Dell VRTX is coming to us!

This time we will look at what looks like the “ideal server solution for medium and small enterprises, remote offices and branches” called the Dell PowerEdge VRTX. We want to show you exactly the photos made with your own hands, and not all available official images.
First we give a couple of words and just one link to the description of the VRTX, then immediately go to one of our projects.

Attention! Pictures taken on a real system :)

Dell PowerEdge VRTX is offered in two form factors:
')

• Tower for placement on the floor or on the table
• 5U for placement in the server rack.

The VRTX solution can include up to four Dell PowerEdge M620 (or M520) 12th generation servers and an integrated 1GbE switch with 16 internal 1GbE ports and 8 external ports as standard.

So let's get started!

We were sent a few boxes. The box with chassis and disks weighs about 50 kg, the blade server is lighter, they are packed in individual boxes.



We start to unpack with the most interesting. Remove the cardboard cover,



in related components we find:

• 4 power cables (but with a fork "Euro" connector, not suitable for PDUs)
• Add. basket fixings;
• Front protective panel on the face of our beast (secret keys are attached to the back)
• Rails for installation in the rack, on the cover - guiding illustrations, apparently, so as not to be mistaken
• All sorts of documentation and 2 software DVDs

Remove the top level. The equipment is securely packed on all sides with a compactor. We take out a massive iron basket, for cardboard handles on the sides. We put on the floor.



The basket is already sticking to the disks. As you may have guessed, we got the Dell PowerEdge VRTX in the rack configuration (recall the power cables with Euros).

Basket weight (empty) is 24.7 kg, maximum weight = 68.7 kg.

The size of the basket is impressive and occupy 5 units in height. By dimensions (H x W x D): 21.9 cm x 48.2 cm x 73.0 cm.

The whole system can be divided into 2 parts - the upper one for the data storage system, the lower one - for the server modules.



The disk basket contains 25 SAS disks with a capacity of 900 GB, a rotation speed of 10K and a size of 2.5 '. The total capacity of the basket is 30 TB. There is another configuration that contains 12 drives of the form factor 3.5 "and a total capacity of 48 TB.



The discs, in fact, look like this:



But back to the general form. The 4 slots at the bottom of the cage are designed for four Dell PowerEdge M620 or M520 12th generation server modules. The server node M520 is equipped with two Intel Xeon E5-2400 processors and supports up to 384 GB of RAM, while the M620 comes with a pair of Intel Xeon E5-2600 and can be equipped with 768 GB of RAM.

In the 2 left slots, we later insert the Dell PowerEdge M520 server , in the other 2 so far, there will still be stubs.



Remove the top cover of the basket and look inside.





Dell PowerEdge VRTX is equipped with two basket controllers and a Dell PERC8 RAID controller .

The Dell PowerEdge VRTX internally uses a block of six fans to circulate air. Fans support hot swapping, so each fan can be removed from the unit.





We will get access to three slots of expansion PCIe of cards. To do this, remove part of the side hull and riser.







Now go around the basket and see what is behind.



To power the Dell PowerEdge VRTX, there are four 1100 watt units in the upper left corner.



On the opposite side of the server modules, a block of four coolers is installed in the bottom row. Each cooler has 2 fans. Both power supplies and coolers support hot swapping.



As we wrote at the beginning of the Dell PowerEdge VRTX has a built-in 1GbE switch, the base configuration has 8 external 1GbE ports. The switch, by the way, is attached to the board by a through bolt between 0/6 and 0/7 ports.



Above the coolers on the right are 2 control ports (Active / Standby) and a COM port for connecting to the system.

8 card slots allow you to install up to 8 expansion cards.

We have disassembled almost the entire basket, now we need to assemble it back like a puzzle, since it is time to install it in a rack.



Completely forgot about the blade server. Here, in fact, represent one of them:







Without servers (at least a little to lose weight) set the cart in the rack on the original rails Dell. How do they still stand ...



We push the rack and install the server modules.



Initially, it may not have been noticeable, but when you turn on the basket, the LCD display will light up. Through it you can make the initial settings.




We only need to put on the front protective panel and admire the beauty of the design.



As part of this project, we assembled a complete Dell rack filled with Dell servers, Dell PowerVault TL2000 libraries, a Dell disk basket and three Dell PowerEdge VRTX.

As I said at the beginning, the Dell PowerEdge VRTX is the ideal solution for remote offices and branch offices . In our case, we mounted them all in one rack for the initial setup. Upon completion, all three Dell PowerEdge VRTXs will disperse across the territory of the Russian Federation to perform their duties.

And at the end of my review, I propose to admire the beauty of the lights of Dell equipment and the sophisticated industrial design of the closed rack. In my opinion it was impressive! Update: it was necessary to take a picture with the lights off)






PS Unfortunately, we cannot publish prices in open sources, but you can request them from us.