Dell PowerEdge R730 Quick start guide

PowerEdge R730
and R730xd
Technical Guide
Exceptionally flexible and
scalable 2-socket, 2U rack
servers delivering high-
performance processing
and a broad range of
workload-optimized local
storage options

ii PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
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March 2015| Version 1.2

iii PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Table of contents
1System overview................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Introduction........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
New technologies ..............................................................................................................................................................7
2System features .................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Comparison of PowerEdge systems .............................................................................................................................. 9
Specifications ................................................................................................................................................................... 10
3Chassis views and features ..............................................................................................................................................13
Chassis views.....................................................................................................................................................................13
Chassis features ................................................................................................................................................................16
4Processors ......................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Processor features........................................................................................................................................................... 20
Supported processors......................................................................................................................................................21
GPU support ..................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Chipset............................................................................................................................................................................... 23
5Memory.............................................................................................................................................................................. 24
Supported memory ......................................................................................................................................................... 24
DIMM speed...................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Memory configurations .................................................................................................................................................. 25
Memory population guidelines ..................................................................................................................................... 25
Memory RAS features...................................................................................................................................................... 26
6Storage ............................................................................................................................................................................... 28
Internal storage ................................................................................................................................................................ 28
External storage ............................................................................................................................................................... 30
PowerEdge RAID Controllers ........................................................................................................................................30
Internal persistent storage ..............................................................................................................................................31
Optical drives.................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Tape drives........................................................................................................................................................................ 33
7Networking and PCIe ...................................................................................................................................................... 34
Select Network Adapters................................................................................................................................................ 34
PCIe expansion ................................................................................................................................................................ 36
8Power, thermal and acoustics ....................................................................................................................................... 38
Power consumption and energy efficiency................................................................................................................ 38
Power supply units .......................................................................................................................................................... 39
Thermal and acoustics....................................................................................................................................................40
9Rack rail systems .............................................................................................................................................................. 44
Sliding and static rail systems ........................................................................................................................................ 44
Cable management arm................................................................................................................................................. 45
10 Operating systems and virtualization ........................................................................................................................... 46
Supported operating systems........................................................................................................................................ 46
Supported virtualization ................................................................................................................................................. 46
11 Dell OpenManage systems management.................................................................................................................... 47
OpenManage systems management portfolio .......................................................................................................... 47
Dell server management operations............................................................................................................................ 53
Appendix A. Additional specifications.......................................................................................................................... 55
Chassis dimensions ......................................................................................................................................................... 55
Chassis weight.................................................................................................................................................................. 55
Power supply specifications .......................................................................................................................................... 56
Environmental specifications ........................................................................................................................................ 56
Video specifications ........................................................................................................................................................ 56
Rack rail specifications ................................................................................................................................................... 57

iv PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
USB peripherals................................................................................................................................................................ 57
Appendix B. Standards compliance ............................................................................................................................. 58
Appendix C. Additional resources................................................................................................................................. 59
Appendix D. Support and Deployment Services .........................................................................................................61
Server Deployment Services...........................................................................................................................................61
ProSupport Enterprise Suite........................................................................................................................................... 62
Additional professional services.................................................................................................................................... 64
Tables
Table 1. New technologies .................................................................................................................................................7
Table 2. Comparison of PowerEdge R720/R720xd and R730/R730xd ..................................................................... 9
Table 3. Technical specifications.................................................................................................................................... 10
Table 4. Chassis features...................................................................................................................................................16
Table 5. Security features..................................................................................................................................................19
Table 6. Supported processors ........................................................................................................................................21
Table 7. Supported GPUs ................................................................................................................................................. 23
Table 8. Memory technologies supported.................................................................................................................... 24
Table 9. DIMMs supported............................................................................................................................................... 25
Table 10. Memory configuration and performance ...................................................................................................... 25
Table 11. Memory populations and operating frequencies ......................................................................................... 26
Table 12. Memory RAS features ........................................................................................................................................ 26
Table 13. Internal storage options .................................................................................................................................... 28
Table 14. Supported drives................................................................................................................................................. 28
Table 15. External storage options ................................................................................................................................... 30
Table 16. Supported RAID controllers...............................................................................................................................31
Table 17. IDSDM new features .......................................................................................................................................... 32
Table 18. Supported Select Network Adapter options and features .......................................................................... 35
Table 19. PCIe expansion slots.......................................................................................................................................... 36
Table 20. Optional add-in PCIe expansion cards .......................................................................................................... 36
Table 21. Power tools and technologies ......................................................................................................................... 38
Table 22. Power supply units and efficiency................................................................................................................... 39
Table 23. Acoustical reference points and output comparisons .................................................................................41
Table 24. Supported rack rail system ............................................................................................................................... 45
Table 25. Operating system support ................................................................................................................................ 46
Table 26. Virtualization support ........................................................................................................................................ 46
Table 27. iDRAC8 with Lifecycle Controller functions and benefits ..........................................................................48
Table 28. Feature comparison for iDRAC8 Express and Enterprise............................................................................49
Table 29. One-to-one and one-to-many operations .................................................................................................. 54
Table 30. Chassis weight .................................................................................................................................................... 55
Table 31. Power supply specifications............................................................................................................................. 56
Table 32. Supported video modes.................................................................................................................................... 56
Table 33. Rail adjustability ranges ..................................................................................................................................... 57
Table 34. Industry standard documents .......................................................................................................................... 58
Table 35. Additional resources .......................................................................................................................................... 59
Figures
Figure 1. R730 front view (2.5” chassis with bezel) ........................................................................................................13
Figure 2. R730 front view (2.5” chassis without bezel) ..................................................................................................13
Figure 3. R730xd front view (8 x 3.5” plus 18 x 1.8” with bezel)...................................................................................14
Figure 4. R730xd front view (8 x 3.5” plus 18 x 1.8” without bezel).............................................................................14
Figure 5. R730 back view....................................................................................................................................................14
Figure 6. R730xd back view................................................................................................................................................15
Figure 7. R730 internal chassis view.................................................................................................................................15

v PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Figure 8. R730xd internal chassis view.............................................................................................................................16
Figure 9. R730 LCD control panel.....................................................................................................................................17
Figure 10. R730xd LED panel ...............................................................................................................................................18
Figure 11. QRL on chassis ....................................................................................................................................................18
Figure 12. QRL on information tag .....................................................................................................................................18
Figure 13. Accessing a QRL..................................................................................................................................................19
Figure 14. Rack network daughter card (NDC)................................................................................................................ 34
Figure 15. Sliding rails with optional CMA ........................................................................................................................44
Figure 16. Static rails............................................................................................................................................................. 44
Figure 17. Server lifecycle management operations ...................................................................................................... 47
Figure 18. Systems management server lifecycle ........................................................................................................... 54
Figure 19. Chassis dimensions............................................................................................................................................ 55
Figure 20. Server Deployment capabilities ........................................................................................................................61
Figure 21. ProSupport Enterprise Suite comparison....................................................................................................... 64

6 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
1System overview
Introduction
The Dell PowerEdge R730 is a general-purpose platform with highly expandable memory (up to
768GB) and impressive I/O capabilities to match. The R730 can readily handle very demanding
workloads, such as data warehouses, e-commerce, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), databases
and high-performance computing (HPC). In addition to the R730’s capabilities, the R730xd offers
extraordinary storage capacity, making it well suited for data-intensive applications that require
storage and I/O performance, like medical imaging and email servers.
Deliver peak performance
Drive peak compute performance across a variety of workloads with the Intel®Xeon®processor
E5-2600 v3 product family and state-of-the-art DDR4 memory. Boost data access for applications
with up to 16 x 12Gb/s SAS drives and high-performance dual RAID. Take advantage of advanced
accelerators and GPUs to maximize performance in HPC, VDI and imaging environments.
Discover greater versatility
With 24 DIMMs of high-capacity, low-power DDR4 memory, 7 PCI Express®(PCIe) 3.0 expansion
slots and highly scalable local storage, the R730 is extremely flexible. Create a dense, resource-rich
virtualization environment with up to 16 x 2.5”drives. Combine that with the R730’s GPU capability
to save infrastructure costs and consolidate management operations in a scalable and centralized
virtual desktop environment. The GPU option also makes the R730 an excellent choice as a
midrange medical imaging solution.
Maximize operational efficiency
PowerEdge servers let you construct and manage highly efficient infrastructures for data centers
and small businesses. Accelerate time-to-production with automated deployment processes that
use fewer manual steps and reduce the potential for error. Improve IT productivity with innovative-
at-the-server management tools like iDRAC Direct and iDRAC Quick Sync to deliver in-depth
system health status and speed deployment. Optimize data center energy usage with improved
performance-per-watt and more granular control of power and cooling.
Innovative management with intelligent automation
The Dell OpenManage systems management portfolio includes innovative solutions that simplify
and automate essential server lifecycle management tasks —making IT operations more efficient
and Dell servers the most productive, reliable and cost effective. Leveraging the incomparable
agent-free capabilities of the PowerEdge embedded Integrated Dell Remote Access Controller
(iDRAC) with Lifecycle Controller technology, server deployment, configuration and updates are
streamlined across the OpenManage portfolio and through integration with third-party
management solutions.
Monitoring and control of Dell and third-party data center hardware is provided by OpenManage
Essentials and with anytime, anywhere mobile access, through OpenManage Mobile. OpenManage
Essentials now also delivers Server Configuration Management capabilities that automate one-to-
many PowerEdge bare-metal server and operating system deployments, quick and consistent
replication of configurations and ensure compliance to a predefined baseline with automated drift
detection.

7 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
New technologies
Table 1 lists the new technologies featured on the PowerEdge R730 and R730xd systems.
Table 1. New technologies
New technologies
Detailed descriptions
Intel Xeon Processor
E5-2600 v3 product family
The Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600 v3 product has advanced features that deliver
exceptional performance and value. See the Processors section for details.
Intel C610 series chipset
The R730 and R730xd servers use the Intel Platform Controller Hub (PCH) chip.
2133MT/s DDR4 memory
Certain models of E5-2600 v3 processors support 2133MT/s memory. The R730
and R730xd support three DIMMs per channel at 1866MT/s with these
processors. See the Memory section for details.
Next-generation PERC
options
The R730 and R730xd support new Dell PowerEdge RAID Controller (PERC)
cards with improved functionality and faster performance. See the Storage
section for details.
PERC S130
This new software RAID solution supports RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 and supports a
maximum of eight hot-plug SATA hard disk drives (HDD) or solid-state drives
(SSD). See the Storage section for details.
iDRAC8 with Lifecycle
Controller
The new embedded systems management solution for Dell servers features
hardware and firmware inventory and alerting, data center level power
monitoring, faster performance and many more features. See the Dell
OpenManage systems management section for details.
iDRAC Quick Sync
This is a new at-the-box management solution that allows mobile devices to
sync with the PowerEdge server by touching an Android mobile device against
the Quick Sync hardware located in the bezel to gather system information
including system status and logs. The mobile application also allows the user to
make changes to the system configuration.
iDRAC Direct
Allows direct access to the iDRAC through the special front USB port using any
portable device with a browser. An A-to-A USB cable is required.
Failsafe hypervisors
The internal dual SD module (IDSDM) enables Dell's unique Failsafe Virtualization
architecture, ensuring uptime by providing failover capability for embedded
hypervisors, such as VMware®vSphere®ESXi™.
Dell Fresh Air 2.0
Dell has tested and validated select 13th generation PowerEdge servers that
operate at higher temperatures helping you reduce your hours of economization
or even go chiller-less. See the Power, thermal and acoustics section for details.
12Gb/s SAS
SAS-3 doubles the interface bandwidth from the previous generation at 12Gb/s.
SAS-3 addresses signal quality through transmitter training, which gives one of
the receiver device’s key interconnects, its PHY, the ability to modify the settings
of the transmitter device’s PHY.
6Gb/s SATA
SATA 3.0 runs with a native transfer rate of 6Gb/s, and taking 8b/10b encoding
into account, the maximum uncoded transfer rate is 4.8Gb/s (600MB/s). The
theoretical burst throughput of SATA 3.0 is double that of SATA 2.0.

8 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
New technologies
Detailed descriptions
Next-generation Express
Flash drives
Dell Express Flash PCIe SSDs provide fast performance without requiring
processor resources or capturing DRAM. The R730xd with the 24 x 3.5”
backplane configuration supports up to 4 Express Flash PCIe SSDs. The R730
does not support Express Flash PCIe SSDs.
1.8”SSD
The application of 1.8”form factor SATA SSD has been expanded from the
PowerEdge M420 half-height blade to rack servers. These SSDs provide a high
spindle count fast cache layer for tiered storage applications.
USB 3.0
USB 3.0 can operate in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 speed modes. USB 3.0 driver is
required to control USB device in USB 3.0 speed mode.

9 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
2System features
Compared to the previous generation of Dell PowerEdge servers, the R730 and R730xd have more
drive bay options, more PCIe slots, next-generation RAID controllers and advanced system
management.
Comparison of PowerEdge systems
Table 2 compares some of the features of the R730 and R730xd and the R720 and R720xd systems.
Table 2. Comparison of PowerEdge R720/R720xd and R730/R730xd
Feature
PowerEdge R720/R720xd
PowerEdge R730/R730xd
Chassis
2U rack
2U rack
Processors
Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2
product family
Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3
product family
Internal interconnect
Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI)
Intel QPI
Memory1
24 x DDR3 RDIMM, UDIMM, and LRDIMM
Up to 768GB
24 x DDR4 RDIMM and LRDIMM
Up to 768GB
Disk drives
R720: 16 x 2.5“ or 8 x 3.5”
6Gb/s SAS, 3Gb/s SATA
R720xd: 26 x 2.5” SAS SSD, SATA SSD, SAS,
NL-SAS, SATA, SAS 512n or
12 x 3.5” SAS, NL-SAS, SATA + 2 x 2.5” drives
R730: 16 x 2.5” HDD: SAS, SATA,
NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA
8 x 3.5” HDD: SAS, SATA,
NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA 12Gb SAS,
6Gb SATA
R730xd: 18 x 1.8” SSD: SATA
24 x 2.5” + 2 x 2.5” HDD: SAS, SATA,
NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA, up to 4
NVMe Express Flash PCIe
16 x 3.5” + 2 x 2.5” HDD: SAS, SATA,
NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA
RAID controller
PERC S110 (software RAID), H310, H710,
H710P, H810 (external); support for 2
internal RAID controllers
PERC S130 (software RAID), H330,
H730, H730P, H830 (external);
support for 2 internal RAID controllers
PCI slots
Max 7 + 1 x PCIe 3.0/6 + 1 x PCIe 3.0
Max 7 + 1 x PCIe 3.0/6 + 1 x PCIe 3.0
option to eliminate Riser 1
Embedded NICs
Select Network Adapter NDC
4 x 1GbE, 2 x 10GbE
Select Network Adapter NDC
4 x 1GbE, 2 x 10GbE, 4 x 10GbE
USB
USB 2.0
USB 3.0 (back and internal ports only)

10 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Feature
PowerEdge R720/R720xd
PowerEdge R730/R730xd
Power supplies
Hot-plug, redundant power supply units:
495W AC, 750W AC, 750W AC/DC mixed
mode, 1100W AC, 1100W DC
Hot-plug, redundant power supply
units: 495W AC, 750W AC, 750W
AC/DC mixed mode2, 1100W AC,
1100W DC
Power efficiency
80 PLUS®certification
Titanium and Platinum
Titanium and Platinum
Dell OpenManage
Systems Management
OpenManage Essentials
Dell Management Console
IT Assistant
OMSA Agent
OpenManage Power Center (requires
iDRAC7 Enterprise with Lifecycle Controller)
OpenManage Integrations and Connections
iDRAC7 Express with Lifecycle Controller
(standard option)
OpenManage Essentials
Dell Management Console
OMSA Agent
OpenManage Power Center (requires
iDRAC8 Enterprise with Lifecycle
Controller)
OpenManage Integrations and
Connections
iDRAC8 Express with Lifecycle
Controller (standard option)
Internal GPU
2 x 300W (double-wide) or
4 x 150W (single-wide)
Not supported on R720xd
2 x 300W (double-wide) or
4 x 150W (single-wide)
Not supported on R730xd
Availability
Hot-plug drives
Hot-plug redundant cooling
Hot-plug redundant PSUs
IDSDM support
Hot-plug drives
Hot-plug redundant cooling
Hot-plug redundant PSUs
IDSDM support (next generation)
1GB means 1 billion bytes and TB means 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be
less.
2750W mixed mode PSU available only in China.
Specifications
Table 3 lists the technical specifications for the PowerEdge R730 and R730xd systems. For the latest
information on supported features, visit the R730 and R730xd pages on Dell.com.
Table 3. Technical specifications
Feature
Specification
Form factor
2U rack
Processors
Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family
Processor sockets
2 sockets
Internal
interconnect
2 Intel QPI links; 6.4GT/s; 7.2GT/s; 8.0GT/s
Cache
2.5MB per core; core options: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18

11 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Feature
Specification
Chipset
Intel C610
Memory
Up to 768GB1(24 DIMM slots): 4GB/8GB/16GB/32GB DDR4 up to 2133MT/s
PCIe slots
R730: Up to 7 PCIe 3.0 slots plus
dedicated PERC slot
R730xd: Up to 6 PCIe 3.0 slots plus dedicated
PERC slot
RAID controller
Internal controllers:
PERC S130 (software RAID; R730 only)
PERC H330
PERC H730
PERC H730P
External HBAs (RAID):
PERC H830
External HBAs (non-RAID):
12Gb/s SAS HBA
Drives
R730 internal hard drive bay and hot-plug backplane:
Up to 16 x 2.5” HDD: SAS, SATA, NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA
Up to 8 x 3.5” HDD: SAS, SATA, NL-SAS; SSD: SAS, SATA
R730xd internal hard drive bay and hot-plug backplane:
Up to 16 x 3.5” SAS, SATA, NL-SAS, SSD + 2 x 2.5” drives
Up to 18 x 1.8” SAS, SATA, NL-SAS, SSD drives + 8 x 3.5” SAS, SATA, nearline SAS, SSD
drives, + 2 x 2.5” HDD
Up to 26 x 2.5” SAS, SATA, NL-SAS, SSD, PCIe SSD drives
Maximum internal
storage
R730:
Up to 29TB using 16 x 2.5” 1.8TB SAS hard drives
Up to 48TB using 8 x 3.5” 6TB NL-SAS hard drives
R730xd:
Up to 31.9TB using 18 x 1.8” 960GB SATA SSD + 8 x 3.5” 1.8TB SAS HDD
Up to 43.2TB using 24 x 2.5” 1.8TB SAS HDD + 2 x 2.5” 1.8TB SAS HDD
Up to 99.6TB using 12 x 3.5”6TB NL-SAS HDD or SSD + 4 x 3.5”6TB SAS + 2 x 2.5”1.8TB
SAS HDD or SSD
Embedded NIC
4 x 1GbE, 2 x 10+2GbE, 4 x 10GbE NDC
Power supply
750W AC (Titanium2); 495W, 750W or 1100W AC (Platinum2); 1100W DC
Availability
ECC memory, hot-plug hard drives, hot-plug redundant cooling, hot-plug redundant
power, IDSDM, single device data correction (SDDC), spare rank, tool-less chassis,
support for high availability clustering and virtualization, proactive systems management
alerts, iDRAC8 with Lifecycle Controller
Systems
management
IPMI 2.0 compliant
Dell OpenManage Essentials
Dell OpenManage Mobile
Dell OpenManage Power Center
Dell OpenManage Integrations:
Dell OpenManage Integration Suite for
Microsoft®System Center
Dell OpenManage Integration for
VMware®vCenter™
Dell OpenManage Connections:
HP Operations Manager, IBM Tivoli®
Netcool®and CA Network and Systems
Management
Dell OpenManage Plug-in for Oracle®
Database Manager

12 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Feature
Specification
Rack support
ReadyRails™ sliding rails for tool-less mounting in 4-post racks with square or
unthreaded round holes or tooled mounting in 4-post threaded hole racks, with
support for optional tool-less cable management arm
ReadyRails static rails for tool-less mounting in 4-post racks with square or
unthreaded round holes or tooled mounting in 4-post threaded and 2-post (Telco)
racks
Operating
systems
Microsoft Windows Server®2008/2012 SP2, x86/x64 (x64 includes Hyper-V®)
Microsoft Windows Server 2008/2012 R2, x64 (includes Hyper-V)
Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008
Novell®SUSE®Linux Enterprise Server
Red Hat®Enterprise Linux®
Virtualization options:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 (includes Hyper-V)
Citrix®XenServer®
VMware vSphere ESXi
For more information on the specific versions and additions, visit Dell.com/OSsupport.
OEM-ready version
available
From bezel to BIOS to packaging, your servers can look and feel as if they were designed
and built by you. For more information, visit Dell.com/OEM.
Recommended
support
Dell ProSupport Plus for critical systems or Dell ProSupport for premium hardware and
software support for your PowerEdge solution. Consulting and deployment offerings are
also available. Contact your Dell representative today for more information. Availability
and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visit
Dell.com/ServiceDescriptions.
1GB means 1 billion bytes and TB means 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating
environment and will be less.
280 PLUS certification

13 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
3Chassis views and features
The following sections provide external and internal views of the Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd
systems and describe the chassis features. For detailed information on features and descriptions for
these systems, see the Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Owner's Manual on
Dell.com/Support/Manuals.
Chassis views
The R730 and R730xd are available in several chassis options with varying numbers of drive bays.
Note: A chassis cannot be reconfigured or upgraded after point of purchase.
R730 front views
The R730 supports up to 16 x 2.5”or up to 8 x 3.5”front-accessible, hot-plug hard drives that are
secured by a removable front bezel. Other front-panel features include an interactive LCD control
panel, USB management port/iDRAC Direct, a video connector and a vFlash media card slot.
Figure 1. R730 front view (2.5” chassis with bezel)
Figure 2. R730 front view (2.5” chassis without bezel)

14 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
R730xd front views
The R730xd supports up to 24 x 2.5”, 12 x 3.5”, or 8 x 3.5” plus 18 x 1.8” front-accessible, hot-plug
drives that are secured by a removable front bezel. Other front-panel features include an LED
control panel, USB management port/iDRAC Direct and video connector.
Figure 3. R730xd front view (8 x 3.5” plus 18 x 1.8” with bezel)
Figure 4. R730xd front view (8 x 3.5” plus 18 x 1.8” without bezel)
R730 back view
The R730 back panel includes PSUs, Ethernet connectors, PCIe slots and many other features
described in this guide.
Figure 5. R730 back view

15 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
R730xd back view
In addition to the R730 back-panel features, the R730xd includes 2 optional 2.5”
hot-plug drives in the back of the system.
Figure 6. R730xd back view
Internal chassis views
The chassis design of the R730 and R730xd is optimized for easy access to components and for
airflow for effective and efficient cooling. The R730 and R730xd support up to 24 DIMMs,
2 processors, hot-plug redundant fans, and many other components and features described in this
guide.
Figure 7. R730 internal chassis view

16 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Figure 8. R730xd internal chassis view
For additional system views, see the Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Owner’s Manual on
Dell.com/Support/Manuals.
Chassis features
Table 4 lists the chassis features for the R730 and R730xd systems. For additional information on
these features, see the Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Owner’s Manual on
Dell.com/Support/Manuals.
Table 4. Chassis features
Feature
Description
Power button and indicator
ACPI-complaint power button with an integrated green power LED
Front bezel
Covers the system’s front-loading hard drives; can be locked to prevent
hard drives from being removed
NMI button
Recessed non-maskable interrupt (NMI) button used to troubleshoot
software and device driver errors; use only if directed to do so by
qualified support personnel or by the operating system's
documentation
System identification button
Buttons on the back and front of a system to help identify the unit in a
data center environment
Hard drive activity LEDs
Indicate the status and activity of the hard drives
USB connectors
R730: 2 front, 2 back, and 1 internal
R730xd: 1 front, 2 back, and 1 internal

17 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Feature
Description
vFlash media reader
Supports 1 vFlash media card (the R730 slot is located in the front of the
system and the R730x slot is located in the back); functionality is
activated only when iDRAC8 Enterprise is enabled
Video connector
Connects a monitor to the system
LCD control panel
Provides user access to buttons, display, and I/O interfaces (R730 only)
LED panel
Indicates the status of system conditions (R730xd only)
Hard drives
Front-accessible, hot-plug hard drives plus 2 optional back-accessible
hot-plug hard drives (R730xd only)
Optical drive (optional)
The R730 supports one optional slimline SATA DVD-ROM drive or
DVD+/-RW drive; R730xd does not support an internal optical drive
System identification panel
Slide-out label panel for system information
Serial connector
Connects a serial device to the system and for console redirect
iDRAC8 Enterprise port
Dedicated management port for optional iDRAC8 Enterprise
PCIe expansion card slots
The R730 supports up to 7 PCIe expansion cards; R730xd supports up
to 6 PCIe expansion cards
Ethernet connectors
Choice of network connectors through Select Network Adapter family
Power supply units
Up to two back-accessible, hot-plug power supplies
Power supply indicators
Indicate whether system has power
NIC indicators
Indicate network activity and status
Quick Resource Locator (QRL)
Scan the code on the chassis with smartphone app for additional
information and resources including videos, reference materials, service
tag information and Dell contact information; scan the code on the
information tag for information specific to the server
LCD control panel (R730)
The R730 system control panel is located on the front of the chassis to provide user access to
buttons, display, and I/O interfaces. For more information on the R730 LCD control panel, see the
Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Owner's Manual on Dell.com/Support/Manuals.
Figure 9. R730 LCD control panel

18 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
LED panel (R730xd)
The R730xd LED panel is located on the front of the chassis to indicate the status of system
conditions. For more information on the R730xd LED panel, see the Dell PowerEdge R730 and
R730xd Owner's Manual on Dell.com/Support/Manuals.
Figure 10. R730xd LED panel
Quick Resource Locator
The QRL is a model-specific Quick Response code located on the server chassis as shown in Figure
11.
Figure 11. QRL on chassis
The QRL on the pull-out information (luggage) tag provides information specific to the server by
service tag.
Figure 12. QRL on information tag
Use a smartphone to access the Dell QRL app to learn more about the server such as:
View step-by-step videos, including overviews of system internals and externals, as well as
detailed, concise, task-oriented videos and installation wizards

19 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
Locate reference materials, including searchable owner’s manual content, LCD diagnostics, and
an electrical overview
Look up your service tag so you can quickly gain access to your specific hardware configuration
info and warranty information
Contact Dell directly (by link) to get in touch with technical support and sales teams and provide
feedback to Dell
Figure 13. Accessing a QRL
These codes provide an easy way to retrieve the critical support information you need when you
need it, making you more efficient and effective in managing your hardware.
Security features
The latest generation of PowerEdge servers has the features listed in Table 5 to help ensure the
security of your data center.
Table 5. Security features
Security feature
Description
Cover latch
A tooled latch is integrated in the top cover to secure it to the rack chassis.
Bezel
A standard bezel is an optional metal bezel mounted to the chassis front and
shows the Dell ID. A lock on the bezel protects unauthorized access to hard
drives.
NFC bezel enables the iDRAC QuickSync management function for managing
the server from the front using an NFC-capable device and the free Dell
OpenManage Mobile App (currently Android only). Available only from the
factory and not supported after purchase of sale.
TPM
The Trusted Platform Module (TPM) is used to generate/store keys,
protect/authenticate passwords, and create/store digital certificates. It also
supports the Intel Xeon TXT functionality. TPM can also be used to enable the
BitLocker™ hard drive encryption feature in Windows Server 2008. TPM 1.2 is
supported.
Power-off security
BIOS has the ability to disable the power button function.
Intrusion alert
An internal switch is used to detect chassis intrusion.
Secure mode
BIOS has the ability to enter a secure boot mode through system setup. This
mode includes the option to lock out the power and NMI switches on the
control panel or set up a system password.

20 PowerEdge R730 and R730xd Technical Guide
4Processors
The Dell PowerEdge R730 and R730xd feature the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family,
offering an ideal combination of performance, power efficiency, and cost. These processors provide
high performance no matter what your constraint is —floor space, power, or budget —and on
workloads that range from the most complicated scientific exploration to crucial web-serving and
infrastructure applications. In addition to providing raw performance gains, improved I/O is also
made possible with Intel Integrated I/O, which can reduce latency by adding more lanes and
doubling bandwidth. This helps to reduce network and storage bottlenecks, unleashing the
processor’s performance capabilities.
Processor features
The new Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family not only adds new features, but also
improves upon many features of the predecessor Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v2 product family,
including:
Up to 18 execution cores per processor
Each core supports two threads for up to 36 threads per processor
46-bit physical addressing and 48-bit virtual addressing
1GB large page support
32kB instruction and 32kB data first-level cache (L1) for each core
256kB shared instruction/data mid-level cache (L2) for each core
Up to 35MB last level cache (LLC) shared among all cores: up to 2.5MB per core
Two QPI links up to 9.6GT/s
Four DMI2 lanes
40 PCIe 3.0 links capable of 8.0GT/s
Socket R, 2011-land FCLGA10 package
No termination required for non-populated CPU (must populate CPU socket 1 first)
Integrated 4-channel DDR4 memory controller (not all processors support 2133MT/s memory)
64 byte cache line size
Execute Disable Bit
Support for CPU Turbo Mode
Increases CPU frequency if operating below thermal, power, and current limits
Streaming SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) Intel Advanced Vector Extensions (Intel AVX)
Intel 64 Technology
Intel VT-x and VT-d Technology for virtualization support
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology
Demand-based switching for active CPU power management as well as support for ACPI
P-States, C-States, and T-States
For more information on the Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family, visit Intel.com.