Dell has consistently beaten HP and IBM to the punch when it comes to supporting the latest processors – and it does it yet again. Not only does the PowerEdge R720 2U rack server support Intel’s Xeon E5-2600 processors, it also represents a major redesign over the R710.
Our review system features a pair of 2.7GHz Xeon E5-2680 processors. These use the new 32nm Sandy Bridge-EP (efficient performance) architecture, which sees inter-socket QPI links doubled and speeds boosted to 8GT/sec.
Near the top of this family of eight-core server CPUs, the E5-2680 has a 20MB L3 cache and supports Intel’s new Turbo Boost 2, allowing cores to peak briefly beyond their TDP rating. During idle periods, the system accumulates a thermal budget to later be used to boost core performance for up to 25 seconds.
The E5-2600 Xeons have four memory channels per socket, and the R720 comes with the full 24 DIMM sockets onboard. In dual-CPU systems memory can be boosted to 768GB, using RDIMMs or the new LR-DIMM (load-reduced) modules.
Hypervisor redundancy is available via Dell’s optional dual-SD card controller. It’s been redesigned to fit into a dedicated slot at the rear, where it automatically keeps an onboard copy of the primary boot media.
For storage, the chassis now has room for eight hot-swap LFF or 16 SFF hard disks – twice that of the R710. Dell also offers a version with four standard SFF bays and four hotplug PCI Express flash SSDs. And then there’s the R720xd (extreme disk) version. Available as a separate order, its chassis is modified to provide 24 hot-swap SFF bays at the front and two more at the rear.
RAID options start with the entry-level PERC S110 controller, which links to the motherboard’s four-port SATA II connector and supports stripes, mirrors and RAID5 arrays in Windows. Our review system came with the PERC H710P Mini card, which snaps into a dedicated slot and offers RAID6 for 6Gbits/sec SAS and SATA drives.
Dell hasn’t wasted any internal space, with the CPU and DIMM sockets arranged in a neat row across the centre of the chassis. A bank of six hotplug cooling fans sits in front; we found noise levels to be extremely low. A pair of platinum-rated 750W hotplug supplies came installed, but Dell also offers high-power 1,100W supplies and 495W models for lighter duties.
The E5-2680 Xeon has a 130W TDP, but even with two of them power consumption wasn’t excessive. With Windows Server 2008 R2 in idle we measured a draw of 120W; under maximum load from SiSoft Sandra this rose to only 358W.
Expansion options are extensive. You get seven PCI Express Gen 3 slots, with room for one x16 and three x8 full-height, full-length cards and three x8 half-height, half-length cards. Dell also moves into graphics-intensive applications, as the R720 supports two double-width graphics cards, including Nvidia’s Tesla.
The Sandy Bridge-EP design moves the I/O Hub on-chip and provides 40 PCI Express lanes per socket. This new architecture means both CPU sockets in the R720 must be populated to use all seven slots; with a single CPU, you’re reduced to three.
A proprietary slot at the rear accepts Dell’s new Broadcom and Intel-based NIC daughtercards. We had the standard Intel quad-Gigabit card, but Dell also offers dual-10GBase-T and dual-Gigabit versions that include Fibre Channel over Ethernet offload on the 10GbE ports.
The R720 introduces Dell’s new iDRAC7 remote management controllers. These are the equal of HP’s iLO3, now providing more operational data and improved power monitoring.
All in all, the PowerEdge R720 is a fine rack server that delivers a strong package for the price. HP’s ProLiant DL380 has always been a standard setter for 2U rack server design, but even its eighth-generation model will have a tough time beating the Dell’s features.
Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 3yr on-site next business day |
Ratings | |
Physical | |
| Server format | Rack |
| Server configuration | 2U |
Processor | |
| CPU family | Intel Xeon |
| CPU nominal frequency | 2.70GHz |
| Processors supplied | 2 |
| CPU socket count | 2 |
Memory | |
| RAM capacity | 768GB |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
Storage | |
| Hard disk configuration | 5 x 300GB Dell SAS 2 SFF 10K hot-swap hard disks (max 16) |
| RAID module | Dell PERC H710P Mini with 512MB cache/BBU |
| RAID levels supported | 0, 1, 5, 6, 10 |
Networking | |
| Gigabit LAN ports | 4 |
Power supply | |
| Power supply rating | 750W |
Noise and power | |
| Idle power consumption | 120W |
| Peak power consumption | 358W |
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