Dell PowerEdge M520 Blade Server

Description

Dell's PowerEdge M520 blade server features a half-height form factor and is designed for Dell's M1000e Blade enclosure. The PowerEdge M1000e blade enclosure will support up to 16 half-height server blades for 60% greater compute density than using 16 1U servers in a standard enclosure. Several different form factors and generations of server blades are also supported on the M1000e enclosure ensuring you get the most value out of your investment for years to come.

Performance

Intel's C600 chipset supports a maximum of two Intel Xeon E5-2600 or Xeon E5-2400 v2 processors with up to 10 cores each and 2.5MB cache per core. Power is provided by the enclosure, along with cooling, networking, and centralized management.

Memory

Each processor supports six memory slots for a total of 12 memory slots in a two processor configuration. Administrators can chose between DDR3 unbuffered (UDIMM) or registered (RDIMM) memory modules. UDIMMs offer a lower-cost alternative compared to RDIMM modules but don't support the same capacity as RDIMM modules. Paired with appropriate dual processors and 32GB RDIMM modules in all 12 memory slots, the system will support up to 384GB and transfer speeds of up to 1600MHz.

Storage

2.5-inch hot plug SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs are supported on this server. Two 2.5-inch hard drives can be installed in the front of the blade server and support up to 1.2TB. An integrated S110 PERC RAID controller offers RAID configurations for SATA drives only. Three other optional PERC RAID controllers are available, including the H710P, H710, and H310, and support both SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs. The system comes with an internal dual SD module for failsafe hypervisor support.

Expansion

There are two PCIe 2.0 x8 mezzanine card slots to support additional NICs and external HD controllers. Two integrated Broadcom 5720 dual port LOMs deliver a total of four 1Gb ports. Outfitted with two additional I/O PCIe mezzanine cards and switch modules provides three redundant I/O fabrics per blade. There are two USB ports on the front of the system.

Management

The Dell M520 server features the OpenManage portfolio, which includes Dell's proprietary integrated Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) with LifeCycle controller for blades, is included by default. OpenManage in conjunction with iDRAC provide local, remote and virtual management with the system on or off regardless of the operating system status. For more management features, Administrators can upgrade from iDRAC and OpenManage Essentials to Enterprise with a digital license key.

Summary

The Dell PowerEdge M520 blade server offers excellent scalability for running mission critical applications with a variety of redundant features to maintain continuous uptime. Dell's Chassis Management Controller is supported on the M1000e enclosure and allows administrators to manage server blades independently or as groups located in the same chassis or multiple chassis located in the data center or on the other side of the globe, without installing additional hardware. CMC redundancy is also supported with the addition of a second management module on the M1000e enclosure. Fully integrated management options help you get the most out of your system with intuitive and powerful tools.