profile PCIe slots and four full-height PCIe slots.

The Dell PowerEdge R720 server is a dual processor system that accepts Intel Xeon E5-2600 or E5-2600v2 Processors. In order to use an E5-2600v2 processor, you may have to update your server’s BIOS. Each socket is an LGA2011 socket that supports up to 12 cores per socket. A total of 24 cores be installed.

DIMM Slots

The Dell PowerEdge R720 Server has a total of 24 DDR3 DIMM slots. There are 8 memory channels that each consist of 3 DIMM slots.

Memory Types & Module Capacities

The R720 accepts either ECC Registered Memory (RDIMMs) or Load Reduced Memory (LRDIMMs). You can use capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. Do note that 64GB modules can only be used with Load Reduced memory. Because of this, you can achieve a larger maximum RAM capacity.

Max Configurations

With ECC Registered memory, a max size of 512GB can be reached with a configuration of sixteen 32GB modules. Load Reduced memory on the other hand can reach a max of 1.5TB of RAM with a configuration of twenty-four 64GB modules.

RAM Speeds

The R720 supports memory speeds of 1066MT/s, 1333MT/s, and 1600MT/s. 1866MT/s modules can be installed, but they will clock down to the true fastest speed of 1600MT/s.

The chassis you have will determine the form factor of drives you can install. If you have an 8 Bay SFF chassis or a 16 Bay SFF chassis, you can plug in 2.5" SAS/SATA drives into the backplane. If you have an 8 Bay LFF chassis you can install 3.5" SAS/SATA drives. With the 8 Bay LFF chassis you can install 2.5" drives, but you will need to utilize a 2.5" to 3.5" drive adapter. The R720 accepts SAS, SATA, and SSD drives. All chassis options support hot-swap drives, meaning you can remove and/or add drives while the machine is powered on.

Supported Drives

How Many Power Supplies does the R720 Take?

The Dell PowerEdge R720 Server can hold a maximum of two hot-swap power supplies. Because the power supplies are hot-swap, you can remove one from the system while the server is powered on. This will only work as long as one power supply remains plugged in.

Wattage Options

The R720 server has three power supply wattage options: 495W, 750W, and 1100W. All three options are great choices, but which one you choose depends on your application. Systems that have high end components generally require more power. Also, if the system is performing resource intensive tasks, then there will be more of a demand for power. In both cases, going with a 750W or 1100W PSU is the way to go.

Voltage

An important thing to pay attention to when buying a power supply for you R720, is the voltage. R720 power supplies can be either 110V or 220V. If you purchase a 220V power supply, but only have a 110V connection, then the system will not power on. Most outlets in American homes are equipped with 110V connections, while homes in Europe use 220V connections. 220V connections are also commonly seen in data centers. Before purchasing a power supply for your server, find out what connection you need, and then make sure the PSU you purchase supports that connection.