Dell PowerEdge R430 review

Dell’s PowerEdge R430 offers an impressive compute power for space-constrained racks

Reviews
By
published

IT Pro Verdict

Once you’ve worked out which storage option you want, the PowerEdge R430 is an ideal choice where server rack space is at a premium. It packs a lot of processing power into its compact chassis and delivers it at a very competitive price

Pros

  • +

    Space saving design; Powerful hardware package; High storage capacity; Excellent remote management tools; Very quiet

Cons

  • -

    Confusing storage options; 10-bay model only supports SATA SFF drives

SMBs looking to maximise their precious rack space will like Dell's new PowerEdge R430. This 1U rack server may only be 24in. deep but it squeezes in a big hardware package that includes dual E5-2600 v3 CPUs, a high memory capacity and plenty of storage options.

Dell supplied us with the base model kitted out with four LFF drive bays serviced by the embedded PERC S130 RAID controller. Ordered at the point of sale, the R430 can be specified with up to 10 SFF drives and choice selection of PCI-Express RAID cards although, as we found, the process is far from simple.

The R430 exhibits very good internal design and whisper-quiet cooling

Dell's iDRAC8 controller provides quality server monitoring tools and handy power consumption graphs

Dave Mitchell
Dave Mitchell

Dave is an IT consultant and freelance journalist specialising in hands-on reviews of computer networking products covering all market sectors from small businesses to enterprises. Founder of Binary Testing Ltd – the UK’s premier independent network testing laboratory - Dave has over 45 years of experience in the IT industry.

Dave has produced many thousands of in-depth business networking product reviews from his lab which have been reproduced globally. Writing for ITPro and its sister title, PC Pro, he covers all areas of business IT infrastructure, including servers, storage, network security, data protection, cloud, infrastructure and services.