System Overview; Introduction - Dell PowerEdge R320 Technical Manual

1 System overview

Introduction

The one-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 and E5-2400 v2
product families with enterprise-class memory reliability, availability, serviceability (RAS) features.
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This server complements its processors with six DIMM 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 Xeon processor E5-2400 and E5-2400 v2 product
families, the R320 also supports the more price-sensitive Intel Xeon processor E5-1410 and Intel
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Pentium processor 1400 product family.
Users selecting the Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 and E5-2400 v2 product families can choose to
implement advanced memory protection capabilities (memory sparing and memory mirroring)
previously not seen in the one-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 Fibre Channel 8Gb HBA. The R320 delivers failsafe hypervisors
to protect virtualized workloads and Dell Fresh Air compliant configuarions, 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.
Simplified systems management, without compromise
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 installed.
OpenManage iDRAC with Lifecycle Controller integrates and connects to leading third-party
systems management solutions (such as those from Microsoft, VMware and BMC Software), so users