The PowerEdge R730 server is a Dell 13th 2U server which has a handful of different chassis options. The main differences between each option have to do with the total number of drives it can hold, as well as the form factor of those drives. Each PowerEdge R730 chassis option supports hotswap 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. There is a total of three different chassis options for the PowerEdge R730 server: 8 Bay SFF, 8 Bay LFF, 16 Bay SFF

Chassis Options

The three chassis options are the 8 Bay SFF, 8 Bay LFF, and 16 Bay SFF. The 8 Bay SFF chassis for the PowerEdge R730 supports a total of eight 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SDD drives. The 8 Bay LFF chassis for the R730 server can accept a total of eight 3.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives. The 16 Bay SFF chassis can hold a maximum of sixteen 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SSD drives.

PCIe Slots

PCIe slots and riser are the same across each R730 chassis options. The PCIe slot and riser layout for the PowerEdge R730 is the same for each chassis option. Three risers are included with this system. The risers are numbered 1-3. Riser 1 has three half-height, low profile, x8 lane PCIe slots. Riser 2 has two full-height, full-length PCIe slots. One slot is x8 lane and the other is x16 lane. Lastly, Riser 3 has two full-height, full-length, x8 lane PCIe slots.

The Dell PowerEdge R730 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 R730 server has a total of 24 DIMM slots. There is a total of 8 memory channels. Each memory channel consists of 3 DIMM slots.

Memory Types & Max Capacities

The R730 accepts DDR4 memory and can take either ECC Registered memory (RDIMMs) or Load Reduced memory (LRDIMM). You can use capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB. 64GB and 128GB modules can only be used with one type of RAM: Load Reduced. Utilizing LRDIMMs allows you to achieve an overall greater capacity than if you were to use RDIMMs.

Max Capacities

With RDIMMs, the max total RAM capacity you can reach is 768GB with a 24x32GB configuration. With LRDIMMs on the other hand, the max capacity you can reach is 3TB with a configuration of 24x128GB. That’s a lot of memory!

Supported Memory Speeds

The memory speeds that the R730 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 R730’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 R730 will depend on what chassis you have. If you have an 8 Bay SFF or 16 Bay SFF chassis, then you can use 2.5” SAS, SATA, or SDD drives. If you have an 8 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 a spectacular technology that is widely in demand across datacenters around the world. 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 R730 supports two of these options: PCIe and M.2.

PCIe NVMe

The PowerEdge R730 can utilize PCIe NVMe drives, but there are some limitations. Firstly, the card must have Dell firmware. A normal OEM PCIe NVMe drive will not work, it must have Dell firmware. Even if you have a card with Dell firmware, you wont 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. In order for an NVMe PCIe drive to work with the R730, slot disablement in the BIOS must be enabled.

M.2 NVMe

M.2 NVMe is by far the best NVMe solution for the PowerEdge R730 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 R730’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 R730 Take?

The Dell PowerEdge R730 Server can hold 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 R730: 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 of these cases, it is a good idea to go with a 750W or 1100W PSU. Either way, it will never hurt if you purchase more than what you need.

Voltage

One thing to pay close attention to is the power supplies 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. Most outlets in American homes are equipped with 110V connections, while homes in Europe and datacenters commonly use 220V connections. 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 R730 to the Internet, you will need to install a network card. There is a variety of different network cards you can install into your R730. You can either install a daughter card or a PCIe card. On the back of the motherboard, there is a slot or 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.