Lenovo Thinksystem ST250 Tower - Intel Xeon E-2246G 6 Core 3.6GHz 80W - 16GB - Software Raid (SATA) - 1x550W HS - 8x2.5" HS Open Bays

Enterprise-quality tower server

A 1S tower server featuring the latest Intel® Xeon® E-2200 processor, the ThinkSystem ST250 features enterprise compute and storage paired with office-quiet acoustics. The ThinkSystem ST250 is ideal for the retail application, branch office, or environment that may lack dedicated data center real estate, with Lenovo XClarity management offering a seamless IT administrative experience.

Enterprise capacity

The Thinksystem ST250 harnesses enterprise-level server power with the next-generation Intel® Xeon® E-2200 processors, featuring a performance bump of up to 34% generation-to-generation, in tandem with a wide range of storage options and seamless integration with Lenovo's XClarity management system.

This capable tower server offers streamlined enterprise business applications including office automation, web serving and near-side data backup. Support for Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX) provides security for application code and data, such as blockchain.

Enterprise flexibility

The ThinkSystem ST250 features a highly flexible design that deploys server performance where it's needed and adapts as requirements change over time, including highly expandable storage configurations, GPU support, and multiple PCIe expansion slots.

Lenovo XClarity software provides easy-to-use systems management and dramatically reduces provisioning time, while an array of XClarity integrators allow utilization of XClarity through external IT applications to streamline IT management and contain costs.

Designed for ROBO use

A compact footprint and office-quiet cooling system make the ThinkSystem ST250 ideal for the remote office/ branch office environment.

Critical asset dependability is a result of components that increase server uptime, workplace productivity, and system security including dual-redundant power supplies and lockable front bezels. These are component solutions ideal for an environment without a dedicated on-site IT support system.

Key features

The ThinkSystem ST250 is a office-friendly tower server that has been optimized to provide enterprise-class features to small businesses, retail, educational institutions and branch offices.

Scalability and performance

The ST250 offers the following features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:

- The Intel Xeon E-2100 Series processors improves productivity by offering affordable single-socket system performance with 6-core processors with up to 3.8 GHz core speeds.

- Intelligent and adaptive system performance with Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 allows processor cores to run at maximum speeds during peak workloads by temporarily going beyond processor thermal design power (TDP).

- Intel Hyper-Threading Technology boosts performance for multithreaded applications by enabling simultaneous multithreading within each processor core, up to two threads per core.

- Intel Virtualization Technology integrates hardware-level virtualization hooks that allow operating system vendors to better use the hardware for virtualization workloads.
Up to four 2666 MHz DDR4 ECC or non-ECC UDIMMs provide speed and capacity of up to 128GB.

- The server offers PCI Express 3.0 I/O expansion capabilities that increase the theoretical maximum bandwidth by almost 100% (8 GTps per link using 128b/130b encoding) compared to the PCI Express 2.0 (5 GTps per link using 8b/10b encoding).

- With Intel Integrated I/O Technology, the PCI Express 3.0 controller is integrated into the Intel Xeon E-2100 Series processors. Such integration reduces I/O latency and increases overall system performance.

- The 12 Gbps SAS internal storage connectivity doubles the data transfer rate compared to 6 Gb SAS solutions to maximize performance of storage I/O-intensive applications.

- Flexible storage configurations support either 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays or a combination of the two (hybrid configuration). Drive bays support SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs.
Up to 16x 2.5-inch hot-swap drive bays
Up to 8x 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays
Up to 4x 3.5-inch + 8x 2.5-inch drive bays
Up to 8x 3.5-inch simple-swap drive bays

- 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 Broadcom provide 12 Gb SAS connectivity to the drive backplanes. A variety of RAID adapters are available, with cache up to 4 GB and support for 20 drives on a single controller.

- Offers two 5.25-inch media bays with support for optical drives or backup drives.

- Supports a single M.2 drive as an additional storage/boot device.

- The server has two integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports.

- The server offers PCI Express 3.0 I/O expansion capabilities that improve the theoretical maximum bandwidth by almost 100% (8 GT/ps per link using 128b/130b encoding) compared to the previous generation of PCI Express 2.0 (5 GT/s per link using 8b/10b encoding).

- The server offers up to four PCIe 3.0 I/O expansion slots

- Support for a NVIDIA graphics processing unit (GPU) to enhanced graphics.

Availability and serviceability

The ST250 provides the following features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:

- The ST250 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.

-The server offers hot-swap (HS) SSDs and HDDs, and supports RAID redundancy for data protection and greater system uptime.

- 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.

- The server supports hot-swap power supplies; with two installed, they form a redundant pair to provide availability for business-critical applications.

- Tool-less cover removal provides easy access to upgrades and serviceable parts, such as memory and adapter cards.

- A choice of affordable onboard SATA RAID or advanced hardware RAID redundancy offers data protection and greater system uptime.

- The use of SSDs can provide better reliability than the use of traditional HDDs, for greater uptime.

- 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.

- 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

The following powerful systems management features simplify local and remote management of the ST250:

- 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 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.

- 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).

- Physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access: Loop for a padlock to prevent the side panel from being opened and a slot at the rear of the server for a Kensington Cable Lock. Optional additional physical security features are a lockable front security door and a chassis intrusion switch (included in some models).

Energy efficiency

The ST250 offers the following energy-efficiency features to save energy, reduce operational costs, increase energy availability, and contribute to the green environment:

- Energy-efficient planar components help lower operational costs.

- High-efficiency power supplies with 80 PLUS Platinum and Titanium certifications. Energy Star 2.1 certified.

- Intel Intelligent Power Capability powers individual processor elements on and off as needed to reduce power draw.

- Low-voltage 1.2 V DDR4 memory DIMMs use up to 20% less energy compared to 1.35 V DDR3 DIMMs.

- SSDs use as much as 80% less power than traditional spinning 2.5-inch HDDs.

- The server uses hexagonal ventilation holes, which can be grouped more densely than round holes, providing more efficient airflow through the system.

- Optional Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager provides advanced data center power notification, analysis, and policy-based management to help achieve lower heat output and reduced cooling needs.

Components and connectors

The following figure shows the front of the server.

Figure 2. Front view of the ThinkSystem ST250 server

The following figure shows the rear of the server.

Figure 3. Rear view of the ThinkSystem ST250 server

The following figure shows the locations of key components inside the server.

Figure 4. Internal view of the ThinkSystem ST250 server

System architecture

The following figure shows the architectural block diagram of the ST250, showing the major components and their connections.

ST250 system architectural block diagram

A closer look at the SATA ports for use with SATA drives, optical drives and an M.2 drive,