Lenovo put its cards on the table when it launched the ThinkSystem SE350 four years ago, as it was clear it was sharpening its focus on the burgeoning edge computing market. Since then, it has launched a range of new and innovative edge servers, such as the SE360 V2, and the model that started it all is now getting a major upgrade.
The ThinkEdge SE350 V2 may look very similar to its predecessor, but it features a ton of internal and external upgrades. It still employs the same slim chassis that measures a minuscule 21cm wide and 39cm deep, but features a more powerful D-2700 CPU and faster 3200MHz TruDDR4 memory.
Storage is seeing big changes as Lenovo has shifted focus away from internal M.2 SSDs and more toward hot-swap drives. Two new chassis options are available so you can choose between four front-mounted 7mm SATA/NVMe SSDs or two 15mm models; M.2 SSDs have not been completely dispensed with as there is still room inside for two NVMe SSDs that can be used as boot drives.
Lenovo ThinkEdge SE350 V2 review: Design and expansion
The solid metal chassis is very well built, resistant to shock and vibration and designed to withstand ambient temperatures of up to 55 degrees C. An optional security bezel with an integral dust filter is available, while the case for nodes of Lenovo allows you to mount the server on the wall. or mounted on a DIN rail.
You can choose from three power options, as models are available with a non-redundant pure AC input source, direct DC connections, or dual 300W external power supplies. Choose the latter and you can use Lenovo's 1U2N brackets to place two servers side by side in 1U. of rack space with room in the back for all four PSUs, while for shallower data cabinets, the 2U2N rail kit has the PSU mounting bracket on top of the two servers.
Removing the cover reveals an elegantly designed interior with the CPU on the left, mounted by a large passive heatsink and flanked on either side by two DIMM slots. The main reason for this order is that the new drive bay cage leaves no room for PCIe slots, so the only expansion options are to add M.2 SSDs or upgrade the memory.
Below the drive bay cage is an I/O daughter card that determines the network configuration. Two options are offered, as you can opt for two 2.5GbE multi-Gig ports and four Gigabit copper ports or four 10/25GbE SFP28 fiber ports.
Lenovo ThinkEdge SE350 V2 Review: Server Management
There are no compromises for server management, as the SE350 V2 features the same XClarity Controller (XCC) 2 chip and dedicated Gigabit port you'll find on Lenovo's larger ThinkSystem servers. The XCC Standard version provides features such as remote power controls, sensor monitoring and inventory, while a Platinum upgrade adds remote KVM, virtual media services, remote operating system deployment and power limiting, in addition to the new group feature. neighbors to manage multiple servers from one XCC. Interface.
The XCC web console presents a wealth of information on critical hardware components along with device utilization graphs, as well as hardware inventory and firmware update tools. Deploying the operating system is very easy as we use the XCC Provisioning Manager's Effortless Install option to load Windows Server 2022 from a mapped ISO file in 30 minutes without any further intervention.
If you removed the drive case, you may have noticed a microSD card slot on the edge of the motherboard. This can be used to present additional storage to the XCC such as a remote disk-on-card (RDOC) device and to store firmware updates.
Physical security is good as the XCC console offers options to configure actions for significant motion detection, step counting, and chassis intrusion. If any are activated, you can configure the server to go into lockdown mode or shut down.
Centralized remote management of all Lenovo servers, storage arrays, and switches is provided by the XClarity Administrator application that we run in the lab as a Hyper-V virtual machine. After adding the SE350 V2 to its console through its discovery process, we were able to remotely monitor it, control power, and employ an image library for firmware updates or OS deployments.
Lenovo ThinkEdge SE350 V2 Review: Storage Features
The storage options are pretty straightforward, as you simply choose which hot-swap drive bay you want when ordering the system. As mentioned above, you can have one with four 7mm bays or two 15mm bays.
The drive cage must be removed to install the M.2 SSD, although it is a simple job as it is held in place with four screws and lifts off easily. Along with the built-in network and USB ports, the I/O daughter card underneath has two 2280-long M.2 slots ready and waiting.
Intel's integrated VROC (Virtual RAID on CPU) controller handles all RAID management and in its base configuration only supports SATA devices and RAID0 and 1 arrays. To enable NVMe support, you need to upgrade it with a standard key (£148) which enables NVMe RAID10, or a Premium key (£475) for additional RAID5 support and these are applied from the XCC controller web interface.
Lenovo ThinkEdge SE350 V2 Review: Is it worth it?
The ThinkEdge SE350 V2 represents a significant improvement over the original ThinkSystem SE350 and appears to be comparatively good value for money. Lenovo's DCS Configurator website shows entry-level CTO (configure on demand) models with a quad-core Xeon D-2712T CPU, 16GB of DDR4 and no selected storage starting from around £5,900.
It lacks expansion slots, but this system is designed to offer much more storage than the GPU-capable SE360 V2, its laptop-sized chassis is much smaller, and the cooling demands are much lower. Businesses short on edge space and looking for a powerful server solution to fit will find the ThinkEdge SE350 V2 a worthy competitor.
Lenovo ThinkEdge SE350 V2 specifications
| Chassis | 1U half-width, shallow depth |
| CPU | Intel Xeon D-2733NT 8-core 2.1 GHz |
| Memory | 256 GB 3200 MHz TruDDR4 (maximum 256 GB) |
| Storage | 4 x 7mm 3.84TB NVMe U.3 Micron SSDs (maximum 4), 2 x NVMe 2280 M.2 SSD slots |
| RAID | Intel VROC SATA (key required for NVMe support) |
| Grid | 2 x 2.5GbE, 4 x 10/25GbE SFP28 |
| Expansion | No PCIe slots |
| Force | 2 external 300W power supplies |
| Management | XCC 2 with Gigabit, XClarity Manager |
| Warranty | 3 years on site the next day |
