System Overview; Introduction - Dell PowerEdge R320 Technical Manual

1 System overview

Introduction

The 1- socket Dell™ PowerEdge™ R320 rack server delivers powerful performance and
Enterprise- class high availability capabilities in a 1U chassis. The R320's configuration flexibility,
increased internal storage, and straightforward systems management make it an excellent fit
for web hosting and serving, file and print serving, and other general purpose applications in
space- constrained locations.
Enterprise features, scalable expandability, and value in a dense chassis
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The R320 features the scalable performance of the Intel Xeon processor E5- 2400 product family
with Enterprise- class memory RAS features. This server complements its processors with six DIMM
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slots and two PCI Express (PCIe) slots, providing a substantial memory footprint and wide I/O
bandwidth to support memory- intensive applications and databases as well as consolidation and
virtualization. For users not needing the Enterprise- class high performance of the Intel processor
Xeon E5- 2400 product family, the R320 also supports the more price- sensitive Intel Xeon processor
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E5- 1410 and Intel Pentium processor 1400 product family.
Users selecting the Intel Xeon processor E5- 2400 product family can choose to implement
advanced memory protection capabilities (memory sparing and memory mirroring) previously not
seen in the 1- socket x86 server space. These capabilities are not possible with the Intel Xeon
processor E5- 1410 and the Intel Pentium processor 1400 product family. Regardless of the
processor type, you can take advantage of other high availability features offered on the R320. To
protect your virtualized workloads, the R320 offers redundant SD cards making your hypervisors
redundant and failsafe. Other reliability and availability features include hardware and software RAID
options, hot plug hard drives and hot plug power supplies.
Ideal for your applications
The R320 features up to 100% more processor cores, enterprise- class RAS features including
memory sparing and memory mirroring, and 100% more internal hard drives than the
previous- generation R310. Network options span multiple third- party brands and adapter types
with 10GbE NIC, 10GbE FCoE, and Fiber Channel 8Gb HBA. The R320 delivers failsafe hypervisors
to protect virtualized workloads and is Fresh Air compliant, enabling it to operate in extended
temperature ranges. This not only helps to save energy costs but also allows the R320 to ride
through unforeseen events such as power brownouts. Its innovative, agent- free systems
management delivers no- compromise enterprise- class systems management for hassle- free
computing. These combined capabilities make the R320 an excellent fit for web hosting and serving,
file and print serving, and work group collaboration and productivity applications, especially where
the low- profile of a 1U chassis is desired.
The PowerEdge server line
The PowerEdge family is engineered with the right combination of features and performance
scalability to handle tough workloads for both large and small data center environments.
The Dell OpenManage™ systems management portfolio includes Integrated Dell Remote Access
Controller 7 (iDRAC7) with Lifecycle Controller. This embedded feature helps IT administrators
manage Dell servers in physical, virtual, local and remote environments, operating in- band or out-
of- band, with or without a systems management software agent. OpenManage integrates and
connects to third- party systems management solutions so you can maintain your single point of