Lenovo ThinkSystem ST: tower servers
The ThinkSystem ST tower line covers a small office to a departmental server: ST50 and ST250 are compact single-socket towers on Xeon E-2400/6300 topping out at 128 GB, while ST650 is a 4U dual-socket tower on 5th generation Xeon Scalable with up to 4 TB of DDR5 and 32 drives. All three can also be rack-mounted.
Technical specification
| Model | Form factor | Socket / processor generation | Max memory | Drive bays | GPU support | Power supply | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ST50 V3 | Tower | 1x Intel Xeon 6300 / E-2400 / Pentium | Up to 128 GB | 2.5″/3.5″ NHS | – | – | – |
| ST250 V3 | Tower | 1x Intel Xeon 6300 / E-2400, up to 8 cores, 95 W | Up to 128 GB, 4x DIMM | Up to 8x 3.5″ or 16x 2.5″ | – | – | – |
| ST650 V3 | 4U tower | 2x 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable | 32x DDR5, 4 TB max | Up to 32x 2.5″ or 16x 3.5″, up to 24x NVMe | – | – | – |
Source of the values: Lenovo ThinkSystem ST50/ST250/ST650 V3 datasheets (lenovopress.lenovo.com). Sourced from Lenovo Press datasheets for this line; GPU support, power supply and network detail were not confirmed in the pages we checked for any of the three tower codes. An en dash means the manufacturer does not publish that value in the source we hold; we do not fill it in with an estimate. Confirm every figure against the current manufacturer document before it is written into a contract.
The codes we quote in this family are ST50 V3, ST250 V3 and ST650 V3. Send us the workload and the constraints, and we will confirm availability, lead time and the exact configuration.
Which one should you choose?
A tower is not automatically the small option
ST650 at 4U dual-socket with up to 4 TB of memory competes directly with a mainstream rack server on raw specification; the difference is form factor, not capability. Choose tower over rack because the site lacks a rack, not because the workload is assumed to be small.
ST50 and ST250 are genuinely entry-level, and that is the point
Both cap out around 128 GB of memory on an E-2400/6300-class single processor; a domain controller, file share or single line-of-business application for a small office, not a virtualization host. Trying to consolidate multiple VMs onto an ST50/ST250 usually ends in a memory ceiling, not a CPU one.
ST250’s drive options favour capacity over drive count flexibility
ST250 V3 offers 8x 3.5-inch or 16x 2.5-inch bays, which is a wide range for an entry tower and enough for a small NAS-style role if the memory and CPU ceiling is acceptable for the workload. Confirm the workload’s actual memory need against the 128 GB ceiling before treating ST250 as a storage box.
ST650’s rack-mount option keeps the door open for later
Because ST650 can run as a tower or be rack-mounted, a site without a rack today can deploy it as a tower and move it into a rack later without replacing the server, only the mounting kit. That flexibility is worth considering for a growing small office.
Where it fits, and where it does not
Fits a small office or departmental role without a rack, or a growing site that wants the option to rack-mount later. Does not fit a virtualization host role on ST50/ST250 given the 128 GB memory ceiling; a rack server is the better fit there even without a rack currently installed.
What we need in order to quote it
- Whether a rack is available now or planned later
- Actual memory requirement against the 128 GB ceiling on ST50/ST250
- Drive count and type needed
- Single application server or genuine consolidation role
Request a Quote
Tell us the usable capacity, the protocol and the delivery country. A priced quote comes back within 48 hours, usually with a second option so the trade-off is visible.
