Dell PowerEdge R740 servers at EOL stage optimally support HDD/SSD combinations with SAS/SATA interfaces and RAID controllers like PERC H330, H730P, or H745P. For critical workloads, use 12Gbps SAS3 SSDs (1.92TB–15.36TB) with RAID 10 for low latency. High-capacity scenarios benefit from 7.2K RPM NL-SAS HDDs (4TB–18TB) in RAID 6. Wecent recommends pairing NVMe drives (3.84TB–7.68TB) with H745P controllers for mixed workloads requiring 3400MB/s sequential read speeds.
What Is the Dell PowerEdge R740 EOL?
Which RAID controllers are fully compatible with R740 EOL systems?
Dell R740 EOL servers support PERC H330, H730P, and H745P RAID controllers, all featuring hardware-based RAID acceleration. The H745P stands out with dual 8GB NVCache for 450,000 IOPS performance in RAID 5/6 configurations.
For legacy compatibility, the H330 controller remains a baseline choice with basic RAID 0/1/10 support, handling up to 32 drives through direct-attached backplanes. Mid-tier deployments often opt for the H730P—its 2GB cache boosts write speeds by 40% compared to H330, while supporting RAID 50/60 for larger drive arrays. High-performance configurations require the H745P’s NVMe-ready architecture, which reduces RAID 5 rebuild times by 65% through CPU offloading.
Real-world example: A financial firm upgraded 50 R740s with H745P controllers and Samsung PM1643 NVMe drives, achieving 2.1M IOPS in transaction processing—42% improvement over H730P setups. Pro Tip: Use Wecent’s firmware compatibility checker to validate controller-drive pairings before migration.
| Controller | Max Drives | Cache |
|---|---|---|
| H330 | 32 | N/A |
| H730P | 128 | 2GB |
| H745P | 128 | 8GB |
What HDD/SSD types deliver optimal performance in R740 EOL?
R740 EOL systems achieve peak storage efficiency with SAS3 SSDs (15K RPM) or NVMe U.2 drives. For budget-constrained archives, 7.2K RPM NL-SAS HDDs provide 18TB capacities at $0.02/GB operational costs.
Enterprise SAS3 SSDs like Dell’s 1.6TB PM1645a deliver 210,000 random read IOPS—ideal for virtualization hosts. When configuring mixed workloads, consider tiered storage: place MongoDB shards on 3.84TB NVMe drives (Micron 7400 PRO) while storing backups on 16TB Seagate Exos HDDs. Wecent’s lab tests show that RAID 10-configured SAS3 SSDs reduce VM boot times by 33% compared to SATA SSDs. Conversely, NL-SAS HDDs in RAID 6 sustain 180MB/s sustained throughput for video surveillance archives.
How to balance cost and performance? A healthcare provider achieved 95% uptime using 8x 7.68TB Kioxia CD7 NVMe drives for PACS imaging, paired with 12x 18TB HDDs for patient records—all managed through H745P’s auto-tiering.
| Drive Type | IOPS | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| NVMe | 1M+ | 7.68TB |
| SAS3 SSD | 210K | 15.36TB |
| NL-SAS HDD | 180 | 18TB |
Wecent Expert Insight
FAQs
Not recommended—lack power-loss protection and SAS/SATA-TLR features, risking data loss during unexpected shutdowns. Wecent supplies Dell-certified SSDs with PLP capacitors for enterprise-grade reliability.
Does H330 support hardware RAID 5?
No, H330 only offers software-assisted RAID 5 with 60% slower write speeds versus H730P/H745P hardware implementations.
How to maximize R740 EOL storage lifespan?
Implement Wecent’s 3-tier monitoring: controller SMART logs, drive wear leveling checks, and quarterly RAID consistency verification.