DELL Powervault MD1420 24×2.5″

DELL Powervault MD1420 – 24×2.5″ Storage Expansion Enclosure

Overview

The DELL Powervault MD1420  is a high-density direct-attached storage (DAS) solution designed to meet the increasing data needs of growing businesses. With support for 24 x 2.5″ SAS drives, it offers scalable storage expansion and improved performance for PowerEdge servers. Built for simplicity, flexibility, and efficiency, the DELL Powervault MD1420 is ideal for use cases such as data backup, archiving, and tiered storage.

By offering seamless connectivity and advanced drive management capabilities, the DELL Powervault MD1420 helps organizations extend their storage infrastructure with minimal complexity and maximum reliability.

Key Features of DELL Powervault MD1420

High-Density Storage in Compact Design

The MD1420 supports up to 24 hot-swappable 2.5-inch SAS drives in a 2U rack-mountable chassis. This compact form factor allows enterprises to scale storage capacity without sacrificing valuable data center space.

Versatile Drive Support

Whether you’re looking for high-speed performance or cost-effective storage, the DELL Powervault MD1420 supports a mix of SAS HDDs and SSDs, giving you the flexibility to optimize your environment based on your specific workload.

Seamless Integration with PowerEdge Servers

The MD1420 is engineered for tight integration with DELL PowerEdge servers, ensuring full compatibility and optimal performance. It connects directly to servers via the PERC9 RAID controller using 12Gb/s SAS, providing fast, reliable data access.

Redundancy and Reliability

With dual EMM (Enclosure Management Modules) and redundant power supplies, the MD1420 ensures high availability and system resilience. Hot-swappable components allow for maintenance with minimal or no downtime.

Technical Specifications

• Drive Bays: 24 x 2.5″ SAS (HDD or SSD)

• Drive Interface: 12Gb/s SAS

• Form Factor: 2U rackmount enclosure

• Maximum Raw Capacity: Up to 368TB (with 15.36TB SSDs)

• Redundancy: Dual hot-swappable power supplies and fans

• Connectivity: Dual mini-SAS HD ports per EMM

• Management: SES (SCSI Enclosure Services) via EMM

• Power Requirements: 100–240V AC auto-ranging

• Operating Temperature: 10°C to 35°C (50°F to 95°F)

Benefits of Using DELL Powervault MD1420

Simplified Scalability

The DELL Powervault MD1420 makes it easy to scale your storage environment as your data grows. By connecting multiple enclosures, businesses can significantly expand their capacity without reconfiguring the entire infrastructure.

Optimized Performance

Thanks to its 12Gb/s SAS connectivity and support for SSDs, the MD1420 delivers rapid data access and reduced latency, which is essential for performance-driven applications such as databases, virtualization, and video processing.

Cost-Efficient Expansion

Unlike full-scale SAN deployments, the MD1420 offers a cost-effective direct-attached solution that saves money while still providing enterprise-level features such as hot-swappable drives, redundancy, and RAID support via PERC controllers.

Streamlined Maintenance

With modular components, IT teams can perform drive replacements, power supply swaps, and fan maintenance without shutting down the system—ensuring continued productivity and minimal service interruptions.

Common Use Cases

• Server Storage Expansion: Extend capacity for DELL PowerEdge rack and tower servers.

• Data Backup and Recovery: Store backups with reliable performance and drive redundancy.

• Virtualized Environments: Use SSD tiers for hypervisor performance boosts.

• Archival Storage: Cost-effective long-term data retention.

• Tiered Storage Architecture: Combine SSDs and HDDs for performance-balanced systems.

Installation and Deployment

Installing the DELL Powervault MD1420 is a straightforward process:

1. Rack Installation: Mount the 2U chassis into a standard rack using the included rails.

2. Drive Insertion: Populate the enclosure with your choice of SAS HDDs or SSDs.

3. Cable Management: Connect the enclosure to your PowerEdge server using a 12Gb/s mini-SAS HD cable.

4. RAID Configuration: Configure RAID levels via the compatible PERC RAID controller.

5. Monitoring: Manage the enclosure through SES and DELL OpenManage tools.