DELL PowerEdge R740xd2 2U 26x3.5" 2x Xeon 8260 2.4GHz 24C 32GB DDR4 26x8TB HBA330

High-density 2U storage server

The Dell PowerEdge R740xd2 is a 2U rackmount server built for data-intensive workloads that demand maximum storage density in a compact footprint. It ships with two Intel Xeon Platinum 8260 processors running at 2.4 GHz with 3.9 GHz turbo, each delivering 24 cores for parallel compute tasks. The system includes 32 GB of DDR4-2933 ECC registered memory across 16 slots and a PERC HBA330 controller managing 26 front-accessible 3.5-inch drive bays populated with 8 TB 7.2K SATA drives.

Suited for archive and backup workloads

This configuration targets organisations running software-defined storage, big-data analytics, media archives or backup repositories that need high raw capacity and redundant 1100 W power supplies in 2U. Buyers who need faster flash storage, GPU acceleration, or a smaller rack footprint should evaluate alternative platforms. The included iDRAC 9 Enterprise licence and dual-port 10/25 GbE mezzanine card support remote management and high-throughput networking without extra purchases.

26-bay 3.5-inch chassis defines capacity

The single specification that decides fit is the 26-bay 3.5-inch front-loading chassis paired with the HBA330 controller, which sets the maximum number of mechanical drives and the SAS/SATA interface available for expansion. Memory can scale to 1 TB across 16 DDR4 slots and the dual LGA 3647 sockets are fully populated, so compute upgrades require processor replacement rather than addition.