Dell PowerEdge R420 Technical Manual
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Dell PowerEdge R420 Technical Manual

Dell PowerEdge R420 Technical Manual

2-socket 1u rack server
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  • Page 2 Dell, the DELL logo, PowerEdge, EqualLogic, PowerVault, PowerConnect, OpenManage, KACE, and ReadyRails are trademarks of Dell, Inc. Intel and Xeon are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Server, SQL Server, BitLocker, ActiveX, Internet Explorer, and Hyper-V are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Cable management arm..............................33 10 Operating systems and virtualization ........................... 34 Supported operating systems ............................34 Supported virtualization ..............................35 11 Dell OpenManage systems management ........................36 Systems management solutions ........................... 36 OpenManage systems management ........................... 37 Dell server management operations ..........................42 Appendix A.
  • Page 4 Appendix C. Additional resources ..........................48 Table 1. New technologies ..............................6 Table 2. Comparing the PowerEdge R410 to PowerEdge R420 ................. 7 Table 3. Technical specifications ............................8 Table 4. Chassis features ..............................11 Table 5. Security features ..............................13 Table 6.
  • Page 5 The Dell™ PowerEdge™ R420 is a 2-socket, 1U rack-mount server offering powerful performance and scalability in a dense 1U rack form factor. It is an excellent fit for compute-intense applications and high performance computing (HPC) workloads. The R420’s low profile also makes it highly attractive for departmental email, workgroup collaboration, and file and print in space-constrained environments at departmental or remote sites of large businesses and public organizations.

  • Page 6: New Technologies

    Table 1 summarizes the newest technologies used in the Dell PowerEdge R420 rack server. New technologies Detailed descriptions Intel Xeon processor This new family of Intel processors has embedded PCIe lanes for improved I/O E5-2400 product family performance. See the Processor section for details.

  • Page 7: Specifications

    Compared to the previous generation of Dell PowerEdge servers, the R420 supports more PCIe slots, PCIe 3.0, more memory, and advanced system management. Table 2 compares some of the features of the R420 to its R410 predecessor. Table 3 lists all of the R420’s specifications.

  • Page 8: Processor

    Table 3 summarizes the specifications for each of the PowerEdge R420 features. For the latest information on supported features for the PowerEdge R420, visit Dell.com. Feature PowerEdge R420 technical specification Form factor 1U rack Processors Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 product family...
  • Page 9 Remote management iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller Enterprise (upgrade) 8GB vFlash media (upgrade), 16GB vFlash media (upgrade) Dell OpenManage Essentials Dell Management Console Dell OpenManage Power Center (requires iDRAC7 Enterprise with Lifecycle Controller 2.x) Dell OpenManage Integrations and Connections: Systems management ®...
  • Page 10 The Dell PowerEdge R420 is a 1U, 2-socket rack server. For additional system views and features, Dell PowerEdge R420 Systems Owner’s Manual see the on Support.Dell.com/Manuals. Figure 1 shows the features on the front of the R420 chassis including eight 2.5-inch hard drives, control panel, USB connectors, and many other components and features described in this guide.
  • Page 11 Dell PowerEdge Table 4 lists the features on the R420 chassis. For additional information, see the R420 Systems Owner’s Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals. Feature Description Power button ACPI-compliant power button with an integrated green power LED Front bezel Covers the system’s front-loading hard drives and locks for security Used to troubleshoot software and device driver errors;...
  • Page 12 A useful feature included with Dell PowerEdge 12 generation servers is the Quick Resource Locator (QRL)—a model-specific Quick Response (QR) code that is located inside the R420 chassis cover (see Figure 6). Use your smartphone to access the Dell QRL app to learn more about the server.
  • Page 13  Contact Dell directly (by link) to get in touch with technical support and sales teams and provide feedback to Dell These codes provide an easy way to retrieve the critical support information you need when you need it, making you more efficient and effective in managing your hardware.
  • Page 14 Continued improvements to both Intel TXT and AES-NI help to better protect systems and data  For more information on the Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 product family, visit Intel.com. Table 6 lists the Intel Xeon processors supported by the PowerEdge R420. For the latest information on supported processors, visit Dell.com/PowerEdge.

  • Page 15: Chipset

    6.4 GT/s 1066MT/s E5-2403 1.8GHz 10MB 6.4 GT/s 1066MT/s Dell PowerEdge R420 Systems For information on processor installation and configuration, see the Owner’s Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals. The Intel C600 chipset is implemented on the PowerEdge R420. For more information, visit Intel.com.

  • Page 16: Memory

    The large memory footprint of the Dell PowerEdge R420 offers greater capacities, higher frequencies, and more flexibility. The R420 supports up to 192 GB of memory (12 DIMM slots) and speeds of up to 1600 MT/s, providing high performance in a variety of applications. The new reliability, availability, serviceability (RAS) features like memory mirroring and sparing help you increase your uptime and reduce data loss.

  • Page 17: Supported Memory

    DIMMs should be installed with largest rank count to smallest. For example, if DR DIMMS are mixed with SR DIMMs, DR DIMMS should be placed in the lowest DIMM slots, followed by the SR DIMMs. Dell PowerEdge R420 Systems Owner’s For more information on memory configuration, see the Manual...

  • Page 18: Memory Configurations

    The R420 supports memory speeds of 1600 MT/s, 1333 MT/s, 1066 MT/s, and 800 MT/s depending on the DIMM types installed and the configuration. All memory on all processors and channels run at the same speed and voltage. By default, the systems run at the highest speed for the channel with the lowest DIMM voltage and speed.
  • Page 19 Memory thermal This feature helps to optimize power/performance and can also be used to throttling prevent DIMMs from overheating. For information on memory mirroring and sparing configurations, see the Dell PowerEdge R420 Systems Owner’s Manual on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.

  • Page 20: Storage

    The Dell PowerEdge R420 supports internal and external storage options and controllers, different drive types, and different chassis configurations for a varied number of drives. Features such as CacheCade™ provide accelerated performance over previous technologies. CacheCade uses Dell PERC storage controllers to accelerate performance over hard drives or traditional solid-state drives.

  • Page 21: External Storage

    External storage for the R420 is available through optional HBAs for SAS and iSCSI. For more information, see Dell.com/Storage. Dell provides highly capable RAID options for you to ensure that your data remains safe. Dell’s RAID controller options offer impressive performance improvements, including the following features: ...
  • Page 22 4 physical disks or 8 embedded RAID expansion; Microsoft virtual disks SATA Windows only Table 13 lists the storage matrix for the R420 hard drives, backplanes, and Dell PERC cards. Backplane options Controller Drive types 3.5” SATA 4 x 3.5” cabled PERC S110, H310...

  • Page 23: Optical Drive

    The R420 supports one slim, 9.5mm, internal optical drive on the 8-drive bay chassis through the system board embedded SATA. The 4-drive bay chassis supports the 12.7mm optical drive. The R420 supports both DVD-ROM and DVD+/-RW. The R420 does not support internal tape drives.

  • Page 24: Embedded Nic Controller

    The R420 provides expanded PCIe slot capability over the previous servers. This is made possible by the 24 PCIe lanes available from each processor in the system. Dell designed the R420 to be PCIe 3.0-compliant in order to take full advantage of the processor capabilities.

  • Page 25: Pcie Expansion

    Brocade BR815 Single Port 8Gbps Brocade BR825 Dual Port 8Gbps For the latest information on all supported add-in PCIe expansion cards for the R420, visit Dell.com. The R420 has limited support for external graphics processing unit (GPU) technology and interface card solutions through the PowerEdge C410x series 3U external PCIe through a hardware interface card (HIC).

  • Page 26: Power Supply Units

    Table 16 lists the tools and technologies Dell offers to help you achieve your data center goals by lowering power consumption and increasing energy efficiency.
  • Page 27 Thermal control of fan speed optimizes the thermal settings for your environment to reduce fan consumption and lower system power consumption. Idle power enables Dell servers to run as efficiently when idle as when at full workload. With the thermal design and reliability of Dell products, you can have the...
  • Page 28 Figure 7 shows a 550W power supply unit extended from the R420 chassis. The PowerEdge R420 supports up to two AC PSUs with 1 + 1 redundancy, auto-sensing, and auto-switching capability. The 350W redundant PSU (1 or 1+1) is recommended for a one-processor configuration;...
  • Page 29 The acoustical design of the PowerEdge R420 reflects the following:  Versatility: The PowerEdge R420 saves you power draw in the data center, but it also is quiet enough for the office environment in typical and minimum configurations. Compare the values for LpA in Table 18 for these configurations, and note that they are lower than ambient measurements of typical office environments.
  • Page 30 Idle: Reference ISO 7779 (2010) definition 3.1.7; system is running in its operating system but no other specific activity. Stress: An operating mode per ISO 7779 (2010) definition 3.1.6. The software SPECPower at 50% is activated to stress the processors and DIMM. For more information on Dell’s acoustical design, see the Dell Enterprise Acoustics white paper.

  • Page 31: Sliding And Static Rail Systems

    The sliding and static rail systems for the Dell PowerEdge R420 provide toolless support for 4-post racks with square or unthreaded round mounting holes. Both rail systems also support tooled mounting in 4-post threaded racks, and the static rails support tooled mounting in 2-post (Telco) racks as well for added versatility.
  • Page 32 For detailed information about static and sliding rails, see the Rack rail specifications section in Rack Installation Appendix A. For more information on installing the R420 in a rack, see the Instructions on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.
  • Page 33 The optional CMA organizes and secures the cords and cables exiting the back of the server and unfolds to allow the server to extend out of the rack without having to detach the cables. Some key features of the R420 CMA include: ...

  • Page 34: Operating Systems And Virtualization

    The Dell PowerEdge R420 supports a wide range of industry-standard operating systems and virtualization software. Table 20 lists the primary operating systems supported on the R420. For the latest information on supported operating systems, see Dell.com/OSsupport. Operating System Platform Edition Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.8...
  • Page 35 One of the key features for virtualization on the PowerEdge R420 is the support for a fail-safe hypervisor. By running a hypervisor on an optional SD card and installing a backup copy on the other mirrored SD card, you can protect against hardware failure and maximize virtualization uptime.

  • Page 36: Dell Openmanage Systems Management

    Dell systems management solutions include a wide variety of tools, products, and services that enable you to leverage an existing systems management framework. As shown in Figure 10, Dell systems management solutions are centered around OpenManage server management, featuring...

  • Page 37: Openmanage Systems Management

    OpenManage simplifies the lifecycle of deploying, updating, monitoring, and maintaining your Dell PowerEdge servers. The Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller 7 (iDRAC7) with Lifecycle Controller is the heart of the second generation of Dell PowerEdge server embedded management functionality. In addition to enabling agent-free management, iDRAC7 with Lifecycle Controller provides remote access to the system—whether or not there is a functioning operating system running on the server.
  • Page 38 If Basic Management is ordered during initial point of sale, customer Upgrades to iDRAC7 Express or must request a license key through the Dell iDRAC7 Enterprise by software Electronic Licensing Portal.
  • Page 39 Basic iDRAC7 iDRAC7 management Express Enterprise Local/SSH CLI ∞ ∞ Serial redirection ∞ ∞ Remote config ∞ ∞ Email alerts ∞ ∞ SNMP alerts ∞ ∞ Comprehensive monitoring ∞ ∞ Crash screen capture ∞ ∞ Dedicated NIC 1Gbps (100MB in iDRAC6) ∞...
  • Page 40 EqualLogic™ and PowerVault™ storage, and PowerConnect™ switches; to update and configure Dell servers; and to create asset reports. OpenManage Essentials also communicates health status alerts for Dell servers, storage, and network devices to the Dell KACE™ K1000 service desk. OpenManage Essentials is available as a no-charge software download from Support.Dell.com.
  • Page 41  Dell Update Packages—The Dell Update Packages (DUP) is a self-contained executable in a standard package format that updates a software element on a Dell server such as the BIOS, a driver, firmware and other software updates. ...
  • Page 42 OpenManage Server Administrator.  Dell OpenManage Connection for IBM Tivoli Netcool/OMNIBus—This connection provides event monitoring capabilities to monitor Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell EqualLogic systems. It allows event monitoring, automatic event correlation, and launching device consoles from the Netcool/OMNIbus console.
  • Page 43 Lifecycle Controller Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) Maintain Replace parts:  Dell Lifecycle Controller Integration (DLCI) for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager Dell Systems For additional detailed information on Dell’s systems management portfolio, see the Management Overview Guide on Support.Dell.com/Manuals.

  • Page 44: Power Supply Specifications

    Figure 12 details the dimensions of the Dell PowerEdge R420 chassis. Za with Za without bezel bezel 625.2mm with non- redundant PSU 482.4mm 434.0mm 42.8mm 35.0mm 21.0mm 607.0mm 642.3mm with redundant PSU Zb goes to the nominal back wall external surface where the system board I/O connectors are located.

  • Page 45: Environmental Specifications

    Table 26 details the environmental specifications for the R420. For the most up-to-date information, Dell PowerEdge R420 Systems Owner’s Manual Dell PowerEdge R420 Getting see the and the Started Guide on Support.Dell.com/Manuals. For additional information about environmental measurements for specific system configurations, see www.dell.com/environmental_datasheets.

  • Page 46: Usb Peripherals

    The Dell PowerEdge R420 iDRAC incorporates an integrated video subsystem. The graphics ® controller is the 2D Matrox G200. The video frame buffer (16MB) is contained within the iDRAC RAM (256MB) device. The R420 system supports the 2D graphics video modes listed in Table 27.
  • Page 47 The Dell PowerEdge R420 conforms to the industry standards listed in Table 29. Standard URL for information and specifications ACPI www.acpi.info Advance Configuration and Power Interface Specification, v2.0c Ethernet standards.ieee.org/getieee802/802.3.html IEEE 802.3-2005 www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/pcdesign/desguide/serverd Hardware Design Guide Version 3.0 g.mspx for Microsoft Windows Server IPMI www.intel.com/design/servers/ipmi...
  • Page 48 Table 30 provides a list of documents and websites that provide for more information on the Dell PowerEdge R420. Resource Description of contents Location This manual is provided in HTML format on the CD Support.Dell.com/Manuals provided with the R420 system, and also in HTML and PDF format at the Dell support site.
  • Page 49 Provides help selecting an uninterruptible power supply DellUPS.com model. Contact your Dell sales representative. Dell.com White paper that explores the mechanisms of, people’s www.dell.com/downloads/g reaction to, language of, and Dell’s work to control noise lobal/products/pedge/en/ac from Enterprise products. oustical-education-dell- enterprise-white-paper.pdf...

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