Before I move on to all the decision points and steps I’m going through to setup my SBS2011, I’d like to address one point that I have not been able to find a definitive answer to on the web.
What is the maximum amount of memory a Dell PowerEdge 1900 can support? Over the last few years I’ve purchased two of these systems. One for production and one for testing and/or parts. One system cost under $1000 and the other under $1800 (and that was only because I purchased 16G of ram in the second system knowing that in the future I’d need that much memory when moving from SBS 2003 to SBS20xx).
So, the 1900 manual and Dell support site both indicate that the Dell PowerEdge 1900 can only support up to 16Gs of Ram. But if you do a web search, there are plenty of vendors that say it can support up to 64G of ram!
How to know for sure? In looking at the Dell PowerEdge 1950, 2900 and 2950, they all seem to have the same chipset, CPU support and number of memory slots as the 1900. These units all said they could support 32G of ram. So, after searching for the best possible price on 32G of ram, I purchased the memory and installed it in the 1900 that was out of warranty.
When I booted up the system, NO ISSUES! It recognized the 32G of ram immediately and I’ve been running the test system for several days with the new memory configuration without issue. I now have some additional breathing room to implement Hyper-V and SBS2011.
Also, incase you are wondering, below are the memory parameters for three different levels of RAM. Though I now believe that the 1900 could support even 64G of RAM I don’t think I could ever afford it nor would I likely need it.
I hope this helps some of you out there now that I’ve confirmed it’s possible. Two items to consider before increasing your 1900 above 16G:
- Update the 1900’s BIOS to the latest version! I’m running 2.7.0.
- Check the front of your 1900 to see if it has a roman numeral II (two) on it (lower left corner). I was told by one vendor that meant it was “Version 2” of the system and only version 2 could support above 16G of ram. Fortunately both of my systems have this mark.
Good luck! Ed
Memory Parameters
2G = DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • Fully Buffered • ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 256Meg x 72 (8x2=16G)
4G = DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • Fully Buffered • ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 512Meg x 72 (8x4=32G)
8G = DDR2 PC2-5300 • CL=5 • Fully Buffered • ECC • DDR2-667 • 1.8V • 1024Meg x 72 (8x8=64G)