Two processors in 2U (2P2U) is the big-selling sweet spot as far as server vendors are concerned, making the PowerEdge R720 from Dell a significant new product. It's also the first PowerEdge to ship with Xeon E5-2600 processors, based on Intel's latest Sandy Bridge EP architecture and the first of Dell's so-called 'twelfth-generation' (12G) PowerEdge servers, which major on enhanced management as well as performance and availability.
Storage is getting quite involved too, starting with the usual extensive choice of SATA/SAS and SSD drives, plus a number of controllers to match. Additionally you can specify up to four Dell Express Flash PCIe solid-state drives (on the R720 model only, not the R720xd); these hot-plug, front-access SSDs deliver fast storage without the processor overheads of conventional SSDs.
That aside, the most basic option when it comes to storage is a software-based PERC S110 designed to use the on-board SATA interface to support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays. However, with this budget arrangement you're limited to just four 3.5in. 3Gbps SATA disks. It's also a Windows-only solution, which means that most customers are likely to opt for something more capable.
Internal and external HBAs are both available here, including the new PERC H710P fitted on the review system, which can be used to implement fast internal SAS arrays without using up one of the PCIe expansion slots. Ours was cabled to a modest set of five 300GB disks spinning at 10,000rpm, but this 8Gbps card can handle up to 32 SATA, SSD or SSD disks if needed. It also comes with 512MB of battery-backed cache and provides support for RAID 0,1, 5 and 6 protection.