HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 Power Consumption
Our HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 test server, unlike higher-end servers, does not have power supplies capable of reading power consumption. Instead, we hooked this up to our lab power meters and took a few power readings.
- Idle: 36.1W
- STH 70% Load: 89.7W
- 100% Load: 123W
- Maximum Recorded: 146W
Often these servers will sit at idle for long periods of time. If you are sizing servers for web hosting style deployments, servers typically sit on the lower end of the spectrum, closer to the idle numbers versus the STH 70% load figures.
For the vast majority of even low-end colocation options and remote branch office deployments, this power envelope is more than sufficient as it generally fits in a 1A at 120V per U power budget unless it is running at absolutely maximum load. This is an area where we may see a swap from an 80Plus Silver to Gold rated PSU help make even our 100% load number fit in that power budget.
STH Server Spider: HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10
In the second half of 2018, we introduced the STH Server Spider as a quick reference to where a server system’s aptitude lies. Our goal is to start giving a quick visual depiction of the types of parameters that a server is targeted at.
The HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 is a compact form factor. That allows for dense configurations but also does not leave a lot of room for storage, networking, or add-in cards.
Final Words
Overall, the HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 performed admirably as well it should. This is one of, if not the premier short depth single-socket Intel Xeon E-2100 systems that will be launched with this generation. The build quality is excellent. You can see that the HPE ProLiant mechanical design and product management teams did a great job designing and easily serviceable system with a surprising amount of flexibility.
The three points where we would urge HPE to look at in future generations are:
- Offering iKVM as standard in this class of server while retaining an iLO Advanced upgrade for fleet management features HPE offers. This would take away one of the leading white box advantages in this segment. We realize this is a broader discussion that needs to happen within HPE.
- Making 80Plus Gold or better-rated power supplies standard. On a single system, this may have minor operating cost savings. On multiple systems, this may have rack density implications even at 120V / 15A or 20A racks. Still, we would like to see HPE make a commitment to energy efficiency in this space.
- Utilizing a motherboard design with 1-2 M.2 and a dedicated management port standard instead of using an additional riser to make the features optional. We urge our readers to start their configurations with the dedicated management NIC and M.2 card as part of their base configurations.
That is a fairly short list of improvements. Make no mistake, the HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 is a fantastic server given its size and scope. It has the customizability, features, serviceability, and security focus that put it firmly at the front of the pack. We have other Intel Xeon E-2100 series servers in the lab with their reviews in the publishing queue. We wanted this to be our launch platform review because the compact HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10 is an excellent all-around system.
This might be the most comprehensive review of any HPE server product ever done. I’m happy to see you’re reviewing HPE again.
We’re a big Dell shop and use your R740xd and R7415 reviews all the time. I know several of our customers that used STH reviews as the deciding factor when we’ve quoted for them. This is a great review but I’m not thrilled about our HPE competition having access to STH review material.
Only 2 LFF is weak. Dell has better m2 options too.
wow! another 9.3 review! i would have guessed a 9.4 – or maybe a 9.5!
Another stellar review STH.
You’re right. I think we priced out a DL20 Gen9 and the config was $1050 and the iLO Advanced for internet KVM and media was $200. We were buying 4 servers so it was buy 4 HPE or 5 white box. We don’t need any of the other features but our remote hands cost is $120. We even did the analysis of what it’d cost to just do remote hands and it was cheaper.
Your market assumption is off. I don’t think outside of dedicated web hosting there’s a market for these in quantity at a location At 5 servers we’d just get a dual Xeon Gold or Silver server and virtualize. I’d say there’s either really big installations of hundreds or thousands of these servers or small 1 to 4 server installs but not much between.
You guys are awesome. STH do more HPE ProLiant reviews.
I love this site.
That’s a great insight you’ve got on kvm over ip. Maybe they sell advanced on one of 4 servers and that’s like all the margin for the product line. It’s a shame they don’t get more competitive with that feature.
I was interested until you talked about the hamstrung iLO, I’ll stick with Supermicro who provide virtual media included in their lower priced boxes.
Did you try to fit a Nvidia Quadro M2000 in the half length full height pci-e gen 3 slot? Looking at the picture the P2000 might not fit due to the heat sink
We did not get to test that Philippe-Anselme. Unfortunately too many possible cards to test every one.
Hi,
I am going to order a CTO DL20 Gen10 tomorrow.
The price jump from Single 290W PSU to Redundant 500W is really big.
I am thinking of buying the single 290W model and maybe buy an extra PSU in case of failure.
How many years do they work 24/7 before they fail at average? 5-7 years?
I have a Dell R710 (2010) with redundant PSU and I had a failure in 3-4 months!
DL20 will replace old dell.
Hello! Can somebody tell more about noise which is produced by this server. We hava a small branch Office and I am wondering if this server can take place in 19″ rack under the Office desk? Thanks
Hi Andrej, it was too loud to be under my desk if that helps. We have an upcoming review of the ProLiant HPE ML30 Gen10 along with other tower servers in this class that are quiet and can be placed under a desk.
Could somebody which HPE model(, HPE ProLiant DL20 Gen10???), has been integrated with Intel N3000 card and passed tests?
Thanks,
Harry