There is currently not an upgrade kit available to convert to the redundant setup. If you got the system within the last 30 days you can contact your sales rep and swap the existing system for the one with the redundant chassis.
Hmm ... how so? What was advertised? Other than the inconvenience of a lack of information or advanced notice during ordering on it not being upgradeable in the future, I'm not sure it was ever advertised to be upgradeable. Some systems, the entry-level servers in particular, just are not as upgradeable as some of the higher-end servers.
http://www.dell.com/us/p/poweredge-t330/pd?oc=pe_t330_1566&model_id=poweredge-t330&l=en&s=bsd) The PowerEdge T330(is advertised as having 350w PSU as an option. I'm not talking about upgrading it. I'm talking about a T320/T330 will not work as advertised. You can only use 5 maybe 6 drives before it will shut down unexpectedly or not turn on. They should not have pictures with the server having 8 drives or the option of the 350W PSU. If you don't know any better and just buy it you're stuck with a server you can;t use more than 5/6 drives with.
Similarly, a PowerEdge T430 supports up to 384GB of RAM, but only with two processors. So, imagine buying one with a single processor and upgrading it later to 384GB to find that 192GB is the max with a single processor.
Or an R530 ... buying the server with 4x3.5" drives, then wanting to upgrade to the 8x2.5" drive configuration to find out that the chassis' are different.
We've all been there, done that at some point, with Dell, HP, IBM, etc.
Dell's online configurator, at least for the T330 (if you are saying it is the same story with that model), does not throw an error (as it usually would with technical limitations) when using the 350W PS with 8 SAS 15K drives, so are we sure that is the issue? Have you checked to make sure the power saving features are not enabled in the BIOS? Using certified drives?
Could Dell do a better job distributing information? Absolutely, but I don't think that it is false advertising. I think it has more to do with our responsibility to do our homework and be familiar with the hardware we work with. I don't think anyone has the expectation that every system can do everything it claims in a single configuration, but it would be nice if the documentation were more complete. In your defense, neither the manual nor the technical guide mention the inability to upgrade the power supplies (nor does it mention any power limitation when fully configuring the drive bays, so again, are we sure that is a "thing"?), so shame on Dell for poor documentation here. Honestly, I wish Dell would stop selling low-end options for even their low-end servers, like 350W power supplies, i3 processors, and software RAID controllers.
Using certified drives. Went with lower power consumption drives to see if that helped. Went with 2.5" drive to see if that helped. Read about turning turbo off. That didn't help. How would you suggest i do my homework? I'm relying on their documentation for guidance. I can't go to a third party and request specification on their hardware. Can i? I wish Dell would stop advertising the 350W power supplies. To my point they didn't come up with a solution for my problem and are selling it in the T330 with the same configuration. How do i know it's the same? Because i read another post, they're encountering the same issues. I have an idea why don't i buy the T330 with a 350W and see if what you're saying is true.
DELL-Chris H
Moderator
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9.7K Posts
0
May 27th, 2014 13:00
Integra1,
There is currently not an upgrade kit available to convert to the redundant setup. If you got the system within the last 30 days you can contact your sales rep and swap the existing system for the one with the redundant chassis.
integera1
1 Rookie
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2 Posts
0
May 27th, 2014 22:00
Thanks Chris, I've contacted my sales rep and they were able to swap the existing system.
xByte1
1 Message
0
February 19th, 2016 09:00
HI Dell-Chris H,
Is there still no upgrade kit to convert the chassis to hot-swap redundant PSU? If there is what are the Dell PN's? Thanks.
Admin4U
112 Posts
0
February 19th, 2016 23:00
There is no way to upgrade from a non redundant PS configuration to a hot plug redundant configuration, it is a different chassis.
saul_gallardo
3 Posts
0
January 21st, 2017 10:00
are there any options to this problem other than switching the system out? This has a hint of false advertisement....
theflash1932
9 Legend
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16.3K Posts
0
January 21st, 2017 11:00
Hmm ... how so? What was advertised? Other than the inconvenience of a lack of information or advanced notice during ordering on it not being upgradeable in the future, I'm not sure it was ever advertised to be upgradeable. Some systems, the entry-level servers in particular, just are not as upgradeable as some of the higher-end servers.
saul_gallardo
3 Posts
0
January 21st, 2017 13:00
http://www.dell.com/us/p/poweredge-t330/pd?oc=pe_t330_1566&model_id=poweredge-t330&l=en&s=bsd) The PowerEdge T330(is advertised as having 350w PSU as an option. I'm not talking about upgrading it. I'm talking about a T320/T330 will not work as advertised. You can only use 5 maybe 6 drives before it will shut down unexpectedly or not turn on. They should not have pictures with the server having 8 drives or the option of the 350W PSU. If you don't know any better and just buy it you're stuck with a server you can;t use more than 5/6 drives with.
theflash1932
9 Legend
•
16.3K Posts
0
January 21st, 2017 14:00
Similarly, a PowerEdge T430 supports up to 384GB of RAM, but only with two processors. So, imagine buying one with a single processor and upgrading it later to 384GB to find that 192GB is the max with a single processor.
Or an R530 ... buying the server with 4x3.5" drives, then wanting to upgrade to the 8x2.5" drive configuration to find out that the chassis' are different.
We've all been there, done that at some point, with Dell, HP, IBM, etc.
Dell's online configurator, at least for the T330 (if you are saying it is the same story with that model), does not throw an error (as it usually would with technical limitations) when using the 350W PS with 8 SAS 15K drives, so are we sure that is the issue? Have you checked to make sure the power saving features are not enabled in the BIOS? Using certified drives?
Could Dell do a better job distributing information? Absolutely, but I don't think that it is false advertising. I think it has more to do with our responsibility to do our homework and be familiar with the hardware we work with. I don't think anyone has the expectation that every system can do everything it claims in a single configuration, but it would be nice if the documentation were more complete. In your defense, neither the manual nor the technical guide mention the inability to upgrade the power supplies (nor does it mention any power limitation when fully configuring the drive bays, so again, are we sure that is a "thing"?), so shame on Dell for poor documentation here. Honestly, I wish Dell would stop selling low-end options for even their low-end servers, like 350W power supplies, i3 processors, and software RAID controllers.
saul_gallardo
3 Posts
0
January 21st, 2017 19:00
Using certified drives. Went with lower power consumption drives to see if that helped. Went with 2.5" drive to see if that helped. Read about turning turbo off. That didn't help. How would you suggest i do my homework? I'm relying on their documentation for guidance. I can't go to a third party and request specification on their hardware. Can i? I wish Dell would stop advertising the 350W power supplies. To my point they didn't come up with a solution for my problem and are selling it in the T330 with the same configuration. How do i know it's the same? Because i read another post, they're encountering the same issues. I have an idea why don't i buy the T330 with a 350W and see if what you're saying is true.