The Dell PowerEdge R740xd is a dual-socket 2U rack server designed around a storage configuration that doesn't force a choice between capacity and flexibility. This is a professionally refurbished 14th-generation Dell platform — pulled from a real enterprise environment, fully inspected, and rebuilt to spec. The chassis ships with 12 large-form-factor (LFF) front bays for high-capacity spinning drives or large SSDs, plus 4 additional small-form-factor (SFF) flex bays — a combination that lets you build out bulk storage and performance-tier storage in the same system without giving up one for the other. Worth noting: that's 16 total drive positions in 2U, which puts serious raw capacity and I/O flexibility in the same footprint.
On the processor side, the R740xd supports Intel Xeon Scalable processors (1st and 2nd Generation) — configurable from Silver-class chips through Platinum-tier CPUs, with up to 28 cores per socket and 56 cores total in a dual-processor build. Memory scales across 24 DDR4 DIMM slots up to 3TB, with registered ECC DDR4 support throughout. Storage controller options cover the full range from the HBA330 for non-RAID pass-through through the PERC H330, H730p, and H740p with 8GB battery-backed cache — so the right configuration for your data protection requirements is available regardless of what those requirements are.
This is a workhorse platform that thrives in environments like:
- Software-defined storage deployments running VMware vSAN, Ceph, or similar distributed storage stacks where the LFF/SFF mix allows capacity and performance tiers to coexist in a single node
- Virtualization hosts that need both high drive counts and the memory headroom — up to 3TB DDR4 — to run meaningful VM density across dual sockets
- Database servers where the 12 LFF bays handle bulk data storage and the 4 SFF flex bays serve faster SAS or SATA SSDs for hot data or OS volumes
- Backup and archive targets where 12 LFF bays populated with large-capacity SATA drives can absorb substantial retention windows without additional infrastructure
- Media and content workflows that produce large files and need raw storage capacity paired with reliable throughput, not just one or the other
- VDI and private cloud deployments where storage IOPS and memory bandwidth need to land in the same chassis without compromise
Redundant power comes standard — dual hot-swap power supplies are available in 750W Platinum, 750W Titanium, or 1100W configurations. Remote management is provided through Dell iDRAC9 with Lifecycle Controller, available in Express or Enterprise tiers, covering out-of-band access, hardware diagnostics, and firmware management without requiring anyone to be physically present at the system. An optional Dell BOSS card with paired M.2 SATA drives handles OS boot separately from the main storage pool, keeping all 16 drive bays available for data. A TPM 2.0 module is available for environments with security or compliance requirements that aren't optional.
Every R740xd we sell has gone through a complete professional refurbishment process — tested for full functionality, rebuilt to spec, and configured to your exact order before it ships. You're getting genuine enterprise-grade Dell hardware at a significant discount over new pricing, and the 12 LFF + 4 SFF bay configuration is included at that price.
At The Server Store, we don't just sell refurbished Dell PowerEdge R740xd servers — we configure them, test them, and make sure you're getting exactly the system you need. Our team is available by phone or chat whenever you need us. Browse our full selection of professionally refurbished, custom-configured servers and IT equipment at The Server Store.