Dell's 14th generation rack line runs from a 1U entry server to a 2U machine holding twenty-eight drives. The model numbers encode chassis height and position, not speed. This page sets out what each one actually gives you, so you can start from the workload.
The rack ladder
| Model | Height | Max 2.5" bays | Max 3.5" bays | NVMe front bays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PowerEdge R340 | 1U | Up to 8 | Up to 4 | Not listed |
| PowerEdge R440 | 1U | Up to 10 | Up to 4 | Not listed |
| PowerEdge R640 | 1U | Up to 10 | Not listed | Yes — up to 10 |
| PowerEdge R540 | 2U | Not listed | Up to 12 | Not listed |
| PowerEdge R740 | 2U | Up to 16 | Up to 8 | Not listed |
| PowerEdge R740XD | 2U | Up to 24, plus 4 rear | Up to 12, plus rear and internal options | Yes — up to 24 |
Reading the ladder
Height is the first decision
1U doubles the machines per cabinet and limits card height and cooling. 2U buys drives and physical room for larger expansion cards. In colocation, where you pay by the rack unit, that trade is the whole conversation.
The R340 is a single-socket entry platform
Dell states one processor from the Xeon E-2200 family, Pentium, Core i3 or Celeron, and four DDR4 DIMM slots with a 64GB maximum. That ceiling, not the drive count, is what rules it out of virtualisation work — and it is the specification most often missed when an R340 is bought as a cheap host.
The R440 and R640 look alike and are not
Both are 1U with the same SAS and SATA bay counts. The R640 lists NVMe-capable backplanes and the R440 does not; the R440 lists a 4-bay 3.5" option and the R640 does not. Those two facts decide between them more often than price.
The R540 is the capacity-led 2U
Twelve 3.5" bays and no 2.5" configuration listed. It is built for large spinning disks rather than a mixed drive population, which makes it a sensible backup or archive target and an awkward virtualisation host.
The R740 and R740XD are one platform with two backplanes
Same 2U server. The XD reaches 24 front bays plus rear and internal options, and it is the only platform in the line with NVMe at that scale. The R740 is the same machine for less when storage is not the constraint.
Choosing by workload
- Small business file, print or domain controller — R340 or R440, with the R340's 64GB ceiling checked against the plan first.
- Virtualisation with shared storage — R640 for density, R740 if local capacity is also needed.
- NVMe-backed databases or caching tiers — R640 in 1U, R740XD at scale.
- Backup targets and bulk archive — R540 for 3.5" capacity, R740XD where the bay count has to go further.
What these figures describe
The table sets out chassis configurations these platforms were built in, and the R340 memory figures are quoted from Dell's published specification. None of it describes what is fitted to a particular refurbished unit.
Where to go next
- R440 vs R640, R640 vs R740 and R740 vs R740XD
- R340, R440, R540, R640, R740 and R740xd specifications
- Rack or tower: choosing a PowerEdge form factor
- Plan drive capacity and RAID with the Storage & RAID Advisor
- Browse refurbished Dell PowerEdge servers
Hardware bought from TekBoost carries our standard 3-year warranty with Next Business Day part replacement, subject to the terms, exclusions and conditions on that page. If you would rather describe the workload than pick a model, request a quote.