Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 2U Server Review A Great Mainstream Option

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Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 Power Consumption

Our Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 test server used a single power supply configuration, and we wanted to measure how it performed using the Intel Xeon Gold 6150 CPU provided in the configuration we were sent.

  • Idle: 93W
  • STH 70% Load: 188W
  • 100% Load: 261W
  • Maximum Recorded: 337W

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.

Note these results were taken using a 208V Schneider Electric / APC PDU at 17.7C and 72% RH. Our testing window shown here had a +/- 0.3C and +/- 2% RH variance.

STH Server Spider: Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650

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.

Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 CPU STH Server Spider
Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 STH Server Spider

With only one Intel Xeon Scalable dual socket server in a 2U form factor, this system is designed more as a building block for storage, networking, and PCIe accelerator technology than the densest CPU and memory configuration on the market. This makes sense given the 2U system form factor.

Final Words

Overall, the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 is a solid 2U workhorse of a system. Lenovo has a massive number of possible configurations as one can customize just about everything including storage bays, storage controllers, drives, memory, CPUs, PCIe risers, networking, and more. Lenovo’s mechanical design is well above the average white box server. Small details like cable management and labeling are executed well on the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650. We are glad to see the new updated Lenovo XClarity management solution integrated as that is a major upgrade over the previous IMM.

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REVIEW OVERVIEW
Design & Aesthetics
9.1
Performance
9.3
Feature Set
9.3
Value
9.2
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Patrick has been running STH since 2009 and covers a wide variety of SME, SMB, and SOHO IT topics. Patrick is a consultant in the technology industry and has worked with numerous large hardware and storage vendors in the Silicon Valley. The goal of STH is simply to help users find some information about server, storage and networking, building blocks. If you have any helpful information please feel free to post on the forums.
lenovo-thinksystem-sr650-2u-server-reviewOur Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 2U server review finds an enormously flexible system with configuration options galore. Our thorough review shows the good points and what can be improved along with how the SR650 differentiates itself in a crowded market.

3 COMMENTS

  1. I’m looking for a cheap software-defined-storage server that would run Red Hat Ceph, anyone would recommend this or something similar for a Private OpenStack cloud?

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