The Dell PowerEdge R7515 is a great server for Software-Defined Storage (SDS), Virtualization, Data Analytics, and more. This 2U chassis has a handful of different chassis options to pick from. We will cover some of the differences and similarities between the different chassis.

Bay Counts

There are three potential bay counts options for the R7515. These options are 8 Bay LFF, 12 Bay LFF, and 24 Bay SFF. The 8 Bay LFF chassis accepts up to eight 3.5” SAS/SATA hard drives. The 12 Bay LFF chassis accepts up to twelve 3.5” SAS/SATA hard drives. Lastly, the 24 Bay SFF chassis accepts up to twenty-four SAS/SATA/NVMe drives. Each chassis option supports hot-swap drives. There is also an option to install two 3.5” drives in the back of your system, depending on the rear configuration.

Chassis Rear & PCIe Slots

There are two possible rear configurations for the PowerEdge R7515. The first configuration allows you to install up to two 3.5” drives in the rear. There is also two low-profile PCIe slots. The second configuration has no rear drive bays. It has two full-height PCIe slots and two low-profile PCIe slots. Each rear has a system ID button, a system status indicator cable port (CMA), a serial port, a VGA port, two USB 3.0 ports, two 1GbE RJ45 Ethernet ports, a dedicated iDRAC port, two optional LOM riser RJ45 Ethernet ports, and two hot-swap power supplies.

The Dell PowerEdge R7515 has one SP3 socket. This server accepts 2nd or 3rd Generation AMD EPYC processors. A maximum of 64 cores are supported by the R7515.

The Dell PowerEdge R7515 has 16 DDR4 DIMM slots inside. There 8 memory channels that each consist of two DIMM slots. Slots are color-coded white and black to help distinguish the memory channels.

Supported Memory Types and Capacities

Two types of memory are accepted by the R7515 server: ECC Registered (RDIMMs) and Load Reduced (LRDIMMs). Module capacities of 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB can be used with the PowerEdge R7515. It is important to know that 128GB modules can only be used with one type of RAM: Load Reduced. With LRDIMMs, you can achieve an overall greater RAM capacity than you can with RDIMMs. With RDIMMs, the greatest possible configuration you can achieve is 1TB (1024GB) with 16x64GB. On the other hand, with LRDIMMs you can achieve a maximum configuration of 2TB (2048GB) with 16x128GB.

Supported Memory Speeds

The Dell PowerEdge R7515 supported memory speeds of 2666MT/s, 2933MT/s, and 3200MT/s. The processor you install will determine that maximum memory speed that installed modules can run at. If you install a processor that supports a lower max memory speed than the speeds that you have installed, then the install modules will clock down to that maximum speed. For example, if the install processor supports a max speed of 2933MT/s, and you install a 3200MT/s module, the module will operate at 2933MT/s.

The PowerEdge R7515 has many potential storage options that are compatible. The chassis of the R7515 determines whether you can install 2.5” or 3.5” drives. If you system has a rear drive kit, then you can install an additional two 3.5” drives. The R7515 accepts HDDs, SSDs, and M.2s. Supported drive interfaces are: SATA, SAS, and NVMe.

Supported Drives

NVMe is offers many benefits over most non-NVMe drives. NVMe drives bring major performance gains to your system. If you are wondering if the R7515 supports NVMe, the answer is yes!

U.2 NVMe and Backplane NVMe

Out of the three chassis options for the Dell PowerEdge R7515, only one supports U.2 NVMe drives. The 24 Bay SFF chassis has an NVMe capable backplane, meaning that you can install NVMe U.2 drives into the system’s drive bays. The 8 Bay LFF chassis and the 12 Bay LFF chassis only supports SAS and SATA drives.

M.2 NVMe

Up to two M.2 drives can be installed into the PowerEdge R7515 via a BOSS S1 card, but NVMe drives cannot be used. Only non-NVMe M.2 drives can be used with the Dell BOSS S1 card, meaning there is no M.2 NVMe solutions for the PowerEdge R7515.

The Dell PowerEdge R6515 can accept up to two hot-swap power supply units (PSU). Because the PSUs are hot-swap, they can be removed or added while the system is running, as long as one unit remains plugged into the server. There are two power supply options to choose from: 550W AC Platinum and 700W 100-240VAC Platinum. For more power-intensive application, it is best to go with the 700W options. For lower-end applications, the 550W unit works just fine.

Wattages

The wattages for the R715 are: 495W, 750W, 1100W, and 1600W. All of these options are great options, but the best one for you depends on you application. For more power-intensive applications, the 1100W and 1600W are the best choice. For lower-end applications, the 495W and 750W units are your best bet.

Voltages

Each power supply wattage option has an input voltage associated with it. It is important to know this voltage, so you can choose the right power supply for your connection. Using a power supply with a voltage that is not supported by your connection may prevent your server from powering on. The possible voltage options are 100-240VAC, 200-240VAC, 240VDC, 200-380VDC, and (-48)-(-60)VDC. 495W units only come in 100-240VAC. 750W options only come in 200-240VAC, 240VDC, and 100-240VAC. For 1100W, voltage options are 200-380VDC, 100-240VAC, (-48)-(-60)VDC. Lastly, for 1600W, the only voltage option is 100-240VAC.

In order to connect a server to the Internet, it will need some type of Network Interface Card (NIC). A NIC can manifest as ports that are built-in to the motherboard. It can also manifest as an additional card that can be installed into the system. The PowerEdge R7515 has two RJ45 Ethernet ports built into the back of the motherboard. You can also install one LOM Mezzanine card into the back of the R7515.