The ThinkSystem ST250 V2 is a office-friendly tower server that has been optimized to provide enterprise-class features to small businesses, retail, educational institutions and branch offices.

Scalability and performance

The ST250 V2 offers the following features to boost performance, improve scalability, and reduce costs:

• Improved single-socket processor performance:
  • Intel Xeon E-2300 Series processors (“Rocket Lake-E”) up to to 8 cores and core speeds up to 3.7 GHz
  • Intel Pentium G6405, G6505 and G6605 processors (“Comet Lake Refresh”) with 2 cores and core speeds up to 4.3 GHz
• Up to four 3200 MHz DDR4 ECC UDIMMs provide speed and capacity of up to 128 GB
• Four PCIe slots for I/O expansion, one of which has the new PCIe Gen4 interface to maximize I/O performance.
• Flexible storage configurations support either 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays or a combination of the two (hybrid configuration). Drive bays support SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs.
  • Up to 16x 2.5-inch hot-swap drive bays
  • Up to 8x 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays
  • Up to 4x 3.5-inch + 8x 2.5-inch drive bays
• The server also supports simple-swap drives, include 1x NVMe drive:
  • Up to 8x 3.5-inch SATA drive bays
  • Up to 7x 3.5-inch SATA drive bays + 1x 3.5-inch NVMe drive bay
• The use of solid-state drives (SSDs) instead of, or along with, traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) can significantly improve I/O performance. An SSD can support up to 100 times more I/O operations per second (IOPS) than a typical HDD
• New high-speed RAID controllers from Lenovo and Broadcom provide 12 Gb SAS connectivity to the drive backplanes
• Offers two 5.25-inch media bays with support for optical drives or backup drives
• Supports two M.2 drives for OS boot support with VROC RAID redundancy
• The server has two integrated Gigabit Ethernet ports
• The server offers one PCIe 4.0 slot plus three PCIe 3.0 I/O expansion slots
• Support for a NVIDIA GPU for enhanced workload performance

Manageability and security

The following systems management features simplify local and remote management of the ST250 V2:

• The server includes an XClarity Controller (XCC) to monitor server availability. Optional upgrade to XCC Advanced to provide remote control (keyboard video mouse) functions. Optional upgrade to XCC Enterprise enables the additional support for the mounting of remote media files (ISO and IMG image files), boot capture, and power capping.
• Lenovo XClarity Administrator offers comprehensive hardware management tools that help to increase uptime, reduce costs and improve productivity through advanced server management capabilities.
• New UEFI-based Lenovo XClarity Provisioning Manager, accessible from F1 during boot, provides system inventory information, graphical UEFI Setup, platform update function, RAID Setup wizard, operating system installation function, and diagnostic functions.
• Support for Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager which captures real-time power and temperature data from the server and provides automated controls to lower energy costs.
• Integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 support enables advanced cryptographic functionality, such as digital signatures and remote attestation.
• Industry-standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) NI support for faster, stronger encryption.
• Intel Execute Disable Bit functionality can prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks when combined with a supported operating system.
• Intel Trusted Execution Technology (Intel Xeon E processors only) provides enhanced security through hardware-based resistance to malicious software attacks, allowing an application to run in its own isolated space, protected from all other software running on a system.
• Helps prevent unauthorized software from running on the server by protecting against boot block-level malicious software with Intel Boot Guard technology.
• Protects application code and data from disclosure or modification with Intel Software Guard Extensions (SGX), enabling high-assurance security use cases, such as blockchain, identity and records privacy, secure browsing, and digital rights management (DRM).
• Physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access: Loop for a padlock to prevent the side panel from being opened and a slot at the rear of the server for a Kensington Cable Lock. Optional additional physical security features are a lockable front security door and a chassis intrusion switch (included in some models).

Energy efficiency

The ST250 V2 offers the following energy saving features to save energy, reduce operational costs, increase energy availability, and contribute to the green environment:

• Energy-efficient planar components help lower operational costs.
• High-efficiency power supplies with 80 PLUS Platinum certifications. Energy Star certified.
• Intel Intelligent Power Capability powers individual processor elements on and off as needed to reduce power draw.
• Low-voltage 1.2 V DDR4 memory DIMMs use up to 20% less energy compared to 1.35 V DDR3 DIMMs.
• SSDs use as much as 80% less power than traditional spinning HDDs.
• The server uses hexagonal ventilation holes, which can be grouped more densely than round holes, providing more efficient airflow through the system.
• Optional Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager provides advanced data center power notification, analysis, and policy-based management to help achieve lower heat output and reduced cooling needs.