Set Up iDRAC, RAID, and Proxmox on My PowerEdge R720 Server

I install Proxmox Virtual Environment, set up iDRAC, and RAID on my Dell PowerEdge R720 server in this video. I'm using the server as a type 1 hypervisor. This gives me the flexibility to test and play around with a lot of different technologies. The video is long because I go through the whole thing. Use the menu below to navigate to specific sections.

0:00 Intro
3:38 Server Walk-through
7:22 Initial Boot up and entering the Bios
12:21 Enable Embedded SATA and Internal USB Ports
14:36 Configure iDRAC Settings
19:21 Integrated RAID Controller Configuration
28:28 Install Proxmox on the server

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[TheSpoonyluvin]

I'm really liking your content. I just wanted to offer a suggestion that you've probably already thought of and fixed on a later video. Take the faceplate off of your old optical drive and attach it to the ssd drive. That will cover the gap perfectly.

[robert-cope]

You can still use DHCP and have the router assign a specific IP against the server's MAC address. No need to manually set it in iDRAC. If you are managing lots of servers it's better to be able to assign them all in one place, i.e. the router, or other management software.

[The_Personal_Picks_SnM]

Thanks for showing the scratch connections and struggles faced cos that's what IT people are supposed to do, struggle and find the solution👍

[teknixtek]

I did the same thing swapping the drive with an SSD caddy on a Thinkpad. I wasn't paying attention and got the 9.5mm and realized it was too thin, so I had to get the 12.7mm caddy. Luckily they are cheap. But definitely a lesson to check the drive size if you swap it out. I actually just picked up an R720 16-bay SFF. I didn't think of it until I saw this vid, but may just grab a caddy for this as well.

[emlincharly]

Awesome video. Love seeing the process that you went through!

[giovannigommba]

anc excellent way to explain I'M LEARNING...I'M

[syn]

Seriously such an amazing video! Thank you!

[simonmbi]

Excellent video. Courage and keep doing it. I am completely new to IT.

[Anarki]

hey thanks so much for this video, very useful and informative

[kaisersoze]

WHERE WERE YOU 24 hours ago?! Just got through putting together almost this exact setup on an r720. And dammit I wish Id seen your video first lol. Thanks anyway. Good stuff.

[yiefgko]

we use rufus over here, but great video my man nothing like some dell bios

😼😄

[davew]

Awesome video!! Extremely helpful information.
I did have a question as I am configuring one of those myself - do you how I can configure each of the NIC Ports to a certain IP address?

[RPPA-C]

Great video thank you, tomorrow I will be receiving my first server, r720 dual 2695v2, it's going to be used solely for one program as a render node to my main rig, basically just rendering animations so I can carry on using my main machine, I've never used a VM before, I'm running win 11 on my machine, and have a rack mount nas for project files. Do I need to VM or would it be simpler to just run win 11 on the r720? Will I be losing or gaining anything from not using VM? Thanks man, subbed

[martinayllon]

Thanks it was a helpful video. One question how did you make proxmox to recognize your raid 6 array for your vms?

[olegborzykh]

Hi, thanks a lot. One question please, what about drivers - especially power management and embedded raid controller(perc s100 in my case) do you need to download/install it separately ?

[GermanPrado]

Thanks for the video, i have a question for you, how many VM have you ever run with that server to get the most of it? Regards

[ukflyfisherman]

Interesting video - I am installing a similar setup with a small SSD drive and Raid setup for data. Out of curiosity, what did you format your raid data disks as - have read ZFS should be avoided as it likes to act like a software raid and "self heal" and as such doesn't like to sit on top of hardware raid and can easily corrupt.

[austinstallion]

Great work brother! I am learning a lot from watching you. I am a noob and just starting out with VMs and servers and Home labs - so am I right in thinking that once the server is setup and in my case will remain in the garage connected over cat 6 cable to my router and other PCs I can use any PC on the network to access and run the VMs like MacOS, Windows etc? My network is 1gb ethernet - so VMS are run from a web browser over the 1gbs ethernet?

[greenpig]

Thanks for the video. I recently bought a powerEdge r720 and I'm having some issues where it's not recognizing hard disks. Can you help?

[paullee]

Hey man yer video is really helpful. I just got my first r330 ever and having lots of issues. Lol.

Idrac won’t let me see do virtual connection, some license issue and - I wanted to install proxmox to a usb stick but server don’t like that. I’m slowing down and gonna get a small SSD. Hope I can find one of those drive holders like you have. I hope you do more videos, and if you ever wanna help a newbie let’s FaceTime!!