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Designed for performance
A rack server is supplied using rack U (1.75" or 44.45mm high) and is normally 1, 2 or 3U in height, available with a range of high-performance processors from Intel or AMD. Rack mount servers provide the most flexibility in a data centre, as they can be repurposed for other applications and uses over the lifespan of the server.
Lenovo Rack Server Configurator →A rack mount server is normally mounted in a 42U 19" rack. Smaller racks are available for businesses with space constraints, or rack mounted servers can be mounted on rollers for portability, along with the newer 70U 10ft tall racks that came out in 2016.
The most common rack mount is 2U, containing everything within the server including the CPU(s), memory, network connectivity, hard drives/SSD/NVMe, graphics, storage I/O and management.
A rack mount normally has redundant fans and power supplies as well as hot-swap drive bays. The network, graphics and storage controllers are normally mounted on a riser card using a PCIe slot.
As a rackmount chassis is a highly dense computer, it is ideal for all the following applications:
Virtualisation — Powerful enough to run a virtual infrastructure to provide VMs for applications, or be used for VDI to deliver a virtual desktop environment.
Clustering — Ideal for use with software applications such as Microsoft Cluster Server or VMware vSphere Cluster, which require multiple servers to create high-performance clusters.
Below are some of the advantages of using a rack server:
Flexible — A rack server can house a multitude of interface cards to support external storage or high-speed networks such as 100GbE or 32Gbps Fibre Channel. It's this flexibility that makes them the No. 1 choice for use in data centres.
Storage Capacity — Some rack mounts can now support 20+ drives within a single 2U chassis, making them ideal for applications such as object storage or high-capacity NAS.
HPC and AI — Rack servers are a great solution for running software requiring multiple GPUs; some of the rack mounts we provide can support 8x full-length GPU cards in 2U.
Multiple Processor Support — Some 2U rack mounts can support up to 8 CPU processors, along with support for 15TB of memory.
Adaptable — With increased CPU processing, data storage, memory, GPU and network connectivity, a rack mount could replace dedicated storage arrays — an application that takes advantage of this is software defined storage.
A rackmount chassis has many benefits over blade servers, but there are some limitations, as shown below:
If you need some guidance in choosing a suitable rack mount chassis for your requirement or application, we're here to help.
High capacity x86 dual socket server that supports the latest 3rd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors with up to 40 cores per CPU, with performance improvements up to 40% better than the previous generation processors.
Get to Know Fsas Technologies PRIMERGY RX2530 M6 →
High capacity x86 dual socket server that supports the latest 3rd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors with up to 40 cores per CPU, with performance improvements up to 40% better than the previous generation processors.
Get to Know Fsas Technologies PRIMERGY RX2540 M6 →
Dual-socket 1U rackmount server that supports the AMD EPYC 7003 "Milan" family of processors. Designed to tackle big data centre workloads such as databases, big data and analytics virtualisation, VDI, HCI, HPC and AI solutions.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR645 Server →
Dual-socket 2U rackmount server that supports the Intel® Xeon® family of processors. Designed to tackle big data centre workloads such as databases, big data and analytics virtualisation, VDI, HCI, HPC and AI solutions.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 Server →
Single-socket 2U rackmount server that supports the AMD EPYC 7002 "Rome" family of processors. Designed to tackle big data centre workloads such as analytics virtualisation, VDI, OLTP, and software defined storage.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR655 Server →
Dual-socket 2U rackmount server that supports the AMD EPYC 7002 "Rome" family of processors. Designed to tackle big data centre workloads such as databases, big data and analytics virtualisation, VDI, HCI, HPC and AI solutions.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR665 Server →
Dual-socket 2U rackmount server that supports the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, with support for 4x double-width or 8x single-width high performance GPUs.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR670 Server →
Four-socket 4U rackmount server that supports the Intel® Xeon® family of processors, supporting up to 8 high performance GPUs. Designed to tackle mission-critical workloads such as SAP HANA in-memory computing, transactional databases, deep learning, analytics, big data, and virtual machine density.
Get to Know Lenovo ThinkSystem SR860 V2 Server →Not sure which rack server is right for your workload? Talk to us for free, no-obligation advice.
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