I recently picked up a Dell PowerEdge R720 at a good price. Here’s how I got it running in my homelab — cooling, firmware, Proxmox migration, storage, and UPS.
Specs
- Form factor: 2U rack
- RAM: 192GB ECC DDR3
- CPUs: Dual Intel Xeon E5-2697v2 (12 cores / 24 threads total)
- iDRAC: iDRAC7 Enterprise
- Storage: 2× 2TB SSD (RAID 1) + 6× 300GB SAS 6Gb/s (RAID 10)
- Network: Dual-port integrated Gigabit Ethernet
- PSU: Dual redundant (750W each)
Idle power draw with this config (192GB RAM, dual CPUs, SSDs) sits around 120–150W. Under load it goes to 200–250W, peaking around 300W on heavy workloads.
Delivery Issue
The server arrived with the front backplane disconnected — the included mini SAS cable was too short. I needed a 59cm cable, which I found here:
Fan Control with IPMItool
The R720 runs loud out of the box. IPMItool lets you take manual control of fan speeds over the network via iDRAC.
Install
sudo apt-get install ipmitoolEnable Manual Fan Control
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ip_addr -U username -P password raw 0x30 0x30 0x01 0x00Restore Automatic Fan Control
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ip_addr -U username -P password raw 0x30 0x30 0x01 0x01Set Fan Speed
ipmitool -I lanplus -H ip_addr -U username -P password raw 0x30 0x30 0x02 0xff 0x14The last byte is the speed in hex. Reference:
| Percent | Hex | RPM |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 0x0A | ~3,300 RPM |
| 16% | 0x10 | ~3,900 RPM |
| 20% | 0x14 | ~4,000 RPM |
| 25% | 0x19 | ~4,700 RPM |
| 30% | 0x1E | ~5,400 RPM |
| 40% | 0x28 | ~7,300 RPM |
| 50% | 0x32 | ~8,000 RPM |
| 60% | 0x3C | ~9,400 RPM |
| 70% | 0x46 | ~10,800 RPM |
| 80% | 0x50 | ~12,100 RPM |
| 90% | 0x5A | ~13,300 RPM |
| 100% | 0x64 | 15,000 RPM |
Monitor Fan Status
ipmitool sensor | grep -i fanFirmware Update
Find Your Server Generation
Check Wikipedia’s Dell PowerEdge list — the R720 is gen 12 (g12).
Update via iDRAC FTP
- Go to Maintenance > System Update in the iDRAC web interface
- Select FTP and use these settings:
- Address: ftp.updateyodell.net
- User: dell
- Password: calvin
- Path: g12
- Click Check for Updates and apply
Proxmox Migration
I migrated my existing Proxmox cluster to the R720 using an NFS share on my Synology DS223. Nothing complicated — mount the share, restore from the existing dumps.
Mount NFS Share
mount -t nfs <synology_ip>:/path/to/nfs /mnt/pve/nfsRestore VMs
pct restore <vmid> /mnt/pve/nfs/dump/dump.tarStorage Configuration
Two 2TB SSDs in RAID 1 for the OS and primary applications. Six 300GB SAS drives in RAID 10 for data — gives you the read performance of striping with redundancy against single drive failures. Configured through the PERC controller during initial setup.
UPS Integration with PowerPanel
I’m using a CyberPower UPS and opted for PowerPanel instead of NUT.
Install
curl -o cyberpowerpowerpanel.deb https://www.cyberpower.com/tw/en/File/GetFileSampleByType?fileId=SU-18070001-06&fileType=Download%20Center&fileSubType=FileOriginaldpkg -i cyberpowerpowerpanel.debConfigure Shutdown Policy
pwrstat -lowbatt -runtime 300 -capacity 35 -active on -cmd /etc/pwrstatd-lowbatt.sh -duration 1 -shutdown onThis triggers a graceful shutdown when runtime drops below 300 seconds or battery capacity falls under 35%, with a 1-minute delay before executing. The script at /etc/pwrstatd-lowbatt.sh handles any pre-shutdown tasks you want to run.
References
- Dell & HP Server Manual Fan Control
- Kenneth Finnegan — Update your old ass Dell servers
- NOiSEA — CyberPower PowerPanel on Proxmox Forum