Dell PowerEdge R340 Buyer's Guide — Gen 14 1U Xeon E-2200 ROBO & SMB Server
Reliable Performance for ROBO, SMB, and Service Providers
Remote Office / Branch Office (ROBO) — Compact 1U form factor with redundant PSU capability delivers enterprise-grade reliability to distributed edge locations without dedicated on-site IT
File & Print Services — Dense drive capacity with up to 8 × 2.5-inch bays handles shared network storage and print queue management for offices with dozens of concurrent users
Web Hosting & Lightweight E-Commerce — Steady throughput with Xeon E-2200 performance and up to 64 GB ECC RAM supports SMB web applications and low-to-mid traffic e-commerce platforms
Mail Server — Single-socket platform with iDRAC9 remote management suits Microsoft Exchange or similar hosted business email services in branch deployments
Virtualization — Up to 8-core / 16-thread Xeon E-2288G with VT-x / VT-d hardware virtualization support enables efficient guest OS hosting under VMware ESXi or Microsoft Hyper-V
DHCP & DNS Infrastructure — Low-TDP Celeron and Pentium options keep core network infrastructure services running continuously with minimal power consumption
Surveillance & Data Collection — High drive density (up to 8 bays) and compact 1U chassis support IP camera feed ingestion and IoT data retention at edge rack installations
Up to 8-Core Intel® Xeon® E-2200 Series Processor
Intel Xeon E-2200 Family — Coffee Lake Refresh silicon with up to 8 cores and 16 threads at up to 3.7 GHz base in a single LGA 1151 socket
Wide SKU Range — From Intel Celeron G4930 (2C/2T, 54 W) up through Xeon E-2288G (8C/16T, 95 W) to match every budget and TDP requirement
Also Supports E-2100 and Value Processors — Intel Xeon E-2100 family, Core i3 (8100/9100), Pentium (G5500/G5420), and Celeron (G4900/G4930) all supported in the same LGA 1151 socket
Turbo Boost 2.0 — All Xeon E-2200 SKUs support automatic frequency scaling to rated boost clocks when operating below thermal and power limits
Up to 2666 MT/s DDR4 — Integrated two-channel DDR4 memory controller maximizes bandwidth across all four UDIMM slots at 2666 MT/s
16 PCIe Gen 3 Lanes — Intel C246 chipset delivers 20% more PCIe bandwidth compared to the E3-1200 v6 C236 predecessor; supports RAID cards, NICs, and BOSS modules simultaneously
Intel VT-x / VT-d — Hardware virtualization support enables efficient guest OS management under VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM hypervisors
DDR4 ECC UDIMM — Up to 64 GB at 2666 MT/s
4 DIMM Slots — Single-socket platform with four 288-pin DDR4 UDIMM slots; fully populated 4 × 16 GB configuration reaches the 64 GB maximum
ECC Only — Unbuffered ECC DDR4 corrects single-bit errors across all 72-bit channels (64 data + 8 ECC bits), protecting ROBO and branch workload integrity
Up to 2666 MT/s — Maximum memory speed with 8 GB or 16 GB UDIMMs across all channel configurations; 11% faster than the R330's 2400 MT/s ceiling
Single and Dual Rank Support — Supports both single-rank and dual-rank UDIMM modules at 8 GB and 16 GB capacities for maximum configuration flexibility
3200 MT/s Compatible — 3200 MT/s UDIMMs are physically compatible from BIOS version 2.5.1 but operate at 2666 MT/s maximum effective speed
Dual-Channel Mode — Populating both memory channels enables dual-channel operation for maximum memory bandwidth with bandwidth-sensitive workloads
Flexible Upgrade Path — Start with a single DIMM in slot A1 and expand incrementally; all four slots can be populated independently as workloads grow
Up to 8 × 2.5-Inch or 4 × 3.5-Inch Hot-Plug Drive Bays
8 × 2.5-Inch Hot-Plug Configuration — Accepting hot-swappable SAS, SATA, NL-SAS, and SSD drives (2.5-inch chassis); more drive density in the same 1U footprint than the R240
4 × 3.5-Inch Hot-Plug Configuration — Wider 3.5-inch hot-plug bays for high-capacity NL-SAS and SATA HDDs; chassis depth extends to 573.6 mm to accommodate full-height 3.5-inch media
4 × 2.5-Inch in 3.5-Inch Adapters — Install 2.5-inch SAS, SATA, or SSD drives in the 3.5-inch chassis using optional 3.5-to-2.5-inch drive adapters for mixed-media flexibility
17% More Storage Capacity vs R330 — Increased drive density delivers more raw storage in the same 1U chassis footprint compared to the previous generation R330
12 Gbps SAS & 6 Gbps SATA — Both SAS-3 (12 Gbps) and SATA III (6 Gbps) drive protocol speeds are supported across all chassis and drive configurations
High-Capacity SSDs Supported — 2.5-inch SATA SSDs from 240 GB to 7.68 TB and SAS SSDs up to 7.68 TB for high-IOPS workloads requiring fast random access
Optional Optical Drive — One dedicated SATA slim ODD bay supports DVD-ROM or DVD+/-RW drives for OS installation media and legacy optical media access
BOSS M.2 Module & Combined IDSDM/vFlash Card
BOSS Card — Boot Optimized Storage Subsystem occupies one PCIe slot and provides dedicated M.2 SATA SSD media for OS boot, keeping all drive bays free for data storage
Dual M.2 Configuration — Two M.2 240 GB modules in RAID 1 mirrored mode or No-RAID for full flexibility and optional OS boot redundancy
Single M.2 Configuration — One M.2 240 GB module running No-RAID only mode for deployments where full boot media redundancy is not required
Full OS Support — BOSS supports any full operating system on M.2 media — unlike IDSDM which is optimized for hypervisor-only (ESXi) deployments
Combined IDSDM/vFlash Module — Gen 14 merges IDSDM and vFlash into a single module: two microSD cards (16, 32, or 64 GB) for IDSDM RAID 1 boot, plus one microSD card for vFlash virtual media storage
IDSDM RAID 1 — Both microSD cards mirror each other for redundant ESXi hypervisor boot; single-card mode also supported for non-redundant configurations
vFlash Storage — Virtual flash module extends iDRAC9 media storage for OS images, configuration archives, and diagnostic tools, all accessible remotely via iDRAC
PERC H730P, H330, HBA330, and Software RAID S140
PERC H730P — Hardware RAID controller with 2 GB NV flash cache; supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 for high-performance write-intensive workloads across all supported drive types
PERC H330 — Entry-level hardware RAID without onboard cache; supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, and 60 for cost-optimized deployments with predictable sequential workloads
PERC S140 — Next-generation software RAID built into the chipset; supports RAID 0, 1, 5, and 10 without any add-in controller card — new in Gen 14 over S130
HBA330 Internal — Host Bus Adapter for JBOD pass-through scenarios where the OS or a software-defined storage layer (e.g. ZFS, Storage Spaces Direct) manages data protection
12 Gbps SAS HBA (External) — connects SAS disk shelves, tape libraries, and direct-attached storage enclosures; also HBA355e available for higher-density external SAS expansion
Gen 14 Improvements — S140 replaces S130 (adding RAID 5 support); H730P replaces H730 with NV cache; HBA330 internal JBOD adapter is new vs the R330
12 Gbps SAS/SATA Support — All controller options support SAS-3 and SATA III drive protocols across the full mix of 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch drive types in both chassis configurations
2 × PCIe Gen 3 Slots Plus Dedicated Internal PERC Slot
Slot 1 — Low Profile — x8 PCIe Gen 3 slot with x4 CPU lanes; accepts half-height, half-length cards up to 68.9 mm tall and 167.65 mm long
Slot 2 — Low Profile / Full Height — x16 PCIe Gen 3 slot with x8 CPU lanes; accepts either low-profile or full-height, half-length cards — the most capable expansion slot in the chassis
Internal PERC Slot — Dedicated x8 PCIe Gen 3 low-profile, half-length slot at x8 bandwidth for PERC H730P or H330 storage controllers, leaving both external slots free for NICs and HBAs
20% More PCIe Bandwidth — Intel C246 platform delivers 20% more PCIe lane bandwidth than the predecessor C236-based R330 for faster NIC, RAID, and HBA throughput
BOSS Card Placement — BOSS M.2 module occupies Slot 1 (LP) when installed; keeping Slot 2 (LP/FH) fully available for a PERC controller card or supplemental NIC
NIC Add-In Cards — Intel I350 and Broadcom 5720/5719 dual- and quad-port 1 GbE cards available in both full-height and low-profile form factors for expanded network port count
No GPU Output — Intel E-2100/E-2200 platform does not support discrete graphics card output due to processor-level constraints; compute-class expansion cards (RAID HBAs, NICs) only
Dual 1GbE LOM with Dedicated iDRAC9 Management Port
2 × Broadcom BCM5720 LOM — Integrated dual-port 1GbE network controller on the rear panel (Gb1 and Gb2) provides out-of-box Ethernet connectivity for all host traffic
iDRAC Dedicated NIC — Separate 1GbE management port exclusively for iDRAC9 out-of-band access; does not share bandwidth with host LOM ports and remains active even with OS down
10/100/1000 Mbps Auto-Sensing — Both LOM ports support full auto-negotiation at all three Ethernet speeds for compatibility with legacy and modern switching infrastructure
Optional Dual-Port 1GbE NIC — Intel I350 DP or Broadcom BCM5720 DP add-in cards available in both full-height and low-profile form factors for two additional host network ports
Optional Quad-Port 1GbE NIC — Intel I350 QP or Broadcom BCM5719 QP for environments requiring four additional host network ports for traffic segregation or failover teaming
PCIe Gen 3 Bandwidth — Network add-in cards connected via x4 or x8 PCIe Gen 3 lanes at up to 8 GT/s transfer rate per lane
ROBO-Ready Stack — Dual 1GbE LOM covers all typical branch office and service provider bandwidth requirements without requiring additional NIC hardware investment
Single or Dual Hot-Plug 350 W / 550 W Platinum PSUs
350 W Platinum (Redundant) — Hot-plug AC power supply rated at 100–240 V autoranging; 80 PLUS Platinum efficiency; max heat dissipation 1356 BTU/hr for standard configurations
550 W Platinum (Redundant) — Higher-wattage hot-plug Platinum PSU for fully loaded configurations with Xeon E-2288G, eight drives, and PCIe expansion cards; max 2107 BTU/hr
Hot-Plug Redundancy — Dual PSU hot-spare mode allows online PSU replacement without powering down the server; critical for branch offices where planned downtime is unacceptable
Single PSU Option — Single 350 W or 550 W PSU supported for cost-optimized non-redundant deployments where power redundancy is not required
Wide Voltage Range — Autoranging 100–240 V AC at 50/60 Hz supports worldwide power standards without a manual voltage selector switch
80 PLUS Platinum Efficiency — Both PSU options carry Platinum efficiency ratings, reducing excess heat generation and lowering total cost of ownership over multi-year deployments
Right-Sized Selection — 350 W covers E-2224, Pentium, and Celeron processor configurations; 550 W is recommended for E-2288G with four 3.5-inch or eight 2.5-inch drives fully loaded
Multi-Vector Cooling for Efficient, Adaptive Airflow
Multi-Vector Cooling — Dell's thermal algorithm automatically calculates and delivers the optimal airflow profile for every hardware configuration, minimizing fan noise and energy use
4 System Cooling Fans — Four hot-plug redundant fans; Fan 1 activates when a PERC card and/or expansion riser is installed to ensure adequate airflow over PCIe add-in cards
Closed-Loop Control — Real-time temperature sensors on the CPU, chipset, and drive backplane feed the fan speed controller for dynamic per-second adjustments
Open-Loop Baseline — System hardware inventory pre-sets a baseline fan speed profile for detected components before closed-loop sensor feedback begins at boot
DAPC Default Profile — Dell Active Power Controller (Power Optimized) thermal mode keeps acoustics low during standard workloads to support near-office rack environments
10–35°C Standard Operating Range — Certified continuous operation up to 3048 m (10,000 ft) altitude; expanded range permits 5–40°C continuous and –5 to 45°C for ≤1% of annual hours
Particulate Filtering — Data center air must meet ISO Class 8 (ISO 14644-1) with MERV11 or MERV13 inlet filtration; conductive dust and corrosive particles must be absent
Comprehensive Front and Rear Port Layout
Front USB — 1 × USB 2.0 port for local management media; 1 × iDRAC Direct Micro USB 2.0 port for at-the-server diagnostics and direct iDRAC console access without a network
Rear USB — 2 × USB 3.0 ports (5 Gbps) for external storage, OS installation media, or peripheral dongles mounted at the rear panel
Internal USB — 1 × USB 3.0 internal header for boot drives, licensing dongles, or system management USB keys held securely inside the chassis
VGA Display Port — 1 × DB-15 VGA port on the rear panel; integrated Matrox G200eW3 with 16 MB frame buffer supports up to 1280 × 1024 resolution at 75 Hz
Serial Console Port — 1 × DB-9 serial connector (9-pin DTE, 16550-compliant) on the rear panel for legacy serial console access, BIOS configuration, and headless terminal sessions
NIC & Management Ports — 2 × RJ-45 1GbE LOM ports (Gb1, Gb2) and 1 × dedicated iDRAC9 RJ-45 NIC port on the rear panel for segregated out-of-band management
PCIe Add-In I/O — LP and LP/FH PCIe slots expose add-in card ports at the rear chassis for NICs, HBAs, and RAID controllers from a broad ecosystem of compatible adapters
End-to-End Cyber Resilient Security Architecture
Silicon Root of Trust — Cryptographic fingerprint burned into the iDRAC9 silicon validates every firmware component from power-on before the OS loads, preventing firmware-level tampering
Cryptographically Signed Firmware — All Dell firmware packages carry a digital certificate; any tampered or unsigned package is rejected at installation time by the Lifecycle Controller
Secure Boot — UEFI Secure Boot prevents unauthorized or unsigned OS bootloaders and kernel modules from executing, protecting against rootkit and bootkit attacks
TPM 1.2 / TPM 2.0 — Optional Trusted Platform Module provides hardware-rooted key storage for BitLocker, Intel TXT, and remote attestation workloads
iDRAC9 Server Lockdown — Prevents unauthorized firmware, BIOS setting, or hardware configuration changes during runtime (requires iDRAC Enterprise or Datacenter license)
System Erase — Securely wipes all storage media including NAND flash, HDDs, and SSDs to cryptographic erasure standards before asset decommissioning, resale, or redeployment
Chassis Intrusion Switch — Hardware switch logs and alerts on unauthorized chassis opening events through iDRAC9 hardware inventory and the system event log
iDRAC9 Out-of-Band Management with Lifecycle Controller 3.0
iDRAC9 Embedded Controller — Dedicated management processor with its own NIC, power rail, and firmware; operates fully independent of the host OS for always-on remote access
Lifecycle Controller 3.0 — Agent-free provisioning, firmware updates, hardware configuration, and OS deployment — all accessible without a running OS or installed drivers
OpenManage Enterprise — One-to-many console for policy-based fleet management, hardware inventory, monitoring, and alerting across all PowerEdge generations in the data center or branch
OpenManage Mobile — Manage the R340 remotely from iOS or Android devices using the OpenManage Mobile app integrated with OpenManage Enterprise
iDRAC RESTful API with Redfish — Standards-based REST/JSON API supports infrastructure automation via Ansible Modules, Python, and PowerShell for lights-out branch management
iDRAC Direct — Front-panel Micro USB 2.0 port provides direct iDRAC access for at-the-server diagnostics, configuration, and console without needing network connectivity to the management port
SupportAssist Integration — Automated case creation, predictive failure alerting, and up to 72% reduction in IT effort resolving server hardware issues compared to Basic Warranty
Windows, Linux, VMware & Citrix Hypervisor Support
Windows Server 2019 — Certified for Standard and Essentials editions with Hyper-V; supports Windows Admin Center for modern browser-based fleet management
Windows Server 2016 — Fully supported with Hyper-V Standard and Essentials for environments standardized on the 2016 platform with long-term channel stability
Red Hat Enterprise Linux — RHEL certified for mission-critical workloads requiring long-term platform support and enterprise-grade kernel stability and subscription support
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server — SLES supported for file/print, SAP, and SUSE-standardized customer environments requiring independent Linux support lifecycle
Ubuntu Server LTS — Open-source option for developer teams, cloud-native services, and container orchestration workloads running on bare-metal Ubuntu
VMware ESXi 6.5 / 6.7 — Certified for both releases; integrates with vCenter, Dell OpenManage Integration for VMware vCenter (OMIVV), and IDSDM for hypervisor-only boot
Citrix XenServer 7.1 — Hypervisor support for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and hosted application delivery environments at branch and ROBO sites
ReadyRails™ Tool-Less Mounting for Standard 19-Inch Racks
ReadyRails Static Rails — Included for tool-less sliding installation in 4-post racks with square or unthreaded round holes; no cage nuts, screws, or tools required for rack insertion
Tooled Mounting Support — Supports screw-in installation in 4-post threaded racks and 2-post (Telco) racks for maximum mounting flexibility across legacy and modern rack enclosures
1U Compact Profile — 42.8 mm chassis height occupies a single rack unit; 3.5-inch drive chassis depth is 573.6 mm (22.58 in.); 2.5-inch chassis is 544.83 mm (21.45 in.)
CMA Connector — Rear system status indicator port accepts an optional Cable Management Arm for organized rear cable routing in high-density rack deployments
Maximum Weight — System weighs up to 13.6 kg (29.98 lb.) with four 3.5-inch drives and full memory population; 8 × 2.5-inch configuration weighs up to 12 kg (26.5 lb.)
19-Inch Standard Racks — Certified for use in standard 19-inch four-post rack enclosures per Dell EMC rack integration standards and EIA-310 mounting regulations
Rail Kit Documentation — Complete installation guides and rack compatibility matrices available at dell.com/poweredgemanuals for quick deployment reference
R340 vs R330 — 100% More Cores, Faster DDR4, and iDRAC9
100% More Cores — The R340 delivers up to 8 cores vs. 4 cores on the R330, doubling threaded compute capacity for multi-process and lightly virtualized workloads in the same 1U footprint
11% Faster Memory — DDR4 speed increases from 2400 MT/s (R330) to 2666 MT/s (R340), improving bandwidth-sensitive workload throughput across all four DIMM slots
20% More PCIe Bandwidth — Intel C246 platform versus C236 delivers more PCIe Gen 3 bandwidth for faster NIC, RAID, and HBA card throughput
iDRAC9 vs iDRAC8 — iDRAC9 adds Silicon Root of Trust, Redfish API, faster hardware inventory, server lockdown, and system erase — capabilities not present in iDRAC8
BOSS Boot Storage — R340 introduces BOSS M.2 dedicated OS boot media; R330 had no equivalent, requiring a drive bay for OS installation and losing data storage capacity
S140 & HBA330 — R340 upgrades S130 software RAID to S140 (adding RAID 5 support) and introduces the HBA330 internal JBOD adapter, both absent on the R330
Dual Hot-Plug Redundant PSU — R340 supports up to two 350 W or 550 W Platinum hot-plug redundant PSUs for branch-grade power redundancy; R330 offered only a single cabled PSU
| Feature | R330 (Gen 13) | R340 (Gen 14) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Family | Xeon E3-1200 v6 (up to 4C) | Xeon E-2100/E-2200 (up to 8C) |
| Max Cores | 4 cores | 8 cores (+100%) |
| L3 Cache | Up to 8 MB | Up to 16 MB |
| Chipset | Intel C236 | Intel C246 (+20% PCIe) |
| Memory Speed | Up to 2400 MT/s | Up to 2666 MT/s (+11%) |
| RAID Options | S130, H330, H730 | S140, H330, H730P, HBA330 |
| Boot Storage | Not supported | BOSS M.2 240 GB |
| Management | iDRAC8 Express / Enterprise | iDRAC9 Express / Enterprise |
| PSU Options | Single cabled PSU | Single or Dual hot-plug 350 W / 550 W Platinum |
| Drive Bays | Up to 4 × 3.5" or 8 × 2.5" | Up to 4 × 3.5" or 8 × 2.5" |
ProSupport Plus for Maximum Business-Critical Uptime
ProSupport Plus — Dell's most comprehensive service plan includes 24×7 proactive monitoring, predictive failure alerting, and priority access to senior engineers for critical ROBO deployments
SupportAssist Automation — Automated diagnostics and case creation reduce IT effort by up to 72% compared to manual troubleshooting under Basic Warranty without SupportAssist
ProSupport — Hardware support with 24×7 phone availability and on-site next-business-day or next-day dispatch service options for standard SLA requirements
ProDeploy Enterprise Suite — Advanced deployment with BIOS, OS, and application configuration; options range from Basic Deployment to ProDeploy Plus with application-level setup
Residency Services — Embedded Dell engineers available for extended on-site engagement covering configuration, optimization, and knowledge transfer for branch infrastructure rollouts
Remote Consulting Services — Expert remote guidance for data migration, configuration review, and infrastructure planning projects delivered without requiring on-site travel
Dell Education Services — Instructor-led and self-paced online training covering iDRAC9 administration, OpenManage Enterprise, and PowerEdge lifecycle management for IT staff
Frequently Asked Questions — Dell PowerEdge R340
The Dell PowerEdge R340 supports up to 64 GB of DDR4 ECC UDIMM RAM across four DIMM slots, using 4 × 16 GB modules at speeds up to 2666 MT/s. It supports ECC UDIMMs only — not RDIMMs or LRDIMMs — in both single-rank and dual-rank configurations at 8 GB and 16 GB per slot. Dual-channel operation activates when both memory channels are populated for maximum throughput. Configure your R340 memory at ECS.
The Dell PowerEdge R340 holds up to eight 2.5-inch hot-plug drives (SAS, SATA, NL-SAS, or SSD) in the 2.5-inch chassis configuration, or up to four 3.5-inch hot-plug drives in the 3.5-inch chassis — both configurations support all-flash SSD deployments. The BOSS M.2 boot module provides a separate dedicated OS boot drive so all bay slots remain available for data storage. A dedicated internal PERC PCIe slot keeps the two external expansion slots free for NICs or HBAs.
Yes. The Dell PowerEdge R340 supports single or dual hot-plug redundant Platinum PSUs — either 350 W or 550 W rated — a significant upgrade over the R330 which only offered a single cabled PSU. Dual PSU configuration enables online power supply replacement without powering down the server, making the R340 well-suited for remote office and branch deployments where planned maintenance downtime is unacceptable. The 350 W PSU covers standard CPU and drive configurations; the 550 W PSU is recommended for fully loaded E-2288G deployments.
Yes. Express Computer Systems stocks professionally reconditioned refurbished Dell PowerEdge R340 servers tested, cleaned, and configured to your exact CPU, memory, drive bay, and PSU specifications — ready to deploy for ROBO, branch office, or SMB workloads at significant cost savings versus new. Shop refurbished Dell R340 servers at ECS.
The Dell PowerEdge R340 (Gen 14) upgrades the R330 (Gen 13) with 100% more CPU cores (up to 8 vs 4), 11% faster DDR4 memory at 2666 MT/s vs 2400 MT/s, 20% more PCIe bandwidth from the Intel C246 chipset, iDRAC9 replacing iDRAC8 (adding Silicon Root of Trust, Redfish API, and system lockdown), a BOSS M.2 dedicated OS boot module absent on the R330, software RAID upgraded from S130 to S140 with RAID 5 support, the new HBA330 internal JBOD adapter, and dual hot-plug Platinum redundant PSU capability — all within the same 1U chassis and drive bay count.
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