Dell PowerEdge R930 24-Bay 2.5"
Configure Your System:
1 Processor Required
Why all four sockets: the E7 platform hangs memory risers, cache, and interconnect off each processor, and the R930's entire purpose is scale-up, one large system instead of several small ones. We configure every unit fully populated, and the choice becomes the shape of the compute.
Higher clocks, fewer cores: pick the lower-core, higher-frequency end of the range when the workload is licensed per core or bound by single-thread speed. Large database engines are the classic R930 tenant, and their licensing often dwarfs the hardware price; every core you do not license is money kept.
More cores, moderate clocks: the high-core-count end of the E7-8800 v4 range puts nearly a hundred cores in one chassis. That is consolidation density nothing else in this generation touches, and for massive parallel workloads and VM farms it is the whole argument.
The E7 line also carries reliability features the E5 platforms do not, deeper error correction and recovery machinery built for systems that are not allowed to go down. If you are pricing an R930, that is usually why.
One honest licensing note before you commit: Windows Server licenses every core in the chassis, and four E7 sockets multiply that math dramatically. Read the OS step before finalizing, and we will run the numbers with you at quote time.
2 Heat Sink Optional
What matters is that this is a 4U chassis cooling four of the largest processors of its generation, plus a wall of memory risers, and it takes airflow discipline seriously. Keep every drive bay blank, riser filler, and internal shroud installed; the R930 cools front to back, and an open path lets air skip the components that need it.
Set expectations accordingly: this is a datacenter machine, engineered for cold-aisle intake air and a rack with real power behind it. It will run in a well-ventilated server room, but it is not a closet server and was never meant to be one.
3 Memory (RAM) 96 DIMM slots, modules added in sets of 4 Required
The guidance that matters at this scale:
Balance across all four processors, always. Each CPU owns its risers, and an unevenly loaded socket starves its share of the workload. Populate in equal sets per processor and fill risers evenly.
Buy it as one matched set, now. This advice matters more on the R930 than on any other server we sell: riser-based memory is sensitive to matching, an upgrade a year later means finding DIMMs that agree with what is installed across dozens of slots, and a mission-critical box does not get casual maintenance windows. Size for the workload's future, not its present.
Capacity is cheap insurance here. The workloads this server carries, large databases, in-memory analytics, massive consolidation, degrade badly when they spill out of RAM, and the whole point of scale-up is not spilling.
Common landing spots: 512 GB (32x 16 GB) as the sensible floor for a machine like this, 1 TB (32x 32 GB) is our default for serious database duty, and beyond that the R930 keeps going where the workload demands it; tell us the target and we will build to it.
4 RAID Controllers Optional
For most R930 deployments the answer is a SAN or external array, and the local controller's job is small and important: a RAID 1 boot pair. The PERC H330 handles that duty honestly and cheaply, and paired with SAN storage it is a complete, correct answer.
When the storage is local, the PERC H730P (2 GB battery-backed cache) is our pick, full stop. A four-socket flagship runs workloads whose write traffic deserves the cache, and against the price of the rest of this build the H730P is a rounding error. The H730 (1 GB) exists between the two and saves little enough that we rarely spec it here.
Running drives passed straight through for a software-defined stack? The list here is RAID controllers only, so call us at 1-800-778-1545 and we will spec the right host bus adapter.
Array guidance for local storage: RAID 10 for database volumes where write latency matters, RAID 6 on anything large, and a hot spare on any array whose rebuild you would rather not race. A server bought for uptime should not have its storage be the casual part.
5 Storage Drives Select up to 24 drives (0/24 Slots Used) Optional
Our guidance is direct: SSDs. The workloads that justify a four-socket E7, large databases, in-memory analytics with fast spill, dense VM farms, all want flash latency, and feeding this much compute from spinning disk starves it. 10K SAS spinning drives have a legitimate place as a bulk tier behind a flash tier, and that mixed layout works well here; pure spinning storage on an R930 does not.
Buy new. We steer you away from refurbished on drives specifically, and we say that as a company that sells refurbished servers all day. A rebuild is exactly when you do not want a second drive with unknown hours in the array, and on a mission-critical machine that logic carries double.
The R930 predates Dell's dedicated boot card, so plan the boot volume out of your data bays: a RAID 1 pair of SSDs in two bays, kept strictly to boot duty. A boot failure and a data failure should never be the same event.
Array guidance: RAID 10 for database volumes where write latency matters, RAID 6 on anything large, and hot spares are not optional at this drive count; the first failure is a when, not an if, and a machine bought for uptime should already have its answer installed.
Fair warning on capacity math: RAID overhead, hot spares, and filesystem headroom mean usable space lands well under the sum of the labels. Size for the usable number.
6 Remote Access Required
On this server, take Enterprise, and we will be direct about why: an R930 exists to carry workloads a business feels immediately when they stop. The dividing line between the licenses is the remote console, the ability to reach the server's screen, mount an ISO, and rebuild below the OS from anywhere, and on a mission-critical box the scenario that license exists for is not hypothetical, it is the 2 AM page. The Enterprise license costs a fraction of one emergency site visit, and a machine at this tier will see one eventually.
Enterprise also brings automated firmware updates, which matter on a platform with this much firmware surface, and secure erase for the day this server retires holding business-critical data.
One honest note on age: iDRAC8's interface is a product of its era, and some functions lean on older browser technology than iDRAC9 does. It works, we use it daily, but budget a few minutes of setup patience.
If you are deploying 5 or more units, take Enterprise on all of them. Fleet management without remote console access does not work in practice.
7 Power Supply 2x included in build Required
What the arrangement buys you: with four supplies installed, the server runs 2+2 redundancy, meaning the workload survives supply failures and, cabled correctly, the loss of an entire power feed. Run pairs to separate circuits or PDUs and a single upstream failure does not touch the workload; that grid-redundant wiring is the point of the design, and a machine at this tier should be cabled for it.
Every supply is hot-swappable, so a failed unit is replaced without a shutdown, which on this server is the only acceptable way to replace one.
The estimated TDP counter at the bottom of the page will show you where your build lands; on this platform it mostly confirms why the power architecture is standard equipment rather than an option.
8 Network Cards Required
On this server the speed decision is short: a four-socket flagship concentrates an enormous amount of workload onto one network drop, and gigabit networking on an R930 is a mismatch on its face. Treat 10 Gb as the floor: the 2x 10 Gb + 2x 1 Gb combo cards are the standard pick, production on the fast pair, management on the slow pair, and many R930 deployments add PCIe cards beyond that to separate storage, VM, and backup traffic onto their own links.
Then port type, and this is the one that catches people. SFP+ ports take fiber or DAC cables and talk to datacenter-grade switches. BASE-T ports are 10 Gb copper on ordinary RJ45. Neither is better; they must simply match your switch. Order SFP+ against a copper-only switch and the server racks up with nothing to plug into.
An R930's network is usually part of a larger architecture conversation. Call 1-800-778-1545 and we will spec the whole path, switch ports included.
9 Operating System Required
First, an honest compatibility note for this platform. Windows Server 2025 is not certified for this processor generation, and current VMware ESXi releases no longer support it. Plan around Windows Server 2022 and current open-source platforms.
Windows Server 2022 on a four-socket E7 deserves clear eyes: licensing is per core across every core in the chassis, and this chassis can hold nearly a hundred of them. Standard edition's limited virtualization rights make Datacenter edition, with unlimited virtualization rights, the honest comparison for the consolidation duty an R930 is bought for. This licensing math can exceed the hardware price; we will run it with you at quote time before anything is final. 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.
VMware: we will install ESXi on request for hosts joining an existing licensed cluster, but we do not recommend starting a new VMware deployment on this platform given the support status.
Proxmox VE deserves a serious look on this chassis: open-source KVM virtualization with clustering and live migration, zero per-core licensing on a server with this many cores, and full current support on this hardware. The economics of a hundred unlicensed cores are hard to argue with.
Ubuntu Server LTS covers Linux database duty with five years of free updates.
No OS is there for teams imaging from their own deployment infrastructure.
A server at this tier deserves a conversation. Tell us the workload at quote time, or call 1-800-778-1545.
WServer Warranty
Dell PowerEdge R930 24-Bay 2.5" Drives [13th Gen] Detailed Review
The Dell PowerEdge R930 24-Bay 2.5" is the refurbished 4U, 4-socket flagship of Dell's 13th-generation PowerEdge line. It pairs up to four Intel Xeon E7-8800 v4 or E7-4800 v4 processors (up to 96 cores total) with 96 DDR4 DIMM slots, a 12 TB memory ceiling, twenty-four 2.5" hot-swap front bays, dual PERC controller support, and up to eight PCIe Gen3 Express Flash NVMe SSDs. It is built for the workloads that genuinely need 4-socket scale and a very large memory footprint: large in-memory databases, mission-critical OLTP, ERP consolidation, scale-up virtualization, and HPC.
In 2026, this 24-Bay configuration is the cost-correct call when the workload needs 4-socket scale with substantial local storage and the 13th-generation platform envelope fits the architecture. Oracle RAC nodes at maximum per-server core counts, SAP HANA scale-up appliances within the 12 TB ceiling, large Microsoft SQL Server consolidation hosts, ERP and CRM application servers (Oracle E-Business Suite, SAP, JD Edwards), in-memory analytics platforms, and scale-up virtualization at 4-socket density are the typical R930 workloads.
Every R930 we ship is fully refurbished and tested with a 12+ hour burn-in covering all 96 memory channels, every PCIe slot, and every drive bay, and is backed by a 180-day warranty with extended terms available. To configure a build or price a multi-unit order, call 1-800-778-1545; volume pricing applies at 5 units and above.
Where the R930 Fits in the Family
The R930 sits at the top of Dell's 13th-generation rack line as the 4-socket, 4U scale-up platform. What sets it apart from the rest of the 13th-gen family is the processor class and the memory ceiling:
- 4-socket Xeon E7-8800 v4 / E7-4800 v4 (Broadwell-EX). The R930 uses the Xeon E7 family on the LGA2011-1 socket, distinct from the E5 family in the R630, R730, and R830. Up to 24 cores per CPU on the top-bin E7-8890 v4 gives a 4-socket total of 96 cores / 192 threads. The E7 line also carries enhanced RAS beyond E5: additional ECC modes, memory mirroring, and memory failover that matter for mission-critical deployments.
- 96 DDR4 DIMM slots, up to 12 TB. Eight memory risers of 12 slots each, 32 channels total, at 2400 MT/s. This is the highest memory ceiling Dell shipped in the 13th generation.
- 24 SFF bays plus up to 8 NVMe. The 24-Bay 2.5" SAS/SATA chassis on this page accepts up to eight Express Flash NVMe SSDs in dedicated bays, enabling mixed SAS and NVMe tiers in a single chassis.
- Dual PERC and a deep PCIe budget. Two PERC controllers can front separate drive groups, and up to 10 PCIe Gen3 slots plus a dedicated RAID slot and an NDC slot support complex storage and networking fabrics.
For the same 4-socket generation in a 2U chassis at a lower memory ceiling, the R830 is the companion platform; for 2-socket workloads, the R630 (1U) and R730 (2U) cost far less. Those tradeoffs are covered in Where to Look Instead below.
Storage - 24 2.5" Bays
Twenty-four 2.5" SAS/SATA hot-swap front bays. This 24-Bay chassis supports up to eight PCIe Gen3 Express Flash NVMe SSDs in dedicated NVMe-capable bays with the appropriate backplane, so configurations can run up to 16 SAS/SATA plus 8 NVMe, a full 24 SAS/SATA, or other mixes. NVMe drives run directly on CPU PCIe lanes and do not require a PERC; SAS/SATA groups and NVMe are managed independently.
Common 24-Bay storage profiles
- 24 x 1.92 TB SAS SSD: Volume dense-virtualization build. Roughly 38 TB usable at RAID 60 with a hot spare.
- 24 x 3.84 TB SAS SSD: Higher per-node capacity. Roughly 75 TB usable at RAID 60.
- 16 SAS SSD + 8 NVMe SSD: Hot tier on enterprise NVMe (1.6 / 3.2 / 6.4 TB) over a SAS capacity tier. Strong for tiered database workloads.
- 8 NVMe + 16 SAS SSD on dual PERC: NVMe in dedicated bays plus an 8+8 SAS split across two controllers for high-performance database deployments.
- 2 x SAS SSD boot mirror + 22 x SAS SSD data: All-flash with front-bay boot and 22 data drives in RAID 60.
Boot
The R930 has no BOSS module. Boot paths are a 2-drive front-bay RAID 1 mirror, the volume choice for full-OS deployments such as Oracle Linux, RHEL, or Windows Server, which leaves 22 bays for data; or internal USB / IDSDM dual-SD mirroring for hypervisor-only ESXi deployments that preserve all 24 bays for data.
Storage Controllers
- PERC H730P (2 GB NV cache, battery-backed): The volume controller for the platform, supporting RAID 0/1/5/6/10/50/60. See the PERC H730P 2GB cache RAID controller for the part we quote by default.
- PERC H330 (no cache): Entry-tier hardware RAID, or pass-through for drive groups that do not need cache.
- Dual PERC architecture: Two controllers fronting separate drive groups for cache distribution and PCIe bandwidth scaling. Common on 24-Bay builds.
- PERC H830 (external): For attaching external SAS storage shelves.
- 12 Gbps SAS HBA pass-through: For software-defined storage stacks where the OS or hypervisor owns the disks. The platform tops out at the H730P generation; the 8 GB-cache H740P is a 14th-gen part and is not available here.
Processors
The R930 takes 2 or 4 Intel Xeon E7-8800 v4 or E7-4800 v4 (Broadwell-EX) processors. The E7-8800 family supports 8-socket-capable QPI interconnect (the R930 uses four sockets); the E7-4800 family is 4-socket-only at a lower price. At matching tiers the two lines share identical core counts, clocks, and TDPs, so for almost every R930 build the E7-4800 v4 SKU is the right call. E7-8800 v4 only makes sense when a forward path to an 8-socket platform is planned, which is rare.
Common SKU choices
- E7-8890 v4 / E7-4890 v4 (24 cores, 2.2 GHz, 165W): Maximum core count. 4-socket = 96 cores / 192 threads.
- E7-8880 v4 / E7-4880 v4 (22 cores, 2.2 GHz, 150W): High-core balanced choice. 4-socket = 88 cores.
- E7-8870 v4 / E7-4870 v4 (20 cores, 2.1 GHz, 140W): Higher-core balanced, strong for SQL Server consolidation.
- E7-8860 v4 / E7-4860 v4 (18 cores, 2.2 GHz, 140W): Mid-range volume SKU. 4-socket = 72 cores, with a good core-count-to-TDP balance.
- E7-8855 v4 / E7-4850 v4 (16 cores, 2.1 GHz, 115W): Lower-tier balanced. 4-socket = 64 cores.
- E7-8830 v4 / E7-4830 v4 (14 cores, 2.0 GHz, 115W): Cost-efficient mid-range.
- E7-8820 v4 / E7-4820 v4 (10 cores, 2.0 GHz, 115W): Entry-tier 4-socket.
Top-bin E7 parts at 150-165W generate substantial heat across four sockets; confirm fan and ambient planning at quote time (see Power and Cooling).
Memory
Eight memory risers, each with 12 DDR4 DIMM slots: 96 slots and 32 channels across four sockets, running at 2400 MT/s with E7 v4 processors. Maximum capacity is 12 TB using 128 GB LRDIMMs across all 96 slots; 128 GB modules are LRDIMM-only. Most builds use 64 GB LRDIMMs (6 TB maximum) for better cost per GB. Memory mirroring and memory failover are supported and trade capacity for RAS.
Practical memory configurations
- 1 TB (16 x 64 GB LRDIMM): Dense virtualization or SQL Server consolidation where 1 TB covers the workload.
- 2 TB (32 x 64 GB LRDIMM): Larger in-memory database or ERP host; SAP HANA scale-up small/medium tier.
- 3 TB (48 x 64 GB LRDIMM): SAP HANA mid-tier appliance or large Oracle RAC node.
- 4 TB (64 x 64 GB LRDIMM): Large in-memory analytics platform.
- 6 TB (96 x 64 GB LRDIMM, fully populated): Maximum capacity with 64 GB modules.
- 12 TB (96 x 128 GB LRDIMM, fully populated): The platform ceiling, for large SAP HANA appliances and in-memory scale-up where 12 TB is the design driver.
Intel Optane Persistent Memory is not supported on the R930; the E7 v4 platform predates Cascade Lake's PMem support. Workloads that need a memory tier beyond 12 TB DRAM are a 14th-generation R940 conversation, covered below.
Networking and PCIe Expansion
Networking starts with a Network Daughter Card (NDC) in its own slot, so it does not consume a general-purpose PCIe slot. Beyond the NDC, the R930 offers up to 10 PCIe Gen3 slots plus a dedicated RAID slot. That budget is generous enough for several fabrics at once:
- Up to 8 NVMe SSDs in dedicated front-bay positions, which consume CPU PCIe lanes
- Multiple high-speed NICs (10/25 GbE) for production, storage, and management isolation
- Multiple HBAs: storage HBA, Fibre Channel HBA, or InfiniBand HCA for HPC
- An external PERC H830 for SAS storage-shelf attachment
Exact slot counts and widths depend on riser selection and CPU population; we confirm the PCIe layout for your configuration at quote time.
GPU Support
The R930 is a scale-up compute and memory platform, not a GPU server. Its 4U chassis can physically house accelerator cards, but GPU support is limited to specific configurations within the thermal and power envelope of a fully populated 4-socket system, and Dell did not position the R930 as a GPU platform. For GPU-bound workloads such as AI/ML training or large-scale inference, a purpose-built accelerator platform such as a 14th-generation R740xa or newer is the right tool. If you have a specific single-card or FPGA use case for the R930, tell us at quote time and we will confirm whether the configuration is supported.
Management - iDRAC8 Generation
iDRAC8 Enterprise with Lifecycle Controller: remote KVM, virtual media, power management, hardware monitoring, and OpenManage integration. This is the same iDRAC8 platform as the R630, R730, and R830. Relative to iDRAC9 on 14th-gen platforms, iDRAC8 lacks Silicon Root of Trust and System Lockdown. For the full iDRAC8 walkthrough, see our Dell PowerEdge R630 10-Bay 2.5" page.
Power and Cooling
Four hot-swap Platinum power supplies in 750W or 1100W, configured for 2+2 (or 3+1) redundancy. The four-PSU layout gives strong redundancy for mission-critical deployments and the headroom to feed a fully loaded 4-socket system with 12 TB of memory, 24 drives, and a full PCIe complement.
| Workload profile | Typical draw | PSU recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Light: 2-socket, 512 GB RAM, 8 SSDs, 10 GbE | 400-600W | 4 x 750W Platinum (2+2) |
| Balanced: 4-socket, 2 TB RAM, 16 SSDs, 25 GbE | 900-1400W | 4 x 750W or 4 x 1100W Platinum (2+2) |
| Heavy: 4-socket E7-4860 v4, 4 TB RAM, 24 SSDs, dual 25 GbE | 1400-2100W | 4 x 1100W Platinum (2+2) |
| Maximum: 4-socket E7-4890 v4, 12 TB RAM, 24 SSDs + 8 NVMe, 25 GbE | 2200-2900W | 4 x 1100W Platinum (2+2) |
1100W PSUs are the volume specification for production 4-socket builds; 750W suits 2-socket or lighter 4-socket loads. A fully loaded R930 approaches 2.9 kW under load, so confirm rack PDU and cooling capacity. Four high-TDP CPUs plus 12 TB of memory and 24 drives put real heat into 4U; warm-ambient rooms should plan headroom.
Physical Specs and Platform Notes
- Form factor: 4U rack chassis, four-socket scale-up design. Plan full-depth rail and cable-management-arm clearance in the rack.
- PCIe expansion: Up to 10 PCIe Gen3 slots plus a dedicated RAID slot and a separate NDC slot; full-height cards supported, with the exact layout set by riser and CPU population.
- Parts availability: Mature but thinner than the volume 2-socket platforms. The R930's smaller installed base means E7-8800/E7-4800 v4 CPUs and R930-specific FRUs are less abundant on the secondary market than R630/R730 parts. Dell ProSupport for the platform is at end-of-service; third-party maintenance is the standard production support path in 2026.
- Accessories we recommend: The PERC H730P 2GB cache RAID controller as the default storage controller, a 4U-depth ReadyRails kit, and a 4U front bezel. The 1U and 2U rail kits and bezels elsewhere in our catalog do not fit the 4U R930 chassis; we match the correct 4U hardware at quote time.
- Platform notes: No BOSS module, so boot is via front-bay RAID 1 or USB/IDSDM; iDRAC8 without Silicon Root of Trust; a PCIe Gen3 ceiling; no Optane PMem; high cooling demand in 4U; verify rack PDU capacity for four 1100W PSUs.
Our Assessment
Where it excels: The R930 24-Bay is the right call when 4-socket scale and a large memory footprint genuinely drive the design and the 13th-gen envelope fits. Mission-critical OLTP (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2), SAP HANA scale-up appliances within 12 TB, Oracle RAC nodes at maximum per-server core counts, large ERP and CRM consolidation, in-memory analytics (SAS, Spark, Druid), 4-socket-density virtualization at 300+ VMs per host, and high-core HPC nodes with substantial memory are where it shines. The 24-Bay's local-storage depth and up-to-8-NVMe support make it the variant to pick when storage IOPS scale with the workload.
Where to look instead: If 2-socket E5-2600 v4 covers the workload, the R630 and R730 cost far less. If four sockets are needed but 3 TB and a 2U footprint suffice, the R830 8-Bay saves rack space and money. If local storage is minimal because bulk data lives on a SAN or NAS, the R930 4-Bay is the cost-floor variant. Workloads needing more than 12 TB, Optane PMem, iDRAC9 firmware integrity, or PCIe Gen4 are a 14th-gen R940 conversation.
Bottom line: For high-end 4-socket platform sizing in Dell's 13th generation, the R930 24-Bay is the answer, and it remains a cost-correct buy in 2026 for scale-up database, ERP, and analytics hosts where the 12 TB ceiling and E7 v4 RAS fit the requirement. We help evaluate CPU choice (E7-4800 v4 versus E7-8800 v4), memory tier economics (64 GB versus 128 GB LRDIMM), NVMe inclusion, and single-versus-dual PERC architecture at quote time.
Where the R930 Fits in 2026
The R930 is two generations behind current Dell platforms, and its place in a 2026 procurement is specific rather than general. It is the right buy when the workload needs 4-socket scale and up to 12 TB of memory and the budget rewards a mature, secondary-market platform over a new 14th- or 16th-generation system. Because Dell ProSupport for the platform has reached end-of-service, production R930 deployments in 2026 are typically covered by third-party maintenance, and OS support is narrowing, so confirm operating-system compatibility for any deployment horizon that runs well past 2026. Where platform currency matters more than acquisition cost, through iDRAC9 firmware integrity, faster DDR4, Optane PMem, and a longer support runway, the 14th-generation R940 is the forward path; we can source it on request.
Honest Limitations
- 12 TB memory ceiling. Below the 14th-gen R940 with Optane PMem, which can extend effective memory beyond 12 TB DRAM. Deployments that need more than 12 TB are not a fit for this platform.
- SFF-only chassis. No 3.5" LFF option for the R930. For 4-socket plus LFF capacity there is no direct 13th-gen 4-socket option; the 2-socket R730xd with 12 LFF bays is the alternative.
- DDR4 2400 MT/s ceiling. The same constraint as other 13th-gen platforms, below the R940's 2666 MT/s. For memory-bandwidth-sensitive workloads at 4-socket scale, this matters.
- No 14th-gen successor stocked here. Dell's 14th-gen 4-socket flagship is the R940 (4U); we do not currently stock it. Contact us for sourcing.
- Four 1100W PSUs is the production specification. A fully loaded R930 approaches 4.4 kW of PSU capacity; verify rack PDU headroom.
- 4U rack consumption. The R930 uses 4U versus the R830's 2U for four sockets. This is a density consideration in space-constrained rooms.
- NVMe is Gen3-only. R930 NVMe runs on PCIe Gen3, about 3.5 GB/s sequential per drive; 14th-gen and later platforms support faster NVMe.
- 13th-gen platform constraints apply. iDRAC8 without Silicon Root of Trust, no BOSS module, no Optane PMem, PERC H730P as the top controller with no H740P, a PCIe Gen3 ceiling, and Dell ProSupport at end-of-service. See our R630 10-Bay page for the full 13th-gen platform discussion.
- Thinner parts availability. The R930's smaller installed base means E7 v4 CPUs and chassis-specific FRUs are less abundant on the secondary market than R630/R730 parts.
- OS support narrowing. Modern OS releases may have limited 13th-gen support; verify compatibility for deployment horizons beyond 2026.
- High cooling demand. Four high-TDP CPUs, up to 12 TB of memory, 24 drives, and extensive PCIe put significant heat into 4U; warm-ambient rooms may run near thermal limits under sustained load.
Workload Fit
| Excels at | Where to look elsewhere |
|---|---|
| SAP HANA scale-up (up to 12 TB) | 2-socket sufficient (use R630/R730 at lower cost) |
| Mission-critical OLTP (Oracle, SQL Server, DB2) | 4-socket-in-2U sufficient (use R830 at lower cost) |
| Oracle RAC at maximum per-server core counts | More than 12 TB memory needed (use R940) |
| ERP / CRM consolidation (Oracle, SAP, JDE) | LFF capacity drives needed (use R730xd) |
| In-memory analytics (SAS, Spark, Druid) | Optane PMem required (use R940, 14th gen) |
| Scale-up virtualization (300+ VMs per host) | iDRAC9 firmware integrity required (use R940) |
| HPC at high core counts with substantial memory | PCIe Gen4 networking or NVMe required |
| Tiered storage with up to 8 NVMe + 16 SAS SSD | GPU-bound AI/ML training (use R740xa or newer) |
Where to Look Instead
- Same platform, minimal local storage: the Dell PowerEdge R930 4-Bay 2.5" is the cost-floor R930 for SAN- or NAS-backed deployments where bulk storage lives outside the chassis.
- Four sockets in 2U: the Dell PowerEdge R830 8-Bay 2.5" is the same-generation 4-socket platform with E5-4600 v4, 48 DIMM slots, and a 3 TB ceiling. It saves rack space and cost when 3 TB is enough.
- Two-socket, lower cost: the Dell PowerEdge R730 8-Bay 3.5" and the 1U Dell PowerEdge R630 10-Bay 2.5" cover workloads that fit within 2-socket E5-2600 v4 and up to 1.5 TB, at a much lower price.
- 13th-gen LFF capacity: the Dell PowerEdge R730xd 24-Bay 2.5" and its 12-Bay 3.5" companion are the dense-storage alternative when capacity drives, not socket count, are the requirement.
- Default storage controller: the PERC H730P 2GB cache RAID controller is the controller we quote for most R930 builds.
- Next generation: the 14th-gen R940 is the forward path for iDRAC9, faster DDR4, Optane PMem, and a longer support runway. We do not stock it but can source it on request. There is no direct HPE 4-socket 4U counterpart in our current catalog; the closest concept is the ProLiant DL580 Gen9, which we can also source on request.
Ready to Configure?
Tell us your workload (SAP HANA, Oracle RAC, SQL Server consolidation, ERP, in-memory analytics, HPC), target socket count (2 or 4), CPU preference (E7-4800 v4 for cost or E7-8800 v4 for forward flexibility), memory capacity in the 1-12 TB range, drive count and type (24 SAS SSD baseline or a hybrid 16 SAS + 8 NVMe), RAID architecture (single PERC, dual PERC, or pass-through), networking speed (10 or 25 GbE), and quantity. We respond within 24 hours.
For mission-critical sizing such as Oracle RAC, SAP HANA, or large SQL Server consolidation, share your existing platform specs, target VM or database memory, and any vendor sizing guidance (Oracle CPU licensing, SAP HANA T-shirt sizing), and we will configure the R930 to meet the requirement with appropriate headroom.
Every Wholesale Servers R930 ships after a 12+ hour burn-in covering every PCIe slot, all 96 memory channels, and every drive bay. The standard 180-day warranty is included, with 1-Year, 2-Year, and 3-Year Premium options available. Call 1-800-778-1545 or use the quote form on this page; volume pricing applies at 5 units and above.
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