Introduction
The Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V2 is a high-value single-socket 1U rack server for growing businesses that need optimized performance and flexibility for future growth, along with enterprise-class reliability, management, and security. The server supports one Intel Xeon E-2300 Series processor (formerly codenamed “Rocket Lake”) or Intel Pentium (“Comet Lake Refresh”) and up to 128 GB of 3200 MHz TruDDR4 ECC memory.
Flexible and scalable internal storage configurations include up to ten 2.5-inch or four 3.5-inch drives with affordable software RAID or advanced hardware RAID protection and a wide selection of drive sizes and types, including NVMe PCIe SSDs, SAS/SATA SSDs, and SAS/SATA HDDs. Also, it features integrated dual-port 1 Gb Ethernet NIC and additional PCIe expansion slots for hardware RAID protection, network scalability, and external storage connectivity.
The next-generation Lenovo XClarity Controller, which is built into the SR250 V2 server, provides advanced service processor control, monitoring, and alerting functions.
The following figure shows the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR250 V2 with ten 2.5-inch hot-swap drives.
Did you know?
The ThinkSystem SR250 V2 is an entry-level server with enterprise-grade management features and support for hot-swap power supplies and drives. It offers full support of Lenovo XClarity Administrator for comprehensive systems management and includes the next generation UEFI-based Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager for system setup and diagnosis, and the Lenovo XClarity Controller management processor for ongoing systems management and alerting. These tools make the SR250 V2 easy to deploy, integrate, service, and manage.
Key features
The SR250 V2 server is a compact, cost-effective, single-processor 1U rack server that has been optimized to provide enterprise-class features to small-to-medium-sized businesses, retail stores, or distributed enterprises.
Scalability and performance
The SR250 V2 offers the following features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:
- Improved single-socket processor performance:
- Intel Xeon E-2300 Series processors (“Rocket Lake-E”) up to to 8 cores and core speeds up to 3.7 GHz
- Intel Pentium G6405, G6505 and G6605 processors (“Comet Lake Refresh”) with 2 cores and core speeds up to 4.3 GHz
- Up to four 3200 MHz DDR4 ECC UDIMMs provide speed and capacity of up to 128 GB
- Offers flexible and scalable internal storage in a 1U rack form factor with up to 10x 2.5-inch drives for performance-optimized configurations or up to 4x 3.5-inch drives for capacity-optimized configurations
- Up to three PCIe slots for I/O expansion, one of which has the new PCIe Gen4 interface to maximize I/O performance
- The use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of, or along with, traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) can significantly improve I/O performance. An SSD can support up to 100 times more I/O operations per second (IOPS) than a typical HDD.
- New high-speed RAID controllers from Lenovo and Broadcom provide 12 Gb SAS connectivity to the drive backplanes
- Supports two M.2 drives for OS boot support with VROC RAID redundancy
- The server has two integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Support for a NVIDIA GPU for enhanced workload performance
Availability and serviceability
The SR250 V2 server provides many features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:
- Designed to run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- The SR250 V2 supports UDIMM memory with ECC protection which provides error correction not available in PC-class “servers” that use parity memory. Avoiding system crashes (and data loss) due to soft memory errors means greater system uptime.
- Provides easy access to upgrades and serviceable parts (such as memory DIMMs and adapter cards) with tool-less cover removal.
- Much like hot-swap drives, simple-swap drives are mounted on an easy-to-remove tray and work with the same RAID options. Simple-swap require a system power-down before adding or replacing, however simple-swap drives are less expensive than hot-swap drives.
- Offers data protection and greater system uptime with a choice of affordable onboard SATA RAID or advanced hardware RAID redundancy, along with hot-swap drives (select models).
- The server supports hot-swap power supplies; with two installed, they form a redundant pair to provide availability for business-critical applications.
- The built-in XClarity Controller continuously monitors system parameters, triggers alerts, and performs recovery actions in case of failures to minimize downtime.
- Allows preventive actions in advance of possible failure, thereby increasing server uptime and application availability with Proactive Platform Alerts (including PFA and SMART alerts) for memory, internal storage (SAS/SATA HDDs and SSDs, NVMe SSDs, M.2 SSDs), RAID controllers, and server ambient and sub-component temperatures.
- Provides quick access to system status, firmware, network, health, and alerts information via Virtual Operator Panel from the XClarity Mobile App running on the Android or iOS mobile device that is connected to the front USB port with XClarity Controller access.
- Built-in diagnostics in UEFI, using Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager, speed up troubleshooting tasks to reduce service time.
- Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager supports diagnostics and can save service data to a USB key drive or remote CIFS share folder for troubleshooting and reduce service time.
- Support for the XClarity Administrator Mobile app running on a supported smartphone and connected to the server through the service-enabled USB port, enables additional local systems management functions.
- Auto restart in the event of a momentary loss of AC power (based on power policy setting in the XClarity Controller service processor)
- One-year or three-year customer-replaceable unit (CRU) and onsite limited warranty with next business day response. Optional service upgrades are available.
Manageability and security
Powerful systems management features simplify local and remote management of the SR250 V2 server and deliver enterprise-class data protection:
- The server includes an XClarity Controller (XCC) to monitor server availability. Optional upgrade to XCC Advanced to provide remote control (keyboard video mouse) functions. Optional upgrade to XCC Enterprise enables the additional support for the mounting of remote media files (ISO and IMG image files), boot capture, and power capping.
- Lenovo XClarity Administrator offers comprehensive hardware management tools that help to increase uptime, reduce costs and improve productivity through advanced server management capabilities.
- New UEFI-based Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager, accessible from F1 during boot, provides system inventory information, graphical UEFI Setup, platform update function, RAID Setup wizard, operating system installation function, and diagnostic functions.
- Support for Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager which captures real-time power and temperature data from the server and provides automated controls to lower energy costs.
- Integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support enables advanced cryptographic functionality, such as digital signatures and remote attestation.
- Industry-standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) NI support for faster, stronger encryption.
- Intel Execute Disable Bit functionality can prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks when combined with a supported operating system.
- Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel Xeon E processors only) provides enhanced security through hardware-based resistance to malicious software attacks, allowing an application to run in its own isolated space, protected from all other software running on a system.
- Helps prevent unauthorized software from running on the server by protecting against boot block-level malicious software with Intel Boot Guard technology.
- Protects application code and data from disclosure or modification with Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX), enabling high-assurance security use cases, such as blockchain, identity and records privacy, secure browsing, and digital rights management (DRM).
- Optional lockable front security bezel for additional physical security
Energy efficiency
The SR250 V2 server offers the following energy saving features to save energy, reduce operational costs, increase energy availability, and contribute to the green environment:
- Delivers optimized compute power per watt, featuring 80 PLUS Gold (fixed) and Platinum (hot-swap) AC power supplies.
- Reduces power drawn with Intel Intelligent Power Capability that powers individual processor elements on and off as needed.
- Helps reduce power consumption with variable speed fans.
- Helps achieve lower heat output and reduced cooling needs with Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager that provides advanced data center power notification, analysis, and policy-based management.
Components and connectors
There are four different base drive configurations available for the SR250 V2, as shown in the following figure:
- 10x 2.5-inch hot-swap drive bays, SAS/SATA
- 8x 2.5-inch hot-swap drive bays, either SAS only or SAS/SATA
- 4x 3.5-inch hot-swap drives, either SAS only or SAS/SATA
- 4x 3.5-inch simple-swap drives, either SATA only or 3x SATA + 1x NVMe
Figure 2. Front configurations of the ThinkSystem SR250 V2
The following figure shows the components on the front of the SR250 V2 server.
Figure 3. Front view of the SR250 V2 with 10x 2.5-inch drive bays
The following figure shows the rear of the SR250 V2 server.
Figure 4. Rear view of the SR250 V2
The following figure shows the locations of key components inside the SR250 V2 server.
Figure 5. Internal view of the SR250 V2
System architecture
The following figure shows the architectural block diagram of the SR250 V2, showing the major components and their connections.
Figure 6. SR250 V2 system architectural block diagram
