Identifying which generation your Dell PowerEdge server belongs to in your data center

You might have come across Dell PowerEdge servers being referred to by their generation to cover a range of models.
For example 11G, 12G, 13G, or 14G (14th generation). Here we will explain how to identify which generation of a server you have.

Starting with the 10th Generation of PowerEdge servers, the naming for the server models generally consist of a letter(s) followed by three or four numbers (ex: PowerEdge R710 or PowerEdge R6415 or MX740c).

The letter indicates the type (form factor) of the server:

• C = Cloud – Modular server nodes for hyper-scale environments
• F = Flexible – Hybrid rack-based sleds for rack-based FX2/FX2s enclosure
• M or MX* = Modular – Blade servers and other items for the modulal enclosure MX7000, M1000e and/or VRTX
• R = Rack-mountable servers
• T = Tower Servers

For three number naming convention:
– The first number after the letter indicates the class of the system. With 1-3 being 1 CPU systems, 4 – 7 are 2 CPU systems, 8 can be 2 or 4 CPU’s and 9 is 4 CPU’s.
– The second number indicates the generation, with 0 for 10th generation, 1 for 11th generation and so on.
– The third number indicates the make of the CPU, 0 for Intel and 5 for AMD.

So, for example, the R710 model is a Rack 2 CPU system from the 11th generation of servers with Intel Processors.

For four number naming convention:
– The first number after the letter indicates the class of the system. With 1-5 defaulting to iDRAC Basic and 6 – 9 defaulting to iDRAC Express.
– The second number indicates the generation, with 0 for 10th generation, 1 for 11th generation and so on.
– The third number indicates the number of CPUs, 1 for 1 CPU and 2 for 2 CPU’s.
– The fourth number indicates the make of the CPU, 0 for Intel and 5 for AMD.

So, for example, the R6415 model is a Rack 1 CPU socket system from the 14th generation of servers with AMD Processors.

* For MX7000 modular enclosure: compute sleds, storage sled and IO modules are identified with an additional letter appended to the end of the model name.

• MX740c or MX840c has an appended c for Compute
• MX5016s has an appended s for Storage
• MX9116n has an appended n for IO Module

Before the 10th generation of PowerEdge servers, the Naming convention used 4 digits (ex: PowerEdge 2950) where the digits represent:

• First digit – Class of server
• Second digit – Generation of server (up to 9th generation)
• Third digit – Server type (5 for rack server, 0 for tower server)
• Fourth digit – Indicated whether blade or independent box (5 for blade, 0 for normal independent box)

So, for example, the 2950 model is a 2U system from the 9th generation of servers in Rack format in an independent box.

Exceptions:

PowerEdge MX7000

The PowerEdge MX7000 was introduced during the 14th Generation range. The MX7000 enclosure has eight front-accessible slots for 2-socket single-width or 4-socket double-width compute sleds and single-width storage sled combinations. The supported server module sleds are designated as MXxxxc. The supported storage module sleds are designated as MXxxxxs

For MX7000 modular: compute sleds, storage sled and IO modules are identified with an additional letter appended to the end of the model name.

• MX740c or MX840c has an appended c for Compute sled
• MX5016s has an appended s for Storage sled
• MX9116n has an appended n for IO Module
• MXG610s has an appended s for IO Module

PowerEdge M1000E

The PowerEdge M1000e was introduced during the 10th Generation range. The M1000e enclosure includes up to 16 half-height server modules, eight full-height server modules, eight sleeves with quarter-height server modules, or a mix of the three server module types. The supported server module types are designated as Mxxx.

Follow this procedure to install server modules that are not configured for the M1000e enclosure:Note: If you install server modules that are not configured for the M1000e enclosure, an error message is displayed.

To configure a Mxxx (for PE VRTX) server module for the M1000e enclosure from the VRTX enclosure:

1. Open the server module.
2. Remove any PCIe Mezzanine cards installed in Fabric B and Fabric C slots of the server module.
3. Install Mezzanine card slot B that supports Fabric B. This card must match the fabric type of I/O modules B1 and B2 of the M1000e.
4. Install Mezzanine card slot C that supports Fabric C. This card must match the fabric type of I/O modules C1 and C2 of the M1000e.

PowerEdge VRTX

The PowerEdge VRTX was introduced during the 12th Generation range. The VRTX enclosure includes up to four half-height server modules, two full-height server modules, or a mix of the server module types. The supported server module types are designated as Mxxx (for PE VRTX).

Follow this procedure to install server modules that are not configured for the VRTX enclosure.Note: If you install server modules that are not configured for the VRTX enclosure, an error message is displayed.

To configure a Mxxx server module for the VRTX enclosure from the M1000e enclosure:

1. Open the server module.
2. Remove any mezzanine cards installed in Fabric B and Fabric C slots of the server module.
3. Install PCIe Mezzanine cards in the vacant Fabric B and Fabric C slots.

PowerEdge FX2 / FX2s

The PowerEdge FX2/FX2s was introduced during the 13th Generation range. The FX2 enclosure supports up to four half-width compute sleds, up to eight quarter-width compute sleds, up to two full-width compute sleds, or a mix of compute sled types. The PowerEdge FX2s enclosure also supports half-width storage sleds mapped to the compute sleds. The supported compute sleds are designated as FCxxx and FMxxx. The supported storage sleds are designated as FDxxx.