CONFIGURE & QUOTE - Dell PowerEdge T560 16-Bay 2.5" Tower [16th Gen: New]

The T560 16-Bay 2.5" is the high-density SFF configuration of Dell’s 16th gen tower platform: sixteen 2.5" hot-swap bays on the Universal Backplane v2, supporting SAS, SATA SSDs, and PCIe NVMe drives via the H965i tri-mode controller. We deploy this variant when a buyer needs current-gen tower compute with serious SFF SSD or NVMe density: VDI hosts, vSAN-style hyperconverged nodes deployed at branch locations, multi-tenant virtualization on flash, or dense database servers where bulk LFF capacity isn’t the point.

If you need maximum SFF density beyond 16 bays, the T560 24-Bay 2.5" chassis exists in the lineup. For canonical platform detail, the T560 12-Bay 3.5" page is where to go.

What’s Different About This Chassis

16 SFF bays instead of 8 (vs. the 8-Bay 2.5" sibling) or 12 LFF (vs. the 12-Bay 3.5" canonical). Same motherboard, same processor support, same memory architecture, same RAID controller options, same OCP networking, same iDRAC9, same PSU lineup, same GPU envelope. The bay count is the only architectural difference.

Universal Backplane v2 with NVMe support: Same backplane family as the 8-Bay 2.5", scaled to 16 bays. The H965i tri-mode controller can manage SAS, SATA, and PCIe Gen4 NVMe drives across the front bays in the same logical RAID configuration. Mixed-tier (NVMe hot tier + SAS warm tier) is supportable but the NVMe lane budget needs to be planned at quote time.

When the 16-Bay 2.5" is the right call: VDI hosts in the 50 to 150 desktop range where SSD IOPS density matters and per-host capacity needs to scale. vSAN OSA or vSAN ESA hyperconverged nodes deployed at remote sites (vSAN wants multiple capacity drives per disk group and at least 2 cache drives per host, and 16 bays accommodates that comfortably). Multi-tenant SQL Server hosts where each tenant gets dedicated SSD-backed storage. Veeam fast-clone repositories on SSD. Dense Citrix or Horizon broker / database hosts.

When to step up to the 24-Bay 2.5" instead: Hyperscale-style SSD density requirements where 16 bays isn’t enough. Maximum-density vSAN nodes. Most workloads we see in the 16th gen tower segment top out at 16 bays comfortably; 24-bay is the call when the application is explicitly scaling to that density.

Processors, Memory, RAID, Networking, GPU, PSU, Management

All shared with the T560 12-Bay 3.5" canonical page. The processors are 4th Gen Sapphire Rapids and 5th Gen Emerald Rapids in the same socket (drop-in compatible, the modern equivalent of the 14th gen V1/V2 pattern). Memory is 16 DDR5 RDIMM slots, 1.5 TB max, 4800 MT/s on 4th gen / 5200 MT/s on 5th gen. Top RAID pick is the PERC H965i (Series 12, 8 GB FBWC, tri-mode SAS4/SATA/Gen4 NVMe RAID). Networking is OCP 3.0 plus 2 × 1 GbE LOM. Up to 6 PCIe slots. GPU envelope is up to 2 × 300W double-wide or 6 × 75W single-wide. PSU options from 600W to 2800W, all hot-swap redundant. Management is iDRAC9 Enterprise (NOT iDRAC10; iDRAC10 is 17th gen R670/R770). Boot is BOSS-N1 (NVMe M.2 hardware RAID 1, hot-swap).

See the T560 12-Bay 3.5" page for the full platform breakdown: specific CPU SKU recommendations, memory population guidance, RAID controller comparison, GPU thermal tradeoffs, and physical specs.

RAID and NVMe Guidance for 16 SFF Bays

16 bays gives real flexibility on RAID layout. RAID 60 across 16 SAS or SATA SSDs (two RAID 6 sets of 8 striped) is the configuration we’d default to for general-purpose virtualization hosts. RAID 10 across 16 drives is the call for write-intensive databases. RAID 5 is acceptable on SSDs (the URE math that disqualifies it on spinning disk doesn’t apply at SSD rebuild speeds).

NVMe-specific guidance: The PERC H965i is the only controller that does hardware RAID 5/6/10 on Gen4 NVMe. For tier-1 transactional workloads on NVMe in this chassis, the H965i is the controller we spec. PERC H755N handles Gen4 NVMe RAID but with less cache. PERC H355 and H755 Front do NOT do NVMe RAID. The S160 software RAID option exists for NVMe-only configurations but consumes CPU cycles for parity calculation; we don’t recommend it for production.

HBA option for vSAN: If the deployment is vSAN OSA, spec the HBA355i in pass-through mode rather than the H965i. vSAN wants direct device access and the RAID controller cache is wasted overhead in software-defined storage stacks. Same logic applies to Ceph and other SDS deployments.

BOSS-N1 boot module is standard on every T560 we quote. Do not boot from the front bays.

Power Supplies

The 16-Bay heavy configuration with NVMe drives and dual GPUs is where the 2800W Titanium PSU earns its place. SSDs draw less per-drive than spinning disk but 16 enterprise NVMe drives still add real power; combined with dual 300W GPUs the platform pulls close to 2 kW under sustained load.

Our Assessment

The T560 16-Bay 2.5" is the SFF-density tower configuration we recommend for branch-office VDI, hyperconverged ROBO deployments, dense flash-based virtualization hosts, and multi-tenant database servers. It’s the variant we deploy most often when a buyer asks for "current-gen Dell tower with serious SSD density."

It’s the wrong call when bulk capacity matters more than IOPS (12-Bay 3.5" canonical is the answer), when 8 bays is genuinely enough (the 8-Bay 2.5" sibling is cheaper without losing any platform capability), or when memory ceiling becomes binding (rack siblings R660/R760 have 32 DIMM slots and 8 TB ceiling vs. the T560’s 16 / 1.5 TB).

Bottom line: Buy this when SFF SSD or NVMe density is the deployment driver and the tower form factor is required for site reasons (acoustics, no rack, branch office). For datacenter-rack deployments at the same density, the R760 24-Bay is the equivalent rack SKU.

Workload Fit Matrix

Honest Limitations

16 bays is a lot of power draw at SSD density. 16 enterprise NVMe drives plus dual 250W CPUs plus a GPU is a configuration that pushes the platform toward its 2.4 kW to 2.8 kW PSU range. Plan branch-office circuit capacity accordingly; a standard 15A 120V circuit (1.8 kW continuous) can’t support the heavy-config T560 fully loaded.

Acoustic profile under load is real. The "office-friendly" T560 marketing applies to light and balanced configurations. A 16-bay SFF tower with NVMe drives, dual high-TDP CPUs, and a GPU runs its fan profile aggressively under sustained load. If the deployment site has acoustic sensitivity, model the configuration honestly before quoting.

NVMe lane budget is finite. 16 all-NVMe is supportable in the right configuration but consumes the platform’s PCIe NVMe lane budget. Mixed configurations need sizing at quote time; we’ll work the lane math during the BOM review.

vSAN ESA wants very specific drive endurance and capacity classes. VMware’s ESA support matrix is more restrictive than OSA. If the deployment is ESA, the drive selection conversation is more constrained; we’ll work the HCL during quote.

Platform-level limitations from the canonical apply here too. 1.5 TB memory ceiling, 5200 MT/s memory speed on Emerald Rapids, no DLC option, rail kit sold separately, 16 DIMM slots vs. 32 on rack siblings. See the T560 12-Bay 3.5" canonical page for full platform limitation detail.

Generation Context

The T560 is Dell’s current 16th gen tower platform (4th Gen Sapphire Rapids and 5th Gen Emerald Rapids, same socket). It replaced the 15th gen T550. Forward investment horizon runs through 2030 at minimum.

vs. T560 8-Bay 2.5" sibling: Same chassis, half the bay count. The 8-Bay is the right call when 8 SSDs answer the workload question; the 16-Bay is what we spec when SFF density actually matters. Upgrade between them is not field-doable; the backplane and drive cage are different SKUs.

vs. T560 24-Bay 2.5" (max SFF sibling): The 24-Bay is the maximum SFF density T560 chassis. Pick it when 16 bays is not enough; pick the 16-Bay when it is. For most VDI and hyperconverged ROBO workloads, 16 bays is enough.

vs. T560 12-Bay 3.5" canonical: The LFF canonical is bulk-capacity; this SFF page is IOPS-density. Different storage tier, same platform. Pick by workload class.

vs. R760 24-Bay rack equivalent: For datacenter-rack deployments at similar SFF density, the R760 24-Bay 2.5" is the equivalent rack-form-factor SKU. Higher density per U, no acoustic considerations, no GPU envelope advantage. The T560 16-Bay wins on form factor (tower) and acoustic flexibility; the R760 wins on rack density and 32-DIMM memory ceiling.

vs. 17th gen (no tower yet): Dell has not released a 17th gen tower as of 2026. The T560 is Dell’s current-generation tower for the foreseeable future.

Request a Quote

Tell us your workload, target memory capacity, storage requirements (SAS / SATA / NVMe mix and RAID level or pass-through for SDS), GPU plans if any, and quantity. Our account team will put together a tailored T560 16-Bay 2.5" quote within 24 hours. Volume pricing applies at 5 units and above. 12+ hour burn-in test on every server. 180-day standard warranty included; 1, 2, and 3-year Premium options available.

Phone: 1-800-778-1545. Address: 70 Buford Highway, Suwanee, GA 30024. CAGE Code: 85RK3.