Choosing The Best Dell PowerEdge Server For Homelab

Dell T420, R330, M620, T640... what do all the letters and numbers mean?

In this video we'll be breaking down all of the specifics with how Dell names their PowerEdge servers. We'll be discussing the form factors and sizes, processors used, ECC RAM types, power consumption, heat, airflow, hard drive capacities, ect.

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0:00 Intro
1:06 Form Factor
1:47 Class
3:00 Generation
3:30 CPU
4:57 Memory
6:50 Hard Drives
7:54 NVMe / Clover
8:23 RAID Controllers
9:36 Power Draw
10:40 Noise Level /Fans
13:16 iDRAC
14:01 Server Depth

[Warningkb]

Dell T420, R330, M620, T640... what do all the letters and numbers mean?

In this video we'll be breaking down all of the specifics with how Dell names their PowerEdge servers. We'll be discussing the form factors and sizes, processors used, ECC RAM types, power consumption, heat, airflow, hard drive capacities, ect.


🔷FOLLOW MY SOCIALS🔷

[dexter]

Who gave you this pitch of an idea for this video is peaking for all us, this video is so necessary for everyone looking to start using/buy servers for homelab use.. thank you very much ❤❤

[markarca]

Same with HPE ProLiant servers.
ML - Modular line (Tower)
DL - Density Line (Rackmount)
BL - Blade Servers
SL - Scaleout

[rdsii]

I got an R720XD for dirt cheap. I grabbed 192 gigs or ram on ebay and it runs like a champ.

[MorganTN]

I just took the dive into homelab as well. I picked up a R710 with dual 6 core 6 thread processors for a total of 24 logical cores. 192gb ram. And purchased a unRAID license. I may look around for a tower version of the 710 since I really don't have the space for a rack. However I do have it hanging on the wall in my office closet thanks to an amazon purchase. YT subscriber 99. FB follower #1 according to the about me page. I look forward to learning more from you and the rest of the community.

[diegodevops]

Dude! This is one of the best videos I've seen on this topic.

[datpspguy]

This video just saved me additional hours of research...and this is after performing hours of research already! Thanks

[caizza]

Wish i saw your video before diving into the wiki and docs trying to make sense of all the models. Great summary!

[DanangAlta]

this is a good breakdown on the dell series across the board.

[jeffnew]

Great video! Interested in your upcoming fan speed video. I have an R740 with up-to-date iDRAC and an R750, also up-to-date. The fan speed is not controllable via Dell's IPMI Tool on either. The Tool reports insufficient privilege held to make the change. I understand that the R730 is settable up to a specific iDRAC version and not past that version. I have been working with Dell for the past month to have them do something about the noise coming, particularly, from the R750. I have gone as far as to replace the very high performance ("gold") fans it came with with standard performance fans. Now the machine is livable, but not optimal. The fans never spin down to below about 33%. I'd like them at probably about 25%. I do have a Mellanox NIC in the machine, but it makes no difference when it's removed. By the way, that machine uses about 380 watts doing nothing. No load. (I had a T620 that ran with 30 VMs at 185 watts.) Hey, keep up the great work. Looking forward to more from your channel. All my best!

[balex]

I got the T430 16 sff. Changed the cpu cooler for noctua and the default exhaust fan. It's a super quiet server/gaming pc

[freddyhardware]

3 months, somebody gave me a Dell PowerEdge R210 II with 16Gb RAM. Before that, I was simply sharing 3 PCs via a 5 port ethernet switch. After installing Ubuntu server, NextCloud, I'm hooked. Just this week, I ended up getting a Dell PowerEdge T410 with a single 6 core CPU and 32Gb RAM for A$50 (Around $34 US) and a Dell PowerEdge R620 with 2 CPUs and 88Gb RAM for A$160 (Around $105 US).

[buriedbits]

This was highly educational. Excellent.

[jacobmar]

Great video. This made me happier with the Precision Workstations and Optiplexes in my home lab from a noise/heat/power standpoint. They don't have hot swap drives or power supplies (unless you add 3rd party sata bays and controllers), but they're great for my needs and I don't mind downtime if I ever do need to replace a power supply or drive. And for additional data durability - zfs replication between machines, proxmox backup server, etc.

A proper set of hot swap drives on the front of the chassis would be nice though.

[marceli-wac]

This is great! Now, I also feel like I'm ready to start dancing a sacrificial tribal dance atop a volcano.

[DavidVincentSSM]

really enjoyed this video, thanks for the information about adjusting the fan speed!

[RollerCoasterLineProductions]

Very informative, new to the home lab scene. I use a raspi as a Plex, Heimdall and portainer. I have another decade old PC I use to run truenas or proxmox. Once I build a new gaming pc I’ll experiment w clusters etc

[Kognac]

I live my T630 thing is a beast, especially with the 18 3.5in drive bays

[mynkow]

I can't believe how you put my 2 years of XP with dell servers into 15 mins :)

[bdhaliwal]

Very concise and informative. Thanks for this.