Hey there! Looking for the inside scoop on Dell‘s stalwart 1U R620 server? Launched in 2012, this compact workhorse packs quite a punch via beefy processors, dense memory, and flexible I/O. I’ve deployed countless R620s through the years for small and large business needs alike.
Let’s dig in on the specs, performance and real-world use to see what makes it tick!
Dell PowerEdge Line and R620 History
First, a quick history lesson. Dell began its PowerEdge server line in 1995 to cater to data center and application delivery demands. The modular, rack-based models stood apart from typical desktop replacements.
Over successive generations, Dell rapidly gained traction in the 2000s1 based on scalability and ownership value. Notable milestones included adopting Intel’s Xeon servers CPUs, introducing hot swappable components like fans and drives, rolling out embedded management tools, and pursuing energy efficiency.
By the mid 2000s, PowerEdge commanded over 15% market share2, trailing only HP and IBM. Dell aggressively pursued density, agility and automation capabilities to grow its presence even further3.
When the 12th generation R620 arrived in February 20124, Dell sought to pack even more capability into the popular 1U form factor.
I clearly remember the excitement around the launch. R620 benchmarks showed substantial gains over the R610 models we’d relied on for years. The 50% core count jump, 200% more memory and PCIe 3.0 alone had us giddy!
Dell R620 Specifications
| Processor | Up to 2 x E5-2600 (Sandy/Ivy Bridge); Up to 8C/16T |
| Chipset | Intel C602 |
| Memory | 24 DDR3 slots, up to 768GB @ 1600/1866MHz |
| Storage | 10 x 2.5" bays + opt. PCIe SSD |
| Expansion | 3 x PCIe 3.0 + 1 x PERC slot |
| Networking | 4 x 1GbE onboard, NDC options |
| Graphics | Matrox G200eW, up to 150W GPU |
| Dimensions | 1U rack, 17 x 30 x 17 cm |
I‘ll dive deeper into the technical goodies later. But first, let‘s weigh some numbers!
Quantitative Comparison – R620 vs R610
| R610 | R620 | Advantage | |
| CPU cores | 6 | 8 | +33% |
| Memory | 144GB | 768GB | 5X more |
| Drive bays | 8 x 2.5" | 10 x 2.5” | +25% |
| PCIe | PCIe 2.0 | PCIe 3.0 | 2X bandwidth |
With 50% more cores, 5 times the memory, 25% more storage and PCIe 3.0, the generational jump brings massive gains!
How did this boost server capabilities in the real world? Let‘s find out…
Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge Xeon Processor Performance
The R620 came powered by Intel Sandy Bridge EP Xeon E5-2600 processors at launch, upgrading to Ivy Bridge the next year.
Compared to Westmere predecessors, Sandy Bridge brought5 substantial architecture improvements:
- Up to 8 cores/16 threads
- Integrated memory controllers
- Up to 20MB last-level cache
- Support for low-voltage CPUs down to 60W
- PCI Express 3.0 integration
The integrated memory controller really improved responsiveness. By linking directly to RAM instead of traversing the system bus through a separate chip6, latency saw notable cuts.
Ivy Bridge refresh then optimized manufacturing on Intel’s cutting-edge 22nm process. Along with energy efficiency7 tweaks, clock speeds scaled 100-400MHz faster for a modest uptick8.
But Sandy Bridge formed that performance bedrock – up to 8 cores, 16 threads for immense parallelism. Plus bandwidth galore with 40 lanes of PCIe 3.0. No wonder VMware and Hyper-V virtualization takeoffs preferred these generational sweet spots!
Data Center Ready: Reliability & Expansion
Beyond speed increases, real-world data centers need resilience and flexibility…
Starting with storage – the R620’s 10 hot swap bays let you mix and match drives to balance cost, capacity and speed. I often recommend starting with a pair of smaller SSDs for boot and scratch. Then pick high capacity HDDs as budgets allow, or larger SSDs for data-driven apps.
With 6Gbps SAS connectivity and optional battery flash, the PERC RAID cards readily safeguard data. 10K/15K RPM HDDs handle transactional loads with low latency. For bigger data, nearline SAS disks offer dense TB pools. Or slide in PCIe SSDs for lightning speed!
Networking usually begins with the 4 onboard gigabit NICs. R620’s dedicated expansion slots then allow 10GbE or InfiniBand adapters. I recommend carving one high speed fabric for storage traffic, while another handles VM or server communication.
R620 specifications permit GPUs up to 150 watts to drive richer workloads. NVIDIA Quadro or AMD FirePro cards offer certified drivers and optimization for professional applications.
Lastly, hot swappable PSUs, fans, disks and the iDRAC module bolster resilience. The 100G shock rating also withstands those inevitable shipping mishaps when expanding capacity!
Ideal Environments and Usage
What roles thrive on these balanced capabilities?
For general uses, the R620’s flexibility suits web and application delivery in stacks like LAMP and Windows Server. The 10 drive bays provides ample capacity for images, containers and virtual machine storage.
Database servers also align well – fast processors tackle transactional workloads, while abundant memory caches hot datasets. Solid state storage accelerates IOPS as needed.
Workloads with dynamic demands see benefits too. Virtualized infrastructures, VDI farms and test/dev environments all interleave effectively on the 8-16 physical cores.
On the analytics front, simulated models and financial risk applications crunch data faster thanks to Sandy/Ivy Bridge throughput. And the optional GPU delivers additional mathematical muscle.
Some cooled racks I’ve managed housed over 50 R620s! The 1U footprint simplifies allocation planning to eke out residual space. Compared to 2U models, over 20% extra units for the same real estate works wonders for expansion. And I can pile them sky high with confidence.
For those with ears to the ground, 2012’s Bring Your Own Device revolution drove PC remodeling too. Space/budget-constrained offices needed rack servers to consolidate distributed towers. Trading 96 desktops for 24 R620 virtualization hosts = big savings in real estate, electricity and hardware down the road!
Expert Reviews and Benchmarks
Don‘t just take my word for it! Industry experts fortunately back up many of the performance claims.
Tom‘s Hardware testing of the dual E5-2667v2 Ivy Bridge config with PCIe SSD scored9 101% higher than prior models on database, simulation and video encoding workloads. The 16-thread beefiness, memory and storage access clearly showed gains under heavy loads.
AnandTech examined10 HPC-focused specs like the 2650v2. They highlighted strengths in computing and memory access for research computing codes – up to 3X bandwidth jump over Westmere predecessors!
Virtualization improvements also shone through. With more cores and PCI passthrough options, VM density increased substantially. TechTarget recorded11 30-50% more VMs consolidated per host. And StorageReview managed12 over 200 VMs on a single R620!
Just as important as speed is everyday reliability… Lab testing is one thing, but server hardware needs to deliver 24/7 uptimes with customer data on the line.
Poring through IT forum feedback surfaced promising signs of resilient operation even after years of service. Outages overwhelmingly traced back to replaceable parts like disks or PSUs than any systemic flaws13. Downtimes measured in days for the unlucky few rather than weeks. Not bad for mission critical gear past manufacturers’ warranties!
Crunching Market Share Numbers
Industry analysts provide context around market reception and staying power too.
Early R620 saturation started strong out the gates. 2016 estimates tabulated14 over 600,000 shipping – 15% of Dell’s install base. Customer surveys revealed substantially higher ‘willingness to rebuy’ than prior generations.
Five years later around 2021, user shares still hovered15 around 7% of now 3M+ 12th generation servers. Accounting for displaced legacy servers, that possibly represents 300,000 to 400,000 R620s actively deployed.
Significant numbers stay in harness thanks to refresh cycles slowing from 3-5 years to 5-7 years. Hardware largely keeps pace while supporting OSes and apps modernize behind the scenes. Virtualization and containerization also helps prolong relevance.
IDC stats16 in 2022 indicate 12th gen servers still power almost 15% of Dell’s customer base. Assuming a 20% R620 share, over 140,000 units may still be humming along!
My Verdict – Four Thumbs Up!
Well, that just about wraps up the whirlwind tour of the Dell PowerEdge R620! As you can tell, I’m pretty bullish about its balanced capabilities that still carry weight for today’s workloads.
The value equation also keeps the R620 very attractive even 10 years post-launch. Ongoing firmware patches stretch viability for careful buyers. And secondary market pricing is very friendly these days for those seeking sufficient capability on a budget.
While Looked at logically, the scaled up components and specs signal strong potential from the outset. Independent assessments confirm efficiency in utilizing those resources. And long term deployment at customer sites cement its operational stability.
In my sysadmin books, that‘s more than enough evidence of a flexible, future-facing data center stalwart! The R620 gets my recommendation for delivering newer-generation performance without breaking the bank. Large and small IT teams alike have plenty of options to take advantage of its expandability and resilience.
Hope this info helps you make the right choice for your infrastructure needs! Let me know if any other server topics pique your interest.
- Dataquest
- IDC Reports
- Dell PowerEdge Vision 2030 Whitepaper
- ServeTheHome Forum
- AnandTech Sandy Bridge Review
- Intel Memory Scaling Analysis
- Tom‘s Hardware Ivy Bridge Benchmarks
- Intel ARK Spec Database
- Tom‘s Hardware Ivy Bridge vs Sandy Bridge Benchmarks
- AnandTech Ivy Bridge Server Benchmarks
- R620 Virtualization Consolidation
- StorageReview Virtualization Testing
- Spiceworks R620 Reliability Thread
- IDC
- IDC Q2 2021 Report
- IDC
