Lenovo ThinkServer RD540 Server New Corporate Standard

Good afternoon, dear Habr.

Today, I am writing ServerMan writing a review of the new Aurora cruiser in the Lenovo server industry, the ThinkServer RD540 . In particular, I have in my hands a single-server server with two E5-2600 v2 processors with 12 cores each, and a gentleman's set of functions and options, but more on this later in the text. A distinctive feature of the server is a high resiliency and density of accommodation. Ideal for data center. As well as low cost of ownership, in comparison with other server solutions at this level.

Under a cat review of the server, photos and Quest ThinkServer - only for HabraUzers.

Overview of packaging and delivery:

I will not breed verbal shurum burum, but let's get straight to the point. as they say the meaning lies in the first lines.


The server comes in a proprietary ThinkServer box of impressive size. So here is my first advice. When you buy a server, order delivery at least to the door, but it’s not very convenient with the server in the metro and public transport, I checked it myself.


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The package includes: RD540 server , installation and mounting instructions for the rack, as well as application software for updating and installing software, two power cables with connectors for connecting to a PDU or uninterruptible power supply.

Appearance of the server:

Externally, the server has a stylish black design with a clear location of the power buttons, USB ports and an intelligent console for monitoring server status.

From the overall ThinkServer RD540 series, you can add the fact that there are two options for picking with a disk system in 3.5 format (4 disks - photo above) and 2.5 (8 disks - photo below) - in our circles this is called the Large Form Factor and Small Form Factor . Pay attention to both pictures, in the first case we can install 4 LFF + DVD disks, in the second case we have 8 SFF disks and there is no possibility to put a DVD in the case, so we recommend using external USB data sources.


On the back panel of the server we see: three RJ-45 ports (2 network interfaces, 1 remote control interface), 4 USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port and an RS-232 (COM) port. Also, the ThinkServer RD540 has two hot-swappable power supplies, in my case it’s 800watt each.

Inside view:

Now we will look at his “insides”, and try to understand how useful this will be to us.

Like any other server, the RD540 has a cooling system, I highlighted it with the number 1 in the figure below. I note that the cooling system does not have hot-swappable fan units, and there are 8 of them in the server. The fan units are installed immediately on the basis of the future upgrade of the system by the second processor, and thus provide at the initial stage of operation a full cooling of the entire case.

Under the number 2 is "server duct" - which ensures the distribution of air flow to the RAM, processors and the case as a whole. The server supports 2 PCI Express 3.0 x8 and PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots (number 3 in the figure above), which makes it possible to set additional options at your discretion. In one of the slots the raid controller for the disk subsystem is already installed.


In the picture above we can see:
1. CPU №1 - E5-2600 v2
2. 12 memory slots for CPU №1
3. CPU №2 (optional on lower configurations) - E5-2600 v2
4. 8 memory slots for CPU №2 (for the second processor)

Since the user does not often, and even very rarely, clocks all 12 channels of RAM to the processor, Lenovo engineers made the optimal decision to make 4-channel mode on CPU1 and CPU2, it is displayed as follows:

What does this give to the user? - the ratio of price, performance and scalability of solutions is better for platforms that use 20 memory slots.

I will also give an example of a form of architecture for constructing server memory on intel E5-2600 v2 Series processors:


All servers are equipped with RAID controllers that are marked on the ThinkServer RAID specification sheet, below I will list the possible controllers and their main functions:




Photo of the ThinkServer RAID 710 controller with battery and CacheCade Pro 2.0 option

All controllers support SAS-SATA-SSD drives. To build RAID 50 and 60, use a server with 8 SFF disks.


Lenovo ThinkServer RD540 server has a crypto processor that stores cryptographic keys to protect information, as well as a generalized name for the implementation of the specified specification - Trusted Platform Module 1.2 (TCG 1.2-compliant). Also in the picture you can see additional USB ports, and the Avocent remote control module.

As we said above, the server has 3 RJ-45 ports, of which one (Intel 82574L) is given to remote control of the iKVM server, which is possible thanks to ASPEED's fourth generation AST2300 chip. The other two network interfaces based on the Intel i350 are free to transfer data over the network and switch to the infrastructure.


The server is powered by a pair of 800watt power supply units each, with hot-swappable support when the server is running. They have a standard of 80 PLUS Certified Power Supplies.

For ease of management and server upgrades, bundled software products are provided that greatly simplify the lives of service personnel:

1. Lenovo SmartGrid Manager - management and power distribution both inside the server and to a cluster of ThinkServer servers
2. ThinkServer EasyStartup - simplifies the first launch and setup
3. ThinkServer EasyManage - helps manage the server
4. ThinkServer EasyUpdate - helps to update firmware

The server officially supports the software:

• Windows Server 2012 (Including Hyper-V)
• Windows Server 2008 (x64) (Including Hyper-V)
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (Including Hyper-V)
• Windows SBS 2011
• SLES 11 sp2
• RedHat 5.9 / 6.4
• VMware ESXi 5.1 U1
• Citrix XenServer 6.0.2 / 6.1

- this list is not final, and it will be expanded.

I will also bring to your attention the list of options and extensions of the Lenovo ThinkServer RD540 server :






If you find it difficult to choose the equipment you need, then we recommend that you visit our resource configurator , where you can easily assemble the configuration of any Lenovo server you need to request a price and delivery time from our partner.

A question of price, warranty and service.

Price for Lenovo ThinkServer RD540 server from 79,000 rubles. They are already on sale and in large quantities in the warehouses of our partners. We recommend buying Lenovo server hardware from official partners who are authorized by Lenovo ThinkServer and LenovoEMC products.

Warranty, support, service - 3 years, response time Next Business Day on-site service, it is also possible to extend the service package to 5 years with a response of 4 hours / 24 hours a day / 7 days a week.

More details about the warranty

Warranty - I will note the standard is carried out the next day after the opening of the ticket.
ThinkServer Servers:
- ASCs have already been opened in 17 cities of Russia (MSK, SPB, Vladivostok, Voronezh, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Samara, Saratov, Tyumen, Ufa and Chelyabinsk);
- 1-3 years of a standard warranty with an extension of up to 4-5 years;
- Various service packages;
- In these cities, the Onsite guarantee is valid, the response time of the ASC is within the next business day after registration of the application.
- For MSCs and SPB , service package options are possible with a response time of 4 hours 8/5, as well as 24/7.
- “Hot” line of technical support in 9/5 mode: +7 (495) 967 80 73;

Quest ThinkServer - only for HabraUzers

Lenovo, and in particular I ( ServerMan together with Saronit System Integrator , we make for you a special offer on server solutions ThinkServer RD540.

Conditions

• Find www.saronit.ru in Yandex or Google search results: Lenovo server, Lenovo ThinkServer RD540 server, Lenovo RD540, buy Lenovo ThinkServer RD540.
• Select the server you need for picking.
• Register on the site and make an order, marked in the comments to the order "Quest ThinkServer"
• The result will be a discount price, and free delivery in Russia

PS: Thank you all very much for your interest in the article, we will soon give you a targeted solution based on RD540.
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