Dell PowerEdge R250 2-Bay 3.5" Cabled
Configure Your System:
1 Processor Required
Every option in the family runs high clocks across a handful of cores, and that is the right shape for what an R250 does: DNS, DHCP, a domain controller, a firewall or monitoring box, or the utility machine at a branch site. These are jobs that want responsiveness, not core count, and the E-2300 series delivers current-generation responsiveness at the lowest entry price in the rack lineup.
The higher-core options in the family earn their step when the box will run a couple of small VMs or a hungrier application; the entry chips cover single-purpose duty honestly.
A licensing note that works in your favor for once: Windows Server's 16-core minimum license covers this entire server with room to spare, so there is no license math to optimize here. Buy the chip that fits the budget.
Fair warning: if your plans include real virtualization or a growing user count, the step up to the R350 buys more bays and headroom, and the dual-socket platforms beyond it are a different class entirely. The R250 is superb at being small; it does not scale into something it is not. We will tell you honestly at quote time if your workload has outgrown this class.
2 Heat Sink Optional
A compact single-socket chip in a short 1U chassis is an easy thermal problem, which is also why the R250 is one of the quieter rack servers we sell: it rarely needs to work its fans hard. Keep the drive bay blanks and internal shroud installed so air goes where it should, give it reasonable ambient temperature, and it will run for years without a thermal complaint.
It tolerates office and closet life better than most rack gear, which is exactly the life most R250s live.
3 Memory (RAM) 4 DIMM slots, modules added in sets of 2 Required
Populate in pairs. The memory controller runs two channels, and a matched pair engages both; a single stick leaves bandwidth on the table for almost no savings. The configurator pairs DIMM speeds with what your processor supports.
Our honest sizing advice runs opposite to bigger servers: on the R250, fill it or nearly fill it now. With only 4 slots, the upgrade path is short and usually means discarding smaller sticks later. 16 GB (2x 8 GB) covers a single-purpose utility box, 32 GB (2x 16 GB) is our default and leaves two slots genuinely open, and going bigger up front is the play if this server will host even a couple of small VMs, because memory is what this platform runs out of first.
As always, buy matched sticks together rather than mixing later; mismatched UDIMMs are a classic source of mystery instability on entry platforms.
4 RAID Controllers Optional
PERC H345 is the configurator default and the right controller for most R250 builds: it handles the RAID 1 mirror that is this server's natural storage layout without cache it would never use. For a utility box running a mirrored pair, it is the correct and complete answer.
PERC H355 is a modest step up for the same simple-RAID duty with newer internals; either serves the mirror life well.
PERC H755 (8 GB battery-backed cache) is more controller than this chassis can meaningfully use, and we will say so: on a four-bay entry server its cache is muscle without a workload. It is not wrong, just rarely worth the difference here; put the savings into memory instead.
Building ZFS or want drives passed straight through? Call us at 1-800-778-1545 and we will spec the right host bus adapter for that build.
Whatever you pick: on a server this size, RAID 1 is the layout. Two drives mirrored, dead simple, and either one carries the box alone. Save the exotic arrays for chassis with the bays to support them.
5 Storage Drives Select up to 2 drives (0/2 Slots Used) Optional
RAID 1 across both bays is the build. Two matched drives, either one carries the server alone, and there is nothing exotic to manage. For the utility roles an R250 plays, that is exactly the right amount of storage engineering.
On drive type: SSDs are our default even here. A utility server feels responsive or it does not, and the price difference at these capacities has collapsed. Large 3.5" spinning drives make sense when this box is a small file or backup target and capacity per dollar is the point; 2.5" SSDs fit these bays in adapters.
One honest note about this chassis: cabled bays are not hot-swappable, so replacing a drive means a shutdown. That is the tradeoff that makes it the least expensive R250, and for a box with a good backup and a maintenance window it is a fine trade. If drive swaps need to happen live, take the hot-swap chassis.
Buy new. We steer you away from refurbished on drives specifically, and we say that as a company that sells refurbished servers all day. On a two-drive server, every drive is half the array; neither one should have unknown hours on it.
One more option worth knowing: the BOSS card in the Add-Ons step carries a mirrored M.2 pair for the operating system, freeing both bays for data even on this smallest chassis.
6 Remote Access Required
The dividing line is the remote console. iDRAC9 Enterprise gives you remote KVM and virtual media through a clean HTML5 interface: reach the server's screen, mount an ISO, and rebuild an OS from anywhere, even when the operating system is down. The lower tiers leave you walking to the server for any problem below the OS.
Here is the honest entry-tier take: R250s live two very different lives, and the license should match yours. If this box sits down the hall, the lower tier is genuinely fine; save the money and put it toward memory.
But a huge share of R250s are exactly the machines nobody visits: the branch office utility server, the remote site DNS box, the firewall at a location with no IT staff. For those, Enterprise is the difference between fixing a dead OS from your desk and driving, and one avoided trip pays for the license.
If you are deploying 5 or more units across sites, take Enterprise on all of them. Fleet management without remote console access does not work in practice.
7 Power Supply 1x included in build Required
The supply is correctly sized for everything this chassis can hold; a compact single-socket chip and a handful of drives are an easy power budget, so there is no wattage decision to make.
What the cabled configurations accept is the absence of redundancy: one fixed supply, and if it fails, the server is down until it is replaced. That is the tradeoff that keeps the R250 at its price, and for this server's natural roles it is usually the right trade. A utility box with a good backup, a branch server whose functions fail over to another site, a monitoring node: none of these justify paying for redundant power.
Two pieces of honest advice that cost almost nothing: put the server on a small UPS, because clean shutdowns during power events are most of what redundancy buys a box like this anyway, and if this server somehow becomes the machine the business cannot function without, that is your sign it has outgrown the entry class, not that it needs hardware it was not built for.
The estimated TDP counter at the bottom of the page will confirm how much headroom you have; on this platform, it is plenty.
8 Network Cards Required
If a specific role needs more, a segmented firewall build wanting extra ports, or a small backup target that other machines push to on a schedule, a PCIe network card covers it, and the R250 has a slot for one.
If you go that route, match the port type to your switch: SFP+ ports take fiber or DAC cables, BASE-T ports are copper on ordinary RJ45, and they must simply match what you own.
Need a card added to your build? Call 1-800-778-1545 and we will spec it with the rest of the order.
9 Operating System Required
The good news on this platform: the R250 is current enough that every modern OS supports it fully, including Windows Server 2025, so the choice is about your environment, not compatibility.
Windows Server 2022 is the mainstream pick for domain, DNS, DHCP, and print duty, the R250's classic jobs, and 2025 is there if you want the newest platform. The licensing works in your favor here: the 16-core base license covers this server with room to spare, so there is no core math to do. On CALs, count your users and round up.
Fair warning on Evaluation Editions: free and fully functional for 180 days, then they expire. Right for labs and proof-of-concept, wrong for production.
Ubuntu Server LTS is the natural fit for the other half of R250 life: DNS resolvers, monitoring, small web services, and network utilities, with five years of free updates and no licensing conversation at all.
No OS is there for firewall distributions and appliance images, which R250s wear exceptionally well; this chassis is one of the most popular firewall platforms we sell.
Not sure which fits? Tell us the workload at quote time, or call 1-800-778-1545.
WServer Warranty
Dell PowerEdge R250 2-Bay 3.5" Cabled Drives [15th Gen] Detailed Review
The Dell PowerEdge R250 2-Bay 3.5" Cabled is the appliance configuration of Dell's 15th-generation entry single-socket platform. It pairs a single Intel Xeon E-2300 (Rocket Lake) processor with two cabled 3.5" LFF drive bays in a 1U chassis, built for a buyer who needs one reliable enterprise box for a single, well-defined job at the lowest cost in the line. The cabled backplane is the defining trait of this configuration: the drives are fixed-cabled rather than hot-plug, so replacing a failed drive means a planned maintenance window and a shutdown. That is an acceptable trade in a set-and-forget appliance role, and the wrong trade anywhere a drive has to be swapped without downtime.
This is a 15th-gen platform, and we sell it as Surplus New or Refurbished rather than factory-new. Surplus New means a genuinely unused unit drawn from excess channel inventory: never deployed, but outside Dell's current new-sales channel, which is why it is priced below Dell-direct new. Refurbished units are previously deployed servers we have tested and reconditioned. Both carry the Wholesale Servers warranty described below; tell us which condition you need at quote time and we price accordingly.
To spec a build, call 1-800-778-1545 and a technician will walk the configuration with you: CPU, memory, drives, controller, and boot device. Every server we ship is bench-tested through a 12+ hour burn-in and backed by our 180-day warranty, and volume pricing is available once an order reaches 5 units. We quote configurations rather than selling fixed SKUs, so you get hardware sized to the workload instead of a box you have to design around.
When 2 Cabled Bays Is the Right Choice
The R250 line has three chassis configurations on one platform. This 2-Bay Cabled is the lowest-cost option, with two fixed-cabled LFF bays sized for an appliance role where storage is set once and left alone. The R250 4-Bay 3.5" Cabled doubles the spindle count and opens up parity RAID while keeping the lower-cost cabled backplane. The R250 4-Bay 3.5" Hot-Swap adds a hot-plug backplane so a failed drive can be replaced with the server still running.
Choose the 2-Bay Cabled when two drives is genuinely enough and a maintenance window for drive work is acceptable: an OS pair in a mirror, a light branch-office server, a remote backup agent, or an appliance whose data lives on network storage. Two bays means RAID 1 (a mirror) is the only practical protected layout, so this is not a local-capacity platform. The moment the role needs more than two drives, parity protection, or non-disruptive drive service, the four-bay configurations above are the right answer, and for redundant power the same-generation R350 4-Bay 3.5" is the step up.
Storage - 2 Cabled 3.5" Bays
The chassis carries two 3.5" cabled (non-hot-swap) LFF bays on a SAS/SATA backplane. With two drives the practical protected layout is RAID 1: one usable drive mirrored to one redundant drive. There is no capacity expansion past two drives in this chassis, and with 20 TB nearline SAS or SATA members that means roughly 20 TB usable behind the mirror. There is no NVMe option here; the R250 front bays are SAS/SATA only, and flash performance comes from SATA or SAS SSDs in these two bays, not from U.2.
For boot, the right device is the BOSS-S1 card: two M.2 SATA SSDs in a hardware RAID 1 mirror on a dedicated card. It keeps the operating system off the two front bays, so both LFF bays stay available for data, and it provides mirrored boot redundancy without consuming a drive slot. Note the R250 uses the BOSS-S1 specifically; the rear hot-plug BOSS-S2 belongs to the R350, not this chassis. IDSDM (dual microSD) and an internal USB 3.0 port are also available for hypervisor or recovery media. Because drive service on a cabled backplane requires downtime, BOSS-based boot is especially worth specifying here so the OS is never the reason you have to open the chassis.
Storage Controllers
The R250 supports the entry PERC 11 controller family plus software RAID. At two bays the practical choice is a simple mirror on the S150 or the H355, but the full controller map for the platform is:
- S150: chipset software RAID. Adequate for a boot mirror or a light, non-production array. No cache, parity is host-driven; not a production data-array recommendation.
- PERC H355: hardware RAID, no cache. The entry hardware controller. It does RAID 0, 1, and 10 only - like the H345 and H350, it does not do RAID 5, 6, 50, or 60. On a two-bay chassis that limit is moot, since RAID 1 is all two drives allow, but it matters the moment you move up to a four-bay configuration.
- PERC H755: hardware RAID with battery-backed cache. The controller to quote when an array needs RAID 5 or 6, or when parity write performance matters. On the R250, parity RAID means the H755; there is no other path to RAID 5/6 on this platform.
- HBA355i / HBA355e: pass-through HBA, internal and external, for software-defined storage or a host that wants raw disk access.
What the R250 does not take is the older PERC 9/10 line: no H730, no H740P. Those are 13th and 14th-gen Mini-PERC parts, and the 15th-gen entry board does not carry them forward. A quote asking for an H740P on an R250 is an assumption carried over from an older platform; the correct 15th-gen equivalents are the H355 and the H755.
Processors
The R250 is a single-socket Rocket Lake platform on socket LGA 1200 with the Intel C252 chipset. It takes one Intel Xeon E-2300 processor, up to eight cores and sixteen threads, in roughly the 95W class. SKUs run from the lower-power E-2314 and E-2334 up to the 8-core E-2378 and E-2388G; Pentium options exist for the lightest roles but give up cores, cache, and turbo headroom. For an appliance-tier 2-Bay build the sensible center of the range is a 4-core to 6-core E-2314 or E-2336: enough for a file server, a domain controller, a backup agent, or a single light application, without paying for cores a two-drive box will not feed.
One platform fact worth stating plainly, because it surprises buyers: the integrated graphics on the Xeon E-2300 are disabled on Dell servers. Console video comes from the Matrox G200 in iDRAC9, not from the CPU iGPU. That has no effect on a headless server role, but the on-die graphics are not a usable display path here. This is Rocket Lake (Cypress Cove), the Xeon E-2300 generation. It is not Ice Lake-SP; Ice Lake-SP is the Xeon Scalable silicon in the R650 and R750, a different socket and a different platform entirely.
Memory
The R250 has four DDR4 UDIMM slots across two memory channels, two DIMMs per channel. Memory is unbuffered ECC only: no RDIMM, no LRDIMM, and no persistent memory. Maximum capacity is 128 GB using four 32 GB unbuffered ECC modules. Rated speed reaches DDR4-3200 on the Xeon E-2300 SKUs; a Pentium caps lower at 2666, and a fully populated dual-rank, two-DIMM-per-channel configuration steps to 2933 under Intel's population rules.
It is worth correcting older catalog copy directly: the R250 is not a 2-slot, 64 GB machine. It is a 4-slot, 128 GB machine, and that ceiling holds across every R250 chassis including this 2-Bay. For an appliance role the 2-Bay rarely needs anywhere near 128 GB, but the headroom is there if the workload grows in memory while staying inside two drives. A buyer who can already see a path past 128 GB of memory should not buy into this socket at all; the dual-socket R450 with registered DIMMs is the platform that scales.
Networking and PCIe Expansion
Onboard networking is a Broadcom 5720 dual-port 1 GbE LOM plus a dedicated iDRAC management port. There is no Network Daughter Card or OCP mezzanine on this platform and no onboard 10 GbE: the R250 networks at 1 GbE on the motherboard. If a workload needs 10 GbE or 25 GbE, that is an add-in card in one of the PCIe slots, and the slot budget is tight, so plan for it up front.
PCIe on the R250 is two PCIe Gen4 slots, both low-profile and half-length: one x8 in an x16 mechanical connector and one x8 in an x8 connector. That is the entire expansion budget. On a 2-Bay appliance the slots usually go unspent or carry a single add-in card such as a 10 GbE NIC, since a two-drive mirror can run on the chipset S150 without a hardware controller. If a build needs a hardware RAID card and a faster NIC and anything else, the two-slot ceiling is the wall, and the same-generation R350, with a third Gen4 slot and a dedicated PERC position, is the configuration that fits.
GPU Support
The R250 is not a GPU platform, and we do not pretend otherwise. The 1U thermal envelope, the single-socket power and lane budget, and the two low-profile PCIe slots leave no practical room for a compute accelerator; there is no x16 slot at the power and cooling a datacenter GPU needs. If a buyer lands here looking for GPU compute, inference, or transcode, this is the wrong box. For GPU-capable Dell hardware, look at the 2U PowerEdge R750, which has the slots, power, and cooling for double-width accelerators.
Management - iDRAC9 Generation
The R250 runs iDRAC9 with Lifecycle Controller, the same out-of-band management generation as the rest of Dell's 15th-gen line. iDRAC9 is licensed as Express, Enterprise, or Datacenter. Express covers basic remote monitoring and IPMI; for anything past a hobby role you generally want Enterprise, which adds the full virtual console, virtual media, and the System Lockdown feature that prevents unplanned firmware and configuration drift. Datacenter adds telemetry features that matter more in dense fleets than on a single entry appliance.
On the security side the R250 carries Dell's silicon Root of Trust, Secure Boot, and cryptographically signed firmware, with an optional TPM 2.0 module for measured boot and compliance frameworks. On a cabled 2-Bay box that lives in a branch closet, the practical value of iDRAC9 Enterprise is being able to reboot, reinstall, and recover the server remotely without a site visit, which often pays for the license on the first incident.
Power and Cooling
This is where the entry positioning shows most clearly. The R250 takes a single, non-redundant power supply. Tiers run 450W Bronze, 450W Platinum, and 700W Titanium in AC and DC variants; the exact tier is confirmed per SKU at quote time, and for a single-CPU two-drive build a 450W supply is typically sufficient. What the R250 does not offer is PSU redundancy: there is no second hot-plug supply. If the workload cannot tolerate a power-supply failure taking the server offline, the R250 is not the right chassis, and the R350, with dual hot-plug redundant supplies, is the platform to quote.
Cooling is sized for the single-socket E-2300 envelope. The 95W-class processors here do not require the high-performance heatsinks that the higher-TDP Xeon Scalable platforms need, and there are no exotic thermal constraints to plan around at this tier; standard data-closet and small-rack ambient conditions are well within range.
Physical Specs & Platform Notes
- Form factor: 1U rack, approximately 558.9 mm deep, regulatory model E79S. Fits standard-depth racks and most short-depth cabinets.
- PCIe expansion: two PCIe Gen4 slots, both low-profile half-length (one x8-in-x16, one x8-in-x8). On a 2-Bay build they are usually free for a NIC, since a mirror can run on software RAID.
- Parts availability: strong. The R250 is a current 15th-gen platform; drives, power supplies, DDR4 UDIMMs, PERC 11 controllers, and BOSS-S1 cards are all readily sourced, and Dell platform support for 15th gen is active.
- Accessories we recommend: a BOSS-S1 boot card so the OS stays off the two front bays; a ReadyRails sliding rail kit for the 1U chassis; and, if the workload will ever touch 10 GbE, the NIC specified at order time so the two-slot budget is planned rather than discovered.
- Platform notes: cabled (non-hot-swap) drive bays, so drive service needs a maintenance window; no NVMe on the front backplane; no PSU redundancy; CPU integrated graphics disabled with video via the iDRAC9 Matrox G200; BOSS-S1 rather than BOSS-S2 on this chassis.
Our Assessment
Where it excels: The R250 2-Bay Cabled is the right answer for a single-purpose, cost-minimized 1U appliance where two drives are enough and downtime for drive service is acceptable. A small-office file or print server, a domain controller, a remote backup or Veeam agent, a branch application host whose data lives on a NAS or SAN, or a lightweight infrastructure box all fit comfortably inside its envelope. A mirrored OS-and-data pair on the S150 or H355 covers most of these roles without any add-in hardware.
Where to look instead: If the role needs parity protection or more than two drives, the R250 4-Bay 3.5" Cabled adds two bays and RAID 5/6 on the H755 at the same cabled price point. If a failed drive has to be replaced without downtime, the R250 4-Bay 3.5" Hot-Swap is the production-serviceable configuration. If the deployment needs redundant power or a third PCIe slot, step up to the R350 4-Bay 3.5"; if it needs more than 128 GB of memory or more than eight cores, the dual-socket R450 is the platform. GPU work belongs on the R750.
Bottom line: This is the appliance-tier R250. A small organization that wants one inexpensive, well-built 1U server for a fixed single job, that is content with two drives in a mirror, and that can schedule the rare drive swap, gets exactly that here at the lowest entry cost in the line. The typical buyer is an IT generalist or a managed-service provider standing up a branch or small-office box where simplicity and price matter more than storage capacity or non-stop serviceability.
Honest Limitations
- Two cabled bays only. RAID 1 is the only protected layout, and drive replacement requires a shutdown. This is an appliance backplane, not a storage platform.
- Single socket, eight cores, 128 GB. A hard ceiling: no second CPU, no path past four DIMM slots, and no registered memory. Size for it or buy a higher tier.
- No PSU redundancy. One power supply, non-redundant. A power-supply failure takes the server offline. The R350 is the redundant-power answer.
- No NVMe. The front backplane is SAS/SATA only.
- Two PCIe slots, both low-profile. A hardware RAID card plus one NIC fills the chassis.
- No parity RAID at two bays. RAID 5/6 needs more drives and the H755; the four-bay configurations are where parity becomes available.
- Not a GPU platform. No accelerator path; see GPU Support above.
Workload Fit
| Right for the R250 2-Bay Cabled | Consider an alternative for |
|---|---|
| Single-purpose 1U appliance at the lowest entry cost | More than two drives or parity RAID (R250 4-Bay) |
| OS-plus-data mirror, or data hosted on network storage | Hot-plug drive replacement without downtime (R250 4-Bay Hot-Swap) |
| Branch-office, backup-agent, or directory roles | Redundant power or a third PCIe slot (R350) |
| Deployments where a maintenance window for drive work is fine | More than 128 GB memory or dual-socket compute (R450) |
| Set-and-forget storage that is configured once | GPU compute, inference, or transcode (R750) |
Where to Look Instead
- Four bays, parity RAID, still cabled: R250 4-Bay 3.5" Cabled, two more bays and RAID 5/6 on the H755 at the cabled price point.
- Four bays with hot-plug service: R250 4-Bay 3.5" Hot-Swap, the production-serviceable R250.
- Same generation, more headroom: R350 4-Bay 3.5", with redundant power, a third PCIe slot, and rear hot-plug boot media.
- Up a tier for memory and cores: R450 4-Bay 3.5", dual-socket Xeon Scalable with registered memory beyond the entry ceiling.
- Previous generation: R240 4-Bay 3.5", the 14th-gen entry predecessor on the Xeon E-2100 and E-2200.
Ready to Configure?
Tell us the workload, the storage capacity and RAID level you need, the memory target, and the quantity, and we will build a configuration around it. Call 1-800-778-1545 to spec the CPU, memory, drives, controller, and BOSS-S1 boot card with a technician who knows the platform. Every R250 ships after a 12+ hour burn-in and a full inspection, carries our 180-day warranty, and is available at volume pricing from 5 units. We quote configurations rather than fixed bundles; request a quote and we will return formal pricing, typically within one business day.
Save Your Design
Click the Add to Quote button at the bottom of your screen to save your design as a draft order for future reference and to check for discounts, lead time, and availability. Most servers ship within 1-3 days.
