Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 Tower Server

Description

Outfitted with a sole Intel processor, the Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 tower server can house a single NVIDIA GPU, and offers PCIe 3.0 compatibility, plus up to 32TB of SATA storage. The flexible options on this system boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs for small-to-medium-sized businesses looking to increase productivity.

Performance

Offering a variety of processor options, the Lenovo ST50 server can be configured to fit any business need. The tower supports a single CPU from the Intel product family formerly known by the codename "Coffee Lake-S Refresh.” These processors include the Intel Xeon E-2200, Intel Xeon E-2100, Core i3, Pentium Gold, and Celeron G families. Depending on the CPU, the system supports up to 6 cores with a TDP of 95W at 3.8GHz and a 12MB cache. The latest Intel Xeon E-2200 processors give a two-digit percentage performance boost over the previous generation, as well as a competitive price point compared to high-end desktops. Depending on the chosen chassis base, the server has a fixed 250W or 400W power supply, which must be chosen at time of purchase and cannot be upgraded in the field.

Memory

The Intel processor features 2x memory channels and support for 2x DIMMs per channel, for a total of 4x memory module slots. When all slots are populated with a maximum of 16GB UDIMMs per slot, the motherboard supports a total of 64GB of DDR4 memory with speeds of up to 2666MHz. This system uses Lenovo’s TruDDR4 memory, which only uses memory that meets tight specifications and only available from Tier 1 DRAM providers. This memory has been compatibility-tested and fine-tuned to provide the best possible performance and dependability.

Storage

The ThinkSystem ST50 tower server can house up to 4x drive bays, which can be accessed through the front panel. When using HDDs, up to 32TB of SATA storage is supported. SSDs drives are limited to 3.84TB of SATA storage. There are two different configurations for this tower, but each will support 4x drives. Users can choose from either 3x 3.5-inch and 1x 5.25-inch fixed drives or 4x 3.5-inch fixed drives, but the 5.25-inch optical drive bay needs to be converted to support a storage drive. The ST50 comes with an integrated 6Gbps SATA controller and four system board ports for the four internal storage bays. These ports can be configured in AHCI (JBOD) or RSTe (RAID) mode. RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 are supported with RSTe mode. The server also supports up to 2 SD cards mounted on an adapter on the side of drive bays 1 and 2. The SD cards can be used as boot devices, but they don’t offer any RAID functionality.

Expansion

On the bottom rear of the platform, there are 3x PCIe 3.0 slots to accommodate full-height, half-length devices. The three slots are different and include a x16 data lane, a x4 data lane, and a x1 data lane. The x16 slot is reserved as the only slot available on this system that can support a GPU, specifically an NVIDIA Quadro P620 2GB PCIe Active GPU. In addition, there is one integrated Gigabyte Ethernet port, which is a shared port for access to the operating system and management network.

Management

Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) 12.0 is available on ST50 models with Intel Xeon E processors. AMT enables out-of-band, hardware-based advanced system control, monitoring, alerting, and remote presence functionalities. Intel Standard Manageability (ISM), a subset of the AMT functionality, is supported on ST50 models outfitted with Core i3, Pentium, or Celeron CPUs. Either way, both offer a range of features such as boot device selection, remote power control, and system event log and alerting, to name a few. Both management options also remain operational even when the server is powered off.

Summary

Supported by a single processor from the Intel product family formerly known as "Coffee Lake-S Refresh,” this system features up to 64GB of memory and 32TB of storage. The compact Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50 tower server is well suited for small to medium sized businesses for day-to day computing in a growing office environment and provides flexible and expandable configurations.