Dell PowerEdge R740 Server Review: A Renewed Beast for Demanding Workloads
The Dell PowerEdge R740, part of Dell's 14th generation of PowerEdge servers, is a versatile and high-performance 2U rack server designed to handle demanding workloads, from virtualization and cloud computing to HPC (High-Performance Computing) and Big Data processing. This review focuses on a powerful renewed configuration: 8 x 2.5" Hot Plug bays, 2x Intel Xeon Gold 6136 Twelve-Core 3.0GHz CPUs, 256GB RAM, 2x 1.8TB 10K SAS drives, and a PERC H330 RAID controller. Opting for a renewed model offers a substantial performance boost compared to new entry-level servers, all while presenting significant cost savings.
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| Dell PowerEdge R740 Server Review: A Renewed Beast for Demanding Workloads |
Performance and Processing Power
Dual Intel Xeon Gold 6136 Processors
The heart of this R740 configuration lies in its dual Intel Xeon Gold 6136 processors. This is a crucial element for performance:
Core Count and Clock Speed: Each CPU features 12 cores and 24 threads (via Hyper-Threading), running at a base clock speed of 3.0GHz and a high Turbo Boost frequency. With two processors, the system boasts a total of 24 physical cores and 48 threads. This combination of high core count and high clock speed makes it excellent for both highly-threaded applications (like large databases and virtualization) and frequency-sensitive applications (like some computational science tasks).
Workload Suitability: This setup is perfectly suited for medium-to-large-scale virtualization environments (VMware, Hyper-V) where core count is essential for licensing and multi-VM concurrency.
Generous 256GB DDR4 RAM
With 256GB of DDR4 RAM, the server is well-equipped for memory-intensive operations. The R740 platform supports up to 24 DIMM slots, allowing for massive memory expansion, but 256GB is an ideal starting point for:
Running a substantial number of virtual machines (VMs) concurrently.
Hosting large in-memory databases (like SAP HANA or large instances of Microsoft SQL Server).
Managing enterprise applications that require dedicated memory blocks.
Storage and Data Management
Hot-Plug Drive Bays and Capacity
The 8 x 2.5" Hot Plug chassis is a common and practical configuration. The 2.5-inch Small Form Factor (SFF) bays are versatile, supporting both hard drives (HDD) and solid-state drives (SSD). The hot-plug capability is a standard but vital feature, allowing for drive replacement without powering down the server, ensuring maximum uptime.
Storage Drives and RAID Controller
The configuration includes 2x 1.8TB 10K SAS hard drives. While not as fast as modern NVMe or SATA SSDs, these 10K RPM SAS drives offer a significant boost in transactional performance over slower 7.2K drives.
PERC H330 RAID Controller: The H330 is an entry-level to mid-range RAID controller. It provides essential RAID functionalities (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 50) and is reliable for basic data protection. However, users should note that the H330 is generally write-performance limited compared to its higher-end counterparts (like the H740P) as it lacks the advanced cache memory and battery backup often required for mission-critical, high-I/O workloads. For the best performance, it’s advisable to run the two 1.8TB drives in a RAID 1 configuration for redundancy.
Renewed Value and Enterprise Features
The "Renewed" Advantage
Choosing a renewed or refurbished Dell R740 offers an excellent price-to-performance ratio. These servers are typically off-lease equipment that has been tested and certified. You gain access to high-end, previous-generation hardware, like the Gold-series CPUs, which retain significant processing power, at a fraction of the original cost.
Enterprise-Grade Features
Despite being a renewed model, the R740 retains its core enterprise functionality:
iDRAC9 (Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller): This is Dell's crucial embedded management technology. It provides a comprehensive, agent-free platform for remote management, monitoring, maintenance, and deployment, regardless of the operating system status. This feature alone is indispensable for data center and remote administration.
2U Form Factor: The 2U height is the sweet spot for many data centers, balancing density (fitting more servers in a rack) with internal expansion capability (PCIe slots and drive bays).
Redundancy: The server supports redundant, hot-swap power supplies and cooling fans (specific power supply wattage may vary), offering enterprise-level reliability.
Conclusion
The renewed Dell PowerEdge R740 in this specific configuration is a highly capable workhorse.
| Feature | Assessment | Ideal Workload |
| 2x Gold 6136 CPU | Excellent high-core, high-frequency performance. | Virtualization, VDI, Mid-size Database, HPC. |
| 256GB RAM | Abundant for multi-tasking and large-scale VMs. | Large VM Hosts, In-memory Database Caching. |
| 8 x 2.5" Bays | Flexible, hot-plug storage foundation. | General Purpose, Easily Expandable with SSDs. |
| 2x 1.8TB 10K SAS | Good balance of capacity and speed. | Application/OS Boot, Standard Data Storage. |
| PERC H330 | Entry-to-mid-level RAID protection. | Basic Redundancy, Non-I/O intensive applications. |
| Renewed Status | Exceptional value proposition. | Budget-conscious projects requiring high power. |
This renewed R740 is a smart investment for businesses or IT professionals looking to deploy a high-performance, feature-rich server for demanding, compute-intensive workloads without the substantial capital expenditure of buying new. While the PERC H330 might be a bottleneck for extreme I/O tasks, the raw compute power from the dual Xeon Gold CPUs and the generous 256GB RAM ensure this machine has many years of productive service left.