Fujitsu Server Primergy RX2540 M4
The RX2540 M4 is a great rack server package for the price – and offers plenty of scope for future upgrades
“It will support any Xeon Scalable processor with a TDP up to 205W – which takes you to the very top of the Platinum range”
SCORE PRICE As reviewed, £4,390 exc VAT from fujitsu.com
Fujitsu’s Server Primergy RX2540 M4 is ideal for companies with big plans for expansion. Our test system came with a sensible, SMBfriendly specification – but when the time comes to upgrade, it will support any Xeon Scalable processor with a TDP up to 205W – which takes you to the very top of the Platinum range. It can also be loaded up with a huge 3TB of DDR4 memory, and offers up to eight PCI Express slots, with support for a maximum of 28 SFF drives.
For now, though, let’s focus on what you get for your £4,390 – because that’s still a formidable specification, including a ten-core 2.2GHz Xeon Silver 4114 with room for a second CPU, 16GB of DDR4 memory and an 800W hotplug PSU. It also features a PRAID EP420i controller card, which brings SAS3 support and RAID5 and 6 arrays into the equation.
The chassis offers an eight-bay SFF drive cage, to which two more front-facing cages can be added and connected via SAS expanders or an extra RAID card. A four-bay cage can also be fitted at the rear, taking the total tally to the promised 28. Needless to say, things get pretty hot with this many drives all packed in together; Fujitsu is releasing a special-order liquid-cooling kit to ensure a fully loaded system will work with a high-end Xeon Platinum CPU.
If your needs are more modest, Fujitsu also offers an entry-level system with an eight-core 2.1GHz Xeon Silver 4110, 16GB of DDR4, an EP400i RAID card, eight SFF drive bays and a 450W PSU for £2,216 exc VAT. You can also use LFF drives instead of SFF: up to 12 can be fitted, but note that the low-end RAID controller only supports a maximum of eight SATA drives.
Whichever specification you choose, it comes in a beautifully designed chassis, with all components easily accessible for maintenance and upgrades. Cooling is handled by a bank of three hotplug modules, each containing two fans, while the dual CPU sockets and 24 memory slots are covered by a transparent air shroud.
Behind that sit six embedded PCI Express slots, which can be increased to eight using optional riser modules. These risers also allow the case to accommodate up to two Nvidia Quadro or Tesla GPU cards – although these have a big impact on thermal capacity, so when using these cards you’re limited to CPU models with a maximum 150W TDP.
The base model comes with dual embedded Gigabit Ethernet ports, but our test configuration also includes Fujitsu’s quad-Gigabit DynamicLOM card, which snaps into a proprietary slot on the motherboard. Other options include dual Gigabit Ethernet, dual copper 10GbE and dual or quad fibre 10GbE ports.
It’s all powered by a single 800W Platinum PSU – although there’s a spare bay for a second, redundant supply. Fujitsu also offers 450W, 1,200W and 1,300W Platinum or Titanium variants, although most businesses will find the low-power models more than adequate: our system drew a mere 70W when idle, and peaked at 135W with the Xeon Silver under 100% load.
Fujitsu’s ServerView systems management software suite is getting a bit long in the tooth, but the new iRMC S5 controller is very likeable. Its fresh web console offers tighter access security than before, and makes critical system information much more accessible than its predecessor.
It also provides a complete breakdown of power consumption for key components, along with detailed event logs and alerting facilities. The price we’ve shown includes the iRMC advanced licence, which allows full OS remote control and video capture.
In all, the Primergy RX2540 M4 is perfect for fast-growing businesses seeking a server that they won’t quickly outgrow. Remote management features aren’t anything special, but its expansion potential is truly exceptional.
SPECIFICATIONS 2U rack chassis 2.2GHz Intel Xeon Silver 4114 (max 2) 16GB DDR4 RDIMM (max 3TB) Intel C624 Fujitsu PRAID CP420i SAS3/2GB cache/BBU supports RAID0, 1, 1E, 10, 5, 50, 6, 60 3 x 300GB SAS3 SFF hard disks (max 28) 2 x Gigabit Ethernet 4 x GbE on DynamicLOM card 6 x PCI-E 3.0 (max 8 with risers) 1 x 800W hotplug PSU (max 2) Fujitsu iRMC S5 Advanced with GbE 3yr on-site NBD warranty Power: 70W idle, 135W peak