The Dell PowerEdge R750 8-Bay 2.5" is the compute-dense configuration of Dell's 15th gen 2U platform: eight 2.5" hot-swap front bays, dual 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable sockets (Ice Lake-SP, LGA-4189), the full 32 DDR4-3200 DIMM slots, and PCIe Gen4 throughout. It is the same 2U chassis and the same Ice Lake platform as the 16-Bay flagship, with a smaller front storage footprint. You give up bays you were not going to fill and keep every bit of the compute, memory, and PCIe expansion that makes the R750 worth buying.

The 8-Bay is the right call when the workload is compute-bound or memory-bound rather than storage-bound: virtualization hosts that keep their data on shared storage, application and database tiers backed by a SAN or NVMe-oF target, and scale-out nodes where eight local drives is the correct per-node disk count. Where most of a deployment's data lives off-box, paying for sixteen empty bays is wasted spend; the 8-Bay gives the same platform at a lower entry point.

To configure an R750 8-Bay build, call 1-800-778-1545 or request a quote through the form on this page. We respond within 24 hours, and volume pricing applies at 5 units and up. Every unit ships after a 12+ hour burn-in across every memory channel, PCIe slot, and drive bay, backed by our standard 180-day warranty.

When 8 Bays Is the Right Storage Footprint

The R750 is a 2U platform that scales to 16 or 24 front bays, so an 8-Bay configuration is a deliberate choice, not a limitation. It is the correct choice in three common patterns:

• Compute and memory are the constraint, not local storage. A virtualization host with VMs on a vSAN cluster's other nodes, an iSCSI/FC SAN, or an NVMe-oF target needs CPU cores, RAM, and network bandwidth, not sixteen local drives. Eight bays cover the OS, local scratch, and a modest local datastore.
• All-NVMe at a sensible per-node count. Eight PCIe Gen4 NVMe drives is a clean, high-performance local flash set for databases and latency-sensitive applications, without the cost of a 24-NVMe backplane that the workload would not saturate.
• Scale-out nodes where eight drives is the design. Many Ceph, object-storage, and HCI reference architectures specify a fixed small drive count per node and scale by adding nodes. The 8-Bay matches that design directly.

If the workload is storage-bound rather than compute-bound, the larger-footprint chassis are the better fit: the R750 16-Bay 2.5" for mid-density SFF, the R750 24-Bay 2.5" for maximum-density NVMe, or the R750 12-Bay 3.5" for LFF capacity drives.

Storage - 8 SFF Bays

Eight 2.5" hot-swap front bays. The R750 8-Bay is offered with either a SAS/SATA backplane or an NVMe-capable backplane carrying up to eight PCIe Gen4 NVMe drives direct-attached. Specify which at quote time; the two backplanes are not interchangeable in the field, so the storage interface is a procurement-time decision.

Common 8-Bay configurations we see in production:

• 8 x SAS SSD (mixed-use, 1-3 DWPD): Production database and write-intensive application storage. PERC H755 with 8 GB flash-backed cache, RAID 10 for write-heavy workloads or RAID 6 where read balance matters.
• 8 x PCIe Gen4 NVMe: The latency-sensitive all-flash configuration. Direct-attach NVMe presented to the OS or fronted by software-defined storage. The right call for high-transaction databases and NVMe-oF participants.
• 8 x SAS/SATA SSD boot-and-scratch with SAN-backed data: For virtualization hosts whose VM data lives on shared storage. Local drives carry the OS, swap, and local scratch only.

For all-NVMe vSAN ESA at higher drive counts, the 24-Bay 2.5" is the correct chassis. For LFF capacity drives, the 12-Bay 3.5" is the correct chassis.

Boot - BOSS-S2

The R750 ships with the BOSS-S2 module in a dedicated chassis slot. BOSS-S2 carries two M.2 NVMe drives in hardware RAID 1, hot-pluggable from the rear, and keeps all eight front bays available for data. On an 8-Bay chassis, where each front bay is a larger share of the total, dedicating a front bay to boot is a real cost; BOSS-S2 is the standard recommendation and we configure it on essentially every R750 we ship.

Storage Controllers

• PERC H755 (8 GB flash-backed cache): Our production recommendation for SAS/SATA storage with write workloads. Flash-backed cache means no battery replacement cycle. RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60.
• PERC H745 (4 GB flash-backed cache): Mid-tier alternative for mixed or read-dominant SAS/SATA workloads where the H755's larger cache is not justified.
• PERC H355/H345: Entry-tier RAID for cost-sensitive SAS/SATA configurations. RAID 0/1/10 only; these controllers do not do RAID 5/6. If you need parity RAID, the H755 or H745 is required.
• HBA355i (pass-through): For vSAN OSA pass-through, Ceph, ZFS, and any software-defined storage stack that manages its own redundancy. Presents drives directly with no RAID controller in the data path.
• S150 software RAID: Chipset-level software RAID for very entry-tier configurations only. Not a production recommendation.

Note that direct-attach NVMe on the 8-Bay NVMe backplane runs off the CPU PCIe lanes, not under a PERC; RAID across NVMe drives in that configuration is handled in software or by the application.

Processors

Dual 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable (Ice Lake-SP), LGA-4189 socket. The 8-Bay R750 supports the full Ice Lake SKU stack identically to the 16-Bay, up to the top-bin Platinum 8380 at 40 cores and 270W TDP per socket, for 80 cores across two sockets in 2U. The smaller drive footprint does not change the compute envelope; the 2U thermal design handles high-TDP Ice Lake more comfortably than the 1U R650.

Common SKU choices we see in deployment:

• Gold 6338 (32 cores, 2.0 GHz, 205W): The volume balanced-performance Ice Lake. Strong core count without the Platinum cost premium. The default for most virtualization and general-purpose 8-Bay builds.
• Gold 6330 (28 cores, 2.0 GHz, 205W): Slightly lower core count, same TDP envelope. A small per-unit saving that adds up at quantity.
• Silver 4314 (16 cores, 2.4 GHz, 135W): Lower-TDP, fewer-cores option for cost-primary builds where 32 dual-socket cores is more than enough. Reduces power and thermal load.
• Platinum 8380 (40 cores, 2.3 GHz, 270W): Maximum-core dual-socket Ice Lake. Requires high-performance Gold-grade cooling and the 1400W or 2400W PSU tier.

Mixed-SKU configurations are not supported. Both sockets must carry matching CPUs for dual-socket operation.

Memory

32 DDR4 DIMM slots: 16 per CPU, 2 DIMMs per channel, 8 memory channels per socket. The 8-Bay carries the full 32-slot memory topology; this is a key reason to choose it over the single-socket-optimized R750xs, which has 16 slots. DDR4-3200 at 1 DPC; speeds step down to 2933 at 2 DPC on most Gold and Platinum SKUs.

Maximum supported memory:

• 4 TB RDIMM with 32 x 128 GB RDIMMs (most common high-capacity configuration).
• 8 TB LRDIMM with 32 x 256 GB LRDIMMs (specialty large-memory deployments).
• 8 TB combined DDR4 + Optane PMem 200 series using 16 PMem modules alongside 16 DDR4 DIMMs in App Direct or Memory mode. Optane PMem support is one of the R750's differentiators over the value-tier 15th gen lineup.

For most 8-Bay deployments, 256 GB to 1 TB covers the workload. Reserve 2 TB+ for in-memory databases or high-density VDI.

Networking and PCIe Expansion

One OCP 3.0 mezzanine slot plus the PCIe Gen4 expansion slots for add-in NICs. Because the 8-Bay carries no rear drive cage in its standard configuration, it keeps the full rear riser budget free for expansion cards. For 2U production workloads, 25 GbE is the standard recommendation; a fully-loaded R750 can saturate 10 GbE under concurrent load.

• Dual-port 25 GbE SFP28 (OCP 3.0): Standard for production R750 deployments. Broadcom BCM57414 and Mellanox/NVIDIA ConnectX-5 variants both qualified.
• Dual-port 100 GbE QSFP28: For vSAN backend traffic, NVMe-oF participants, and data-ingest-heavy nodes.
• Quad-port 10 GbE SFP+ or quad-port 1 GbE RJ45: Network segmentation, dedicated storage/management VLANs, and lower-bandwidth deployments.

PCIe Gen4 bandwidth is double Gen3 per lane (32 GB/s at x16). Gen3 cards run in Gen4 slots at Gen3 speed.

GPU Support

The 8-Bay R750 is a viable GPU host: with no rear drive cage consuming riser space, the standard 8-slot riser configuration supports up to three double-width GPUs (NVIDIA A100, or H100/L40 on the power-capable slots with the required 450W cabling and high-performance fans) or up to eight single-width GPUs (L4 / T4 / A2) for multi-tenant inference and transcoding. High-TDP GPU configurations require the 1400W or 2400W PSU tier and silver- or gold-grade fans. For dedicated GPU density beyond three double-width cards, the R750xa GPU-specialist variant is the right platform; Wholesale Servers does not currently stock the R750xa, so contact us to discuss sourcing.

Management - iDRAC9 (15th Gen)

iDRAC9 Enterprise is required for production. The 15th gen iDRAC9 adds improved NVMe monitoring at Gen4 speeds, GPU health integration, Active Health System v3, and Secured Component Verification (factory cryptographic identity binding parts to the chassis). TPM 2.0 standard. Silicon Root of Trust at boot. iDRAC Direct via front-panel micro-USB for at-the-rack management. Live BIOS scanning, configuration drift detection, recovery boot images, and System Lockdown mode round out the 15th gen security baseline.

Power and Cooling

The 8-Bay shares the R750 PSU envelope: 800W, 1100W, 1400W, 1800W, and 2400W Platinum or Titanium hot-plug redundant. There is no 600W option (that is R650xs-specific). Both PSUs must match; mixed wattages are not supported, so size for peak load at procurement.

Cooling uses up to six fans in standard, high-performance silver, or high-performance gold tiers. Top-bin CPUs and GPU configurations require silver- or gold-grade fans; fan tiers cannot be mixed within a chassis.

Physical Specs & Platform Notes

• Form factor: 2U rack, standard 19" rack-mount.
• Chassis depth: 28.17 inches (715.5 mm). Verify rack depth supports this; some short-depth racks will not.
• PCIe expansion: Up to 8 PCIe Gen4 slots via the riser options, with the full riser budget available since the standard 8-Bay carries no rear drive cage.
• Parts availability: Strong. The R750 is current-production at Dell with active ProSupport; PERC H755/H745, BOSS-S2, OCP 3.0 NICs, PSUs, and rails are all readily sourced.
• Accessories we recommend: BOSS-S2 for boot, the ReadyRails sliding rail kit, an optional cable management arm, and the optional LCD security bezel.
• Platform notes: SAS/SATA vs NVMe backplane is a build-time decision; fan tier must match CPU and GPU selection; both PSUs must match wattage.

Our Assessment

Where it excels: the 8-Bay R750 is the right buy when the workload needs the full Ice Lake platform - 80 cores, 4 TB+ memory, Optane PMem, PCIe Gen4 expansion, optional GPUs - but does not need a large local drive count. Compute-dense virtualization hosts with shared storage, database and application tiers fronted by a SAN or NVMe-oF target, all-NVMe latency-sensitive nodes at a sensible drive count, and fixed-small-drive scale-out designs all map to it cleanly.

Where to look instead: if local storage is the point, move up the family - the R750 16-Bay 2.5" for mid-density SFF, the R750 24-Bay 2.5" for maximum-density NVMe and vSAN ESA, or the R750 12-Bay 3.5" for LFF capacity. If the workload is genuinely single-socket, the R750xs 8-Bay trades half the memory topology for a lower entry cost. If a 1U footprint is acceptable and PCIe expansion is not needed, the R650 8-Bay is the more compact, lower-cost option.

Bottom line: buy the 8-Bay R750 when you want the whole 15th gen 2U platform and a modest, fast local drive set. It is the cost-correct R750 for compute- and memory-bound workloads whose data mostly lives elsewhere.

Honest Limitations

• Eight bays is a hard ceiling on local capacity. If a deployment grows into needing more local drives, the chassis backplane does not expand; you are buying a 16-Bay or 24-Bay instead. Size honestly at procurement.
• SAS/SATA and NVMe backplanes are not field-interchangeable. Decide the storage interface at quote time. Switching later is a backplane swap, not a drive swap.
• Chassis depth is non-trivial. At 28+ inches, short-depth racks will not accommodate it. Verify rack depth before ordering.
• GPU support is configuration-dependent. The standard no-rear-drive 8-Bay supports GPUs, but high-TDP cards require the 1400W/2400W PSU tier, high-performance fans, and dedicated power cabling.
• Mixed PSU wattages are not supported. Both PSUs must match; plan for the maximum-load tier up front.
• Optane PMem 200 series is supported but end-of-life. Intel discontinued Optane in 2022; existing deployments are serviceable, but new memory-tiering architectures should target CXL on 16th gen instead.
• Single-socket Ice Lake is supported but uneconomic here. If single-socket is the right answer, the R750xs is the cost-correct platform with a smaller memory topology and lower PSU envelope.

Workload Fit

Where to Look Instead

• More local SFF storage: R750 16-Bay 2.5", the canonical mid-density configuration.
• Maximum-density NVMe / vSAN ESA: R750 24-Bay 2.5".
• LFF capacity drives: R750 12-Bay 3.5".
• Single-socket economics: R750xs 8-Bay.
• 1U same-generation platform: R650 8-Bay.
• Prior-generation budget option: the 14th gen R740 16-Bay for shorter-lifecycle or cost-primary procurement. The 16th gen R760 (Sapphire Rapids, DDR5, PCIe Gen5) is the step-up when the workload genuinely needs it.

Ready to Configure?

Tell us your workload, storage interface (SAS/SATA or NVMe), memory target, GPU requirements if any, drive count and capacity, and quantity. We respond within 24 hours. Volume pricing applies at 5 units and above.

Every Wholesale Servers R750 ships after a 12+ hour burn-in test covering every PCIe slot, every memory channel, and every drive bay. Standard 180-day warranty included; 1-Year, 2-Year, and 3-Year Premium warranty options available. Call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form on this page.