DELL PowerEdge R940 3U rack server 4x Xeon Platinum 8160 2.1GHz 24-core 128GB DDR4 H730P 2x 800GB SSD

Four-socket Xeon Platinum server

The Dell PowerEdge R940 is a 3U rack server built around four Intel Xeon Platinum 8160 processors running at 2.1 GHz with 24 cores each. It ships with 128 GB of DDR4 2666 MHz registered ECC memory and a PERC H730P RAID controller with 2 GB cache. Two 800 GB SATA SSDs and a quad-port network daughter card with two 1 GbE and two 10 Gb SFP+ connections are included. It targets organisations running mission-critical workloads that need dense compute in a compact rack footprint.

Tool-less rails and hot-swap components

The system includes ready rails and a front bezel for straightforward rack mounting. Redundant 1600 W platinum power supplies and hot-swap drive bays allow component replacement without downtime. iDRAC 9 Enterprise provides remote management for firmware updates and hardware monitoring. The H730P controller supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 and 60 plus pass-through mode. A common oversight is forgetting to license iDRAC Enterprise features or to configure the battery-backed cache before deploying production arrays.

Verify rack depth and network cabling

Confirm that your rack can accommodate a 3U chassis with the supplied rails and that power distribution can deliver two 1600 W feeds. The LGA 3647 sockets are fully populated, so no further CPU upgrades are possible. Memory expansion uses the remaining 40 DDR4 slots up to a 6 TB maximum. The network daughter card requires SFP+ transceivers and compatible switch ports for the 10 Gb links. Storage bays accept 2.5-inch SATA or SAS drives; the existing SSDs use SATA 6 Gb/s.