I recently inherited a Dell PowerEdge R540 server. I'm unsure about its age, but it seems to be in working condition. I'm considering deploying the Veeam Hardened Repository ISO on it, with plans to add some large 3.5" disks for a total of about 70TB, along with some additional RAM. My main question is: do you think it's worth the effort to set this all up?
3 Answers
There's plenty of life left in the R540! It's definitely capable of handling this kind of setup, especially if you're not using it for critical production work.
If this is for a non-production environment, small business, or home lab, then absolutely! But for a production setting, I’d be cautious. You don’t want to have to explain a backup failure due to an unsupported hardware configuration during a crisis.
You might want to check the Dell support site with the service tag; it can give you details on the age, original parts, warranty, and more. It's helpful for assessing how viable this server is for your needs.
As a secondary repository for your backups, it should work fine, but do consider the potential risks.