RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — September 8, 2014 — Lenovo (SEHK:0992) (NQB: LNVGY) today announced its next-generation enterprise-class server portfolio. The first wave of products consists of three cleverly engineered servers — two rack systems and one tower — designed to provide the ultimate in flexibility and reliability for traditional and software-defined data center environments.
ThinkServer RD550 and RD650: Cleverly Designed Rack Servers Pack More Punch in Less Space
Innovative engineering and design leadership are the foundation of the Lenovo ThinkServer RD550 and RD650 rack systems. By creating space-optimized drive trays, chassis and system boards, the RD550 and RD650 provide clients with industry-leading storage density and more I/O connectivity within standard 1U and 2U form factors. The RD550 can accommodate up to 12 drive bays and up to 26.4TB1 of internal storage, providing the performance and capacity of a 2U system in a 1U form factor — perfect for line-of-business applications and compute-intensive workloads. The 2U RD650 houses up to 26 drive bays and up to 74.4TB1 of internal capacity, making it perfect for storage-hungry applications, such as databases, data analytics clusters and video streaming. For ultimate flexibility and scalability, both rack servers are available with hybrid chassis configurations that allow a combination of 2.5- and 3.5-inch drives, ideal for creating a tiered storage environment. Two enterprise-class M.2 solid-state drives (SSDs) are available as an option for secure booting, as well as SD card options for hypervisor booting.
IT managers will appreciate Lenovo’s commitment to client flexibility through its new AnyFabric, AnyBay and AnyRAID technologies. Leveraging Lenovo’s AnyFabric design, the RD550 supports many combinations of I/O technologies, including up to four 10GB Ethernet ports and four Fibre Channel ports — leaving three PCIe slots available for other uses. The RD550 can support an incredible amount of network bandwidth in a single 1U server. Lenovo’s AnyBay design, an industry first, allows for multiple storage types in the same drive bay ranging from SAS and SATA HDDs to front-accessible PCIe SSDs2. ThinkServer AnyRAID adapters are also available to provide advanced data protection and performance-enhancing features without taking up PCIe slots.
The RD550 and RD650 are equipped with next-generation Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 v3 series processors with up to 18 cores each. Both servers can be configured to support up to 768GB of DDR4 memory, which provides a bandwidth increase of up to 50 percent as well as a 50 percent increase in power efficiency over previous-generation DDR3 memory. Standard, built-in reliability features include ECC memory, hot-swappable HDD and SSD capability, as well as redundant power and cooling.
ThinkServer TD350: Full Enterprise Capacity and Performance in a 4U Tower
With up to two Intel Xeon E5-2600 v3 series processors, the TD350 packs performance, scalability and expandability into a tower form factor. It features nearly triple the memory capacity and double the storage capacity of the previous-generation server with up to 512GB of DDR4 memory and 90TB of internal storage capacity with either 2.5- or 3.5-inch drive configuration options — all in a condensed 4U package. With this massive storage capacity and a lower cost than rack infrastructure, the TD350 is an ideal solution for small- to mid-sized businesses running workloads such as business analytics, large database and collaborative applications.
As with the RD550 and RD650, choose ThinkServer AnyRAID adapters for increased RAID protection without taking up a PCIe slot. Two enterprise-class M.2 solid-state drives for secure booting are available as internal options. The TD350 also comes equipped with a lockable front bezel to protect storage drives with critical business data from physical intrusion, and 95 percent of all parts are tool-less for simple expansion. In addition, the TD350 provides excellent acoustic performance allowing the server to operate unobtrusively in a quiet office environment.
Energy-Efficient Designs
Data center power and cooling spending is often equal to or greater than the cost of powering the IT equipment itself, according to a recent study. For every dollar spent on new IT infrastructure, seven dollars are spent on maintenance. With data center operations costs rising, Lenovo’s newest server portfolio is thoughtfully designed to increase energy and cost efficiency. The RD550, RD650 and TD350 are equipped with a dynamic environmental thermal design, meaning all three servers are architected to run at 45 degrees Celsius/113 degrees Fahrenheit (ASHRAE A4) continuously with no impact on reliability. This is important as organizations continue to optimize capital expenses through server virtualization as the increase in utilization puts a greater demand on the system. This is also ideal for customers looking to run servers in harsher environments or to reduce cooling expenses. All three servers are also equipped with 80 PLUS Titanium or Platinum-rated power supplies, providing 11 percent more performance efficiency than Gold standard.
Systems Management Tools Optimized for Mobility
With all three new ThinkServer systems, clients get access to a suite of
new, intuitive lifecycle tools that make management easy, including
server-embedded tools for configuration and deployment, energy
management and power planning. Partner packs for Microsoft and VMware —
which allow clients to manage and monitor their ThinkServer environment
from VMware vCenter or Microsoft System Center Operations Manager — are
also available.
