Refurbished Dell PowerEdge R830 8-Bay 2.5", configured to order: the lower-density storage configuration of Dell's 13th-generation 2U four-socket platform. Eight 2.5" hot-swap SAS/SATA front bays alongside the same four-socket Intel Xeon E5-4600 v4 compute, up to 48 DDR4 DIMM slots, and 3 TB memory ceiling as the rest of the R830 family. This is the R830 to buy when four-socket scale is the design driver and the storage requirement fits comfortably in eight drives, especially when shared SAN or NAS handles bulk capacity.

The 8-Bay shares the R830's defining trait: four sockets in 2U by way of the Processor Expansion Module (PEM), where almost every other four-socket server of this generation is a 4U flagship. What the 8-Bay gives up versus the 16-Bay is front-bay drive count, and with it some acquisition cost. The compute, memory, networking, management, and power platform underneath is identical. If local storage density is the binding constraint, the 16-Bay is the better chassis; if compute and memory are the drivers and storage is secondary, the 8-Bay is the cost-correct call.

To configure a build, call our team at 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form on this page. Every R830 we ship carries a 180-day warranty and completes a 12+ hour burn-in across every populated socket, memory channel, and drive bay before it leaves the bench. Volume pricing applies at 5 units and up, and our account team returns formal B2B quotes within 24 hours.

When 8 Bays Is the Right Choice

The 8-Bay is the right R830 chassis when four-socket compute is the reason you are buying the platform and storage is a secondary concern. That covers a lot of real four-socket deployments: Oracle RAC nodes whose data lives on shared SAN, dense virtualization hosts backed by vSAN or external shared storage, mid-tier in-memory databases with a modest local footprint, and HPC compute nodes that read and write to a shared filesystem. In all of those, eight bays is plenty, and the eight-bay chassis saves money over the 16-Bay without giving up a single socket or DIMM slot.

One planning note specific to this chassis: the R830 has no BOSS module (that is a 14th-gen feature), so if you boot from a front-bay RAID 1 mirror, the boot pair consumes two of the eight bays and leaves six for data. Booting from the Internal Dual SD Module (IDSDM) instead keeps all eight bays free for data on a hypervisor host. If you need a front-bay boot mirror and still want a large data spindle count, that is the signal to choose the 16-Bay. The 8-Bay chassis cannot be field-converted to 16 bays; the backplane and drive cage are configuration-specific, so storage density is a procurement-time decision.

Storage - 8 2.5" Bays

Eight 2.5" SAS/SATA hot-swap front bays. The platform is SFF-only and the backplane is SAS/SATA only: there is no 3.5" LFF option and no front-bay NVMe (the only PCIe flash path is an add-in NVMe card consuming a slot). Drive support spans 15K and 10K SAS HDDs, 7.2K nearline SAS, and the full SAS/SATA SSD range.

Common 8-Bay configurations

• IDSDM boot + 8 x 1.92 TB SAS SSD data: all eight bays for data, roughly 10 TB usable at RAID 6 with a hot spare. The volume four-socket virtualization-host build where shared storage carries bulk capacity.
• 2 x SSD boot mirror + 6 x SAS SSD data: front-bay RAID 1 boot pair with six data drives in RAID 6. The general-purpose build when the OS is not on SD.
• 8 x 3.84 TB SAS SSD: roughly 20 TB usable at RAID 6 with a hot spare, for higher per-host local capacity in dense VM configurations.
• 2 x SSD boot + 4 x SSD performance tier + 2 x SAS HDD: a mixed-tier build with an SSD performance tier and an HDD cold or log tier.

Boot

Two boot paths, same as the wider R830 family. The IDSDM mirrored SD pair is the right choice for ESXi or Hyper-V hosts because it preserves all eight front bays for data. A front-bay RAID 1 SSD mirror is the right choice for general-purpose OS installs, at the cost of two of the eight bays. There is no BOSS M.2 option on this platform.

Storage Controllers

The 8-Bay uses the same 13th-gen PERC family as the rest of the R830 line, in the Mini Mono (mini-PERC) slot plus PCIe add-in options. We do not quote software RAID for production; the S130 chipset option is dev/test only.

• PERC H730P (2 GB NV cache, battery-backed): the production default. Full RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60 and the controller we quote for write-intensive or mixed workloads where the cache earns its keep.
• PERC H730 (1 GB cache, battery-backed): the budget-aware choice, fine for read-heavy or modest write workloads.
• PERC H330 (no cache): entry-tier hardware RAID for light or mostly pass-through workloads.
• 12 Gbps SAS HBA (pass-through): the non-RAID option for software-defined storage (vSAN, Storage Spaces Direct, Ceph, ZFS) that wants raw disk. On an 8-bay node feeding a shared SDS pool, this is a common pick.
• PERC H830 (external): for attaching an external SAS shelf when local capacity beyond eight bays is needed.

The R830 controller lineup stops at the H730P. There is no PERC H740P or HBA330 here; those are 14th-gen controllers and do not apply to this platform.

Processors

The 8-Bay runs the same processors as every R830: two or four Intel Xeon E5-4600 v4 (Broadwell-EP) on the LGA 2011-3 socket and Intel C612 chipset. Two-socket builds use the motherboard sockets; four-socket builds add the Processor Expansion Module, which carries sockets three and four plus their 24 DIMM slots. The earlier E5-4600 v3 (Haswell-EP) parts are platform-compatible, but we quote v4 for any current deployment.

Common E5-4600 v4 choices

• E5-4669 v4 (22 cores, 2.2 GHz, 135W): the maximum-core part; 88 cores and 176 threads across four sockets for the densest consolidation.
• E5-4667 v4 (18 cores, 2.2 GHz, 135W): high core count with strong clocks; 72 cores across four sockets.
• E5-4650 v4 (14 cores, 2.2 GHz, 105W): the volume balanced part, 56 cores across four sockets at a more forgiving TDP.
• E5-4640 v4 (12 cores, 2.1 GHz, 105W): cost-effective mid-tier and the floor for full-speed 2400 MT/s memory.
• E5-4620 v4 (10 cores, 2.1 GHz, 105W): the entry part for buyers who need four-socket scale more than per-socket performance.

Memory speed depends on the CPU. The E5-4640 v4 and higher run DDR4 at 2400 MT/s; the E5-4620 v4 and below cap at 2133 MT/s. Specify the E5-4640 v4 or higher when memory bandwidth matters.

Heatsink and population notes. Four sockets at 105 to 135W each in 2U is a real thermal load; we ship four-socket builds with high-performance heatsinks and verify fan population. When scaling a two-socket 8-Bay to four sockets later, the added CPUs should match the installed pair (same SKU and stepping where possible).

Memory

24 DDR4 DIMM slots on the motherboard for the two onboard sockets, plus 24 more on the Processor Expansion Module for 48 total when fully configured. Four memory channels per socket, three DIMMs per channel. The platform takes RDIMMs or LRDIMMs; do not mix the two types, and UDIMMs are not supported. Maximum memory is 3 TB with 64 GB LRDIMMs across all 48 slots. Intel Optane Persistent Memory is not supported on this generation.

Practical memory configurations

• 512 GB (16 x 32 GB RDIMM, two-socket): a sensible starting point for a build that will add the PEM later.
• 1.5 TB (24 x 64 GB LRDIMM, four-socket): the volume four-socket configuration, strong for dense virtualization at 50 to 100 VMs per host or a mid-tier in-memory database.
• 3 TB (48 x 64 GB LRDIMM, four-socket, fully populated): the maximum, for deployments that target the 3 TB ceiling.

Networking and PCIe Expansion

Connectivity comes from a Dell rack Network Daughter Card (rNDC) that does not consume a PCIe slot. The R830 rNDC options are the Broadcom 5720 quad-port 1GbE, the Broadcom 57800S with two 10GbE BASE-T plus two 1GbE, and the Broadcom 57800S with two 10GbE SFP+ plus two 1GbE. For an 8-Bay node leaning on shared storage, the 10GbE or 25GbE path to that storage fabric is usually the load-bearing decision, so we size networking to the storage backend as much as to the workload.

The chassis provides seven PCIe Gen3 slots across three risers, with one dedicated to the storage controller. On a shared-storage node the freed front bays often pair with extra PCIe headroom for a Fibre Channel HBA, a second high-speed NIC, or the PERC H830 / 12 Gbps SAS HBA for external storage. The exact slot layout depends on whether the PEM is installed, so we confirm the riser configuration against your expansion list at quote time.

GPU Support

The R830 is not a GPU platform, and the 8-Bay is no exception. The PCIe risers, power design, and 2U thermal envelope target four-socket compute and memory density, not double-width accelerators, and there is no factory GPU enablement kit of the kind the R730 and R740 offer. A single-width, low-power card can physically fit a spare slot, but if GPU acceleration is a genuine workload requirement, this is the wrong chassis. For GPU compute we quote the R730 (13th gen) or R740 (14th gen) instead.

Management - iDRAC8 Generation

The 8-Bay ships with iDRAC8 and Lifecycle Controller. iDRAC8 Express is the default; we recommend iDRAC8 Enterprise for production because it adds remote KVM, virtual media, and full out-of-band power and hardware management. Lifecycle Controller handles firmware updates and driver staging, the platform integrates with Dell OpenManage and is IPMI 2.0 compliant, and iDRAC Quick Sync (the NFC bezel option) is available for at-the-rack management. Relative to the iDRAC9 on Dell's 14th-gen servers, iDRAC8 lacks the Silicon Root of Trust hardware boot-integrity feature and System Lockdown mode; weigh that if firmware-integrity attestation is a procurement requirement.

Power and Cooling

Two hot-plug redundant power supplies, both units matching. The options are 750W Platinum, 1100W, and 1600W Platinum, all auto-ranging. The 1600W unit is required for any four-socket build; the 750W units are appropriate only for two-socket configurations. Draw on the 8-Bay runs slightly below the 16-Bay equivalent thanks to fewer active drives, typically a 30 to 60W difference under sustained load.

Four CPUs in 2U is a genuine cooling load even with fewer drives; datacenter ambient temperature matters, and warm-aisle deployments should verify rack PDU capacity for two 1600W supplies per server.

Physical Specs & Platform Notes

• Form factor: 2U rack chassis, eight 2.5" SFF front bays, mounted on Dell ReadyRails II sliding rails for tool-less installation in four-post square-hole or unthreaded round-hole racks.
• PCIe expansion: seven PCIe Gen3 slots across three risers (two x16 full-height, one x8 full-height, three x8 half-height, plus a dedicated controller slot), layout dependent on PEM installation.
• Parts availability: the 13th-gen platform is mature and serviceable, but the R830 installed base is smaller than the volume R630/R730 line, so E5-4600 v4 CPUs and PEM-specific parts are thinner on the secondary market. We stock against that.
• Accessories we recommend: the optional LCD bezel, the ReadyRails II rail kit, the tool-less cable management arm, and IDSDM SD cards if you are booting a hypervisor off SD.
• Platform notes: 8-bay backplane is not field-convertible to 16; no front-bay NVMe; no BOSS module; no Optane PMem; four-socket builds require the 1600W PSUs and high-performance heatsinks.

Our Assessment

Where it excels: The 8-Bay is the right call when four-socket compute is the design driver and local storage fits in six to eight drives. It suits Oracle RAC nodes connecting to shared SAN, dense virtualization hosts (50 to 100 VMs) backed by vSAN or external storage, mid-tier in-memory databases with a modest local footprint, SQL Server consolidation hosts with a shared backend, and four-socket HPC compute nodes reading from a shared filesystem. In each case you get the full four-socket-in-2U advantage at lower cost than the 16-Bay.

Where to look instead: If the workload needs more than eight local drives, the Dell PowerEdge R830 16-Bay 2.5" is the chassis. If two sockets cover the compute, the Dell PowerEdge R630 10-Bay 2.5" saves real money. If you need more than 3 TB of memory or maximum core count, the Dell PowerEdge R930 24-Bay 2.5" is the platform, and for iDRAC9-era currency the 14th-gen Dell PowerEdge R840 8-Bay 2.5" is the step up.

Bottom line: the cost-floor R830 for four-socket workloads where local storage is secondary. Same four-socket platform value as the 16-Bay, fewer bays, lower price. It is the right buy for the team that has sized the compute at four sockets, keeps bulk data on shared storage, and does not want to pay for drive bays it will not fill.

Honest Limitations

• Eight bays is the ceiling. The chassis cannot be field-converted to 16; storage density is a procurement decision.
• Front-bay boot consumes a quarter of the bays. A RAID 1 boot pair leaves only six data drives. IDSDM boot avoids this but puts the OS on SD.
• 3 TB memory ceiling. For more memory at four-socket scale, the R930 (12 TB) is the platform.
• SFF-only, SAS/SATA-only. No LFF chassis, no front-bay NVMe.
• DDR4 2400 MT/s ceiling. Memory bandwidth tops out below 14th-gen platforms.
• iDRAC8, not iDRAC9. No Silicon Root of Trust, no System Lockdown.
• 1600W PSUs required for four-socket builds. The 750W units only cover two-socket configurations.
• Thinner parts pool than R630/R730. The smaller installed base means E5-4600 v4 CPUs and PEM-specific FRUs are less abundant on the secondary market.
• No direct 14th-gen 4-socket-in-2U successor. Dell moved four-socket consolidation to the R840 (2U) and R940 (3U) on the Scalable platform; the R830 remains the unique 13th-gen answer for four sockets in 2U.

Workload Fit

Where to Look Instead

• Higher-density companion: the Dell PowerEdge R830 16-Bay 2.5" is the same platform with sixteen front bays, for builds where local storage density matters.
• Same-generation flagship: the Dell PowerEdge R930 24-Bay 2.5" and the lower-storage Dell PowerEdge R930 4-Bay 2.5" are the 4U four-socket flagships with E7-8800 v4 CPUs, 96 DIMM slots, and a 12 TB ceiling.
• Two-socket step down: the Dell PowerEdge R630 10-Bay 2.5" is the 13th-gen two-socket workhorse for workloads that do not need four sockets.
• 14th-gen step up: the Dell PowerEdge R840 8-Bay 2.5" is the four-socket Scalable platform with iDRAC9, NVMe, and BOSS; the Dell PowerEdge R940 24-Bay 2.5" is the 3U scale-up flagship above it.
• Cross-vendor counterpart: the HPE ProLiant DL560 Gen9 8-Bay 2.5" is the comparable Grantley four-socket platform on the HPE side.

Ready to Configure?

Tell us your workload, target socket count (two or four), CPU SKU preference, memory capacity, drive count and type (eight maximum on this chassis), RAID requirement, boot configuration (front-bay mirror or IDSDM), networking speed, and quantity. For four-socket builds, let us know whether four sockets is the production target from the start or a planned scale-up via the PEM, and we will specify the motherboard CPU population and the PEM accordingly. If you would like a side-by-side R830 8-Bay, R830 16-Bay, and R930 comparison, say so and we will return all three with formal pricing.

Every R830 ships after the 12+ hour burn-in described above and is covered by a 180-day warranty, with 1-Year, 2-Year, and 3-Year premium options available. Volume pricing applies at 5 units and up. Call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form on this page, and our account team will respond within 24 hours.