Lenovo ThinkServer RD550 Rack Server

Description

This powerful ThinkServer RD550 two-socket rack server was released in September of 2014 to coincide with the announcement of Intel’s much anticipated E5 v3 processor family. As of 2016 the system also supports Intel’s E5 v4 processors for enhanced performance over the v3s. Offering an abundance of memory and storage with embedded RAID, there are two different chassis options that support either four 3.5-inch drives or eight 2.5-inch drives. Scalable and flexible, the RD550 will meet the needs of just about any business-critical application and is an excellent compute and storage building block.

Performance

The RD550 offers high-level computing performance. Two Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 or E5-2600 v4 processors can be installed. DDR4 memory is supported on this system and providing increased performance and reduced power consumption over the previous generation DDR3 memory modules. This system is designed to operate reliably at higher temperatures of up to 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, which can significantly reduce operational costs for data center and SMB applications.

Memory

24 DDR4 DIMM slots provide an impressive 768GB in a two processor configuration using E5-2600 v3 processors and 32GB RDIMM or LRDIMM modules, and can support transfer speeds up to 2133MT/s. Using dual E5-2600 v4 processors up to 1.5TB of memory can be installed using 64GB LRDIMM modules, or only 768TB using RDIMM modules, with supported memory speeds of up to 2400MHz. Both RDIMM and LRDIMM modules are supported.

Storage – Two Different Chassis

Choose from two different chassis configurations to address your storage and performance requirements. With two processors up to 36TB of storage is available using 4 x 3.5-inch drives with two 2.5-inch drives mounted in the back. A single AnyFabric module can also be installed for enhanced network connectivity without using any PCIe slots. A second chassis configuration offers 12 x 2.5-inch drives for a total storage capacity of 24TB using eight 2TB SSDs. The 2.5-inch chassis supports two AnyFabric modules for increased network throughput. Optional front mounted M.2 PCIe SSDs are available for fast secure booting, and optional redundant flash SD cards for hypervisor booting and support.

Expansion

The 3.5-inch chassis supports two PCIe Gen3 LP x16 cards while the 2.5-inch version supports three PCIE Gen3 slots total, one PCIe LP x16 and two LP x16 x8. RAID is handled with an internal AnyRAID controller located between the hard drive backplane and the hot-swap fans, again saving your PCIe slots for other accessories. An optional Flash module mounts on the AnyRAID controller for additional cache. A dedicated AnyFabric network connection, accessed from the back of the system, preserves PCIe slots and supports several common external devices—NICs, FiberChannel HBA, and CNA.

Management

Installing the OS and drivers is easy with Lenovo’s ThinkServer Deployment Manager (TDM) accessible at boot-up from the BIOS. The TDM helps configure volume selection, BIOS settings, and RAID options. Lenovo’s embedded ThinkServer System Manager (TSM) replaces the earlier ThinkServer Management Module (TMM) and enables remote management of the server and can be accessed through the network to provide system health status. Additional premium management features enable diagnostics, energy management, power planning, and a remote KVM connection.

In Summary

The Lenovo ThinkServer RD550 is a highly adaptable and scalable platform capable of handling a wide range of business critical applications and is suitable for both traditional and software defined data centers. Designed to run reliably and consistently in temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius or 113 degrees Fahrenheit, Lenovo’s superb engineering and cooling significantly reduces operational costs compared to the previous generation server. Lenovo advertises this system as a 1U platform that delivers 2U performance, and we’re inclined to believe them with the new technology, storage, and scalability this system offers.