HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 review: A powerful rack server with a big EPYC processing density

HPE's ProLiant DL365 Gen11 is a rack-dense server solution aimed at enterprises that want maximum processing power in minimum space. With support for AMD's 128-core Gen4 EPYC CPUs, this dual-socket (2P) system can put an incredible 256 physical cores in only 1U of rack height.

Targeting a diverse range of workloads such as general-purpose virtualization, VDI, EAD, and CAD, the DL365 Gen11 offers a lot more than a high processing density. It can present a whopping 6TB of DDR5 memory and has room for up to two single-width or double-width GPUs.

Storage features are undiminished by its compact dimensions as there's room up front for up to ten SFF drive bays and the server supports SATA, SAS4, and U.3 NVMe devices. Even better, HPE offers a CTO (configure to order) model with a new front panel design that can handle up to twenty EDSFF E3.S NVMe SSD storage devices.

HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 review: Platform security and management

HPE sharply focuses on platform security as it leverages AMD's Secure Processor technology. Using HPE's exclusive iLO6 ASIC, the server validates firmware using its Silicon Root of Trust which creates an immutable fingerprint that the Secure Processor must match before the server is allowed to boot.

Consequently, the server will only boot if it detects hardware-validated HPE firmware. It uses a cryptographically signed signature so if the firmware is modified or compromised in any way, it will cause a fingerprint mismatch and the server can automatically recover to a known and trusted firmware version.

General management features are abundant with the iLO6 presenting a smart web console that's packed with valuable information about the server's status. Stepping up to an iLO Advanced license enables features such as virtual media services, full OS remote control, and power metering.

HPE's OneView monitors and manages all your HPE servers, storage, and network infrastructure devices while the free iLO Amplifier Pack presents a dedicated web console for discovery and inventory of up to 10,000 Gen8, Gen9, Gen10, and Gen11 servers.

And then there's HPE's GreenLake Compute Ops Management (COM) cloud service which is ideal for organizations with geographically distributed on-premises, cloud, and edge compute resources. All Gen10 and Gen11 servers connect directly to the COM portal which can be used to centrally manage server deployments and automate system lifecycle management and firmware compliance policies.

HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 review: Features and design

The DL365 Gen11 is good value with prices for the base models starting at around £5K. Designed to get you out of the starting blocks, the entry-level P59707-421 model sports a 16-core, 3GHz AMD EPYC 9124 CPU, 32GB of DDR5 memory, eight SSF bays (no storage included), a quad-port Gigabit OCP 3 card, an MR408i-o OCP 3 RAID card, and a meaty 1000W Titanium power supply.

Our review system was supplied as a P53933-B21 CTO chassis furnished with a pair of the same CPUs as the base model along with 128GB of DDR5 Smart Memory and dual 800W Platinum PSUs. You can easily tailor the system to your budget as HPE offers a wide choice of Gen4 EPYC CPUs ranging from the CPUs we have up to the mighty 128-core EPYC 9754. 

With 24 DIMM slots in play, you can expand memory up to 6TB but deep pockets are required as 256GB octal-rank RDIMM modules cost around £20K a pop and you can't mix them with non-3DS memory. Upgrades are easy as the server presents a very tidy interior with the CPUs topped off with large passive heatsinks that extend radiator bars in front of their attendant banks of DIMM slots.

Cooling is handled by a bank of up to seven hot plug fans behind the drive backplane. Our CPUs have 200W TDPs so we can use the standard fans but those above 240W will require the performance versions. 

HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 review: Storage and expansion

Our system had eight SFF drive bays and HPE filled them all with 1.92TB SATA SSDs which appeared as individual drives because the backplane was cabled directly to the motherboard. Unlike the DL365 Gen10 Plus model, you don't get HPE's embedded SR100i Gen10 controller chip so you'll need to specify a RAID card with HPE offering its SR (SmartRAID) and MR (MegaRAID) storage controllers with PCIe and OCP versions available.

A CTO model for GPUs is available with the server supporting Nvidia's A16 double-width and L4 single-width cards. There's another CTO option for the twenty EDSFF bays where you'll also need to specify dual CPUs plus performance fans and you'll be restricted to twelve EDSFF bays for CPUs with a TDP equal to or greater than 320W.

You can maximize front bay data storage by selecting HPE's NS204i-u Gen11 boot-optimized storage device. Accessed from the rear, it doesn't require a PCIe slot and comes with two hot-plug 480GB M.2 NVMe SSDs preconfigured in a mirrored array which we used to load Windows Server 2022.

There's plenty of room for further expansion as the server offers two PCIe Gen5 risers with a pair of OCP 3 slots underneath them. A lack of embedded network ports means you'll need to use them with HPE offering a big choice of Gigabit, 10GbE, 10/25GbE, 100GbE, and 200GbE PCIe and OCP mezzanine cards.

HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 review: Is it worth it?

With AMD's core-heavy Gen4 EPYC CPUs in charge, the ProLiant DL385 Gen11 is clearly capable of handling a wide range of demanding enterprise workloads. It puts a lot of processing power in small rack spaces and teams this up with tight platform security, flexible storage configurations, plenty of expansion potential, and a choice selection of remote management and monitoring tools.

HPE ProLiant DL365 Gen11 specifications