Microsoft SQL Server 2025 on Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V4 and SR650 V4 with DG Series Storage

Most organizations store more data every year, and more of their daily work depends on it: orders, inventory, billing, customer records, and the reports built on top of them. The database servers behind that data need to keep up without a matching rise in cost.

SQL Server 2025 adds AI features to the database engine, along with security, performance, and Azure hybrid updates. It also raises the Standard Edition limits to 32 cores and a 256 GB buffer pool per instance, up from 24 cores and 128 GB, so many databases that once needed Enterprise Edition now fit in Standard Edition. With SQL Server licensed per core, that change alone can lower software cost for a large share of production databases.

The hardware has moved forward too. Intel Xeon 6 processors, DDR5 memory at 6400 MHz, and PCIe Gen5 give both 1U and 2U servers more cores and more memory and network bandwidth than earlier generations. Shared all-flash SAN arrays such as the ThinkSystem DG Series now deliver the low latency that once required internal drives, while adding snapshots, replication, and encryption.

For teams planning a SQL Server refresh, these changes make it possible to run the same workloads on fewer servers, with storage that grows on its own. This brief describes two configurations Lenovo tested, one in a 1U server and one in a 2U server, to show what that looks like in practice.

Most SQL Server environments grew one server at a time. Each new application brought its own host, its own internal drives, and its own backup routine. Over time that approach becomes expensive to license, hard to protect, and slow to change. Teams that run SQL Server tend to face the same problems:

• Data grows faster than budgets: capacity needs rise each year, but licensing, power, and rack space stay tight.
• Storage tied to servers: with databases on internal drives, more capacity usually means more servers, and backups and snapshots are handled one host at a time.
• Per-core licensing: SQL Server is licensed by core, so extra cores raise software cost without improving performance.
• Aging infrastructure: SQL Server 2016 reached end of extended support in July 2026, and SQL Server 2017 follows in October 2027. Older versions often run on older servers that cost more to license, power, and support than the work they do.
• Protection and availability: the business expects constant access to transaction data, but snapshots, replication, and recovery are often set up differently on each server.
• Different data center needs: some sites are short on rack space and need the densest possible server, while others need room for more network adapters, drives, and future expansion.
• Setup time: sizing, configuring, and tuning a new database server takes weeks of testing.

They need a platform that gets the most out of each licensed core, lets storage grow separately, comes in a form factor that fits their data center, and has already been tested.

Each part of this solution addresses one of those problems. The SR630 V4 and SR650 V4 deliver high transaction throughput from a small number of licensed cores, the DG Series array moves capacity and data protection off the server, and SQL Server 2025 now covers larger databases in Standard Edition. Lenovo tested both servers with the same DG Series storage and Windows Server 2025.

Compute: ThinkSystem SR630 V4 and SR650 V4

The SR630 V4 and SR650 V4 share the same platform: one or two Intel Xeon 6 processors with up to 86 cores each, 32 DIMM slots with DDR5 memory at up to 6400 MHz, MRDIMMs at up to 8000 MHz, PCIe Gen5, and CXL 2.0 memory. In both servers, two mirrored M.2 NVMe drives hold the operating system, and all database data and logs live on the SAN.

The main difference is form factor. The 1U SR630 V4 fits the most database hosts into each rack. The 2U SR650 V4 adds room for more PCIe adapters and drives, for sites that need extra network ports or future expansion. Table 1 compares the two.

Figure 1. Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V4

Figure 2. Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V4

Storage: ThinkSystem DG Series

ThinkSystem DG Series arrays, including the DG5200 and DG7200, support iSCSI and Fibre Channel and include snapshots, replication, thin provisioning, deduplication, compression, and encryption. Both servers were tested with the same DG5200, which holds about 368 TB of raw QLC flash. In this solution, each server uses its PCIe Gen5 infrastructure to provide high-throughput iSCSI connectivity to the array through 100GbE NVIDIA Mellanox ConnectX-6 Dx adapters, and iSCSI allows the solution to run over standard Ethernet networking. The array presents two iSCSI volumes to each server: one for data files and TempDB, and one for the transaction log. Keeping the log on its own volume stops random data I/O from slowing log writes, which keeps commit times steady under load.

Figure 3. Lenovo ThinkSystem DG5200 Storage Array

Microsoft SQL Server 2025

SQL Server 2025 adds optimized locking, better columnstore indexes, less TempDB latch contention, ZSTD backup compression with optional Intel QuickAssist Technology (QAT) acceleration, Accelerated Database Recovery for TempDB, and faster Always On failover. For developers, SQL Server 2025 also adds native vector and JSON data types, regular expression functions in T-SQL, and change event streaming, all available in both Standard and Enterprise Editions.

Management and support

Lenovo XClarity Controller 3 (XCC3) Premier provides out-of-band management, firmware updates, and lifecycle control for both the SR630 V4 and SR650 V4, so administrators can keep the servers current and secure from one console. The solution runs on Windows Server 2025 and is backed by Lenovo worldwide support.

SQL Server runs a wide range of business applications, from order entry and ERP to customer portals and billing systems. Most of these share the same needs: fast, predictable response times, reliable protection for their data, and a way to grow without buying new servers every year. The combination of a 1U or 2U Xeon 6 server, shared all-flash storage, and SQL Server 2025 addresses those needs in different ways depending on where an organization starts. The following scenarios show where this configuration fits best. Each one pairs a common SQL Server situation with the part of the solution that addresses it.

• OLTP with fewer licensed cores

  A mid-sized company running order entry, ERP, or customer-facing applications needs fast, predictable response times. An SR630 V4 with one 8-core processor and SQL Server 2025 Standard Edition handles a heavy transaction load with only eight licensed cores. For more throughput, an SR650 V4 with one 16-core processor and Enterprise Edition handles even more. In both cases, data and logs stay on the DG Series array.

• Replacing and consolidating older SQL Server hosts

  A team retiring aging SQL Server hosts can move several instances onto fewer servers: the 1U SR630 V4 where rack space is tight, or the 2U SR650 V4 where more expansion is needed. Because capacity lives on the array, the team adds drives when databases grow instead of buying servers.

• Protected, encrypted database storage

  A company with compliance requirements needs reliable backups and encryption without configuring each server. On the DG Series array, snapshots, replication, and encryption are set once in ONTAP for every server that uses it, and self-encrypting drives protect data at rest.

Nearly every industry runs core business applications on SQL Server, and many of those applications share the same profile: a steady stream of small transactions, data that must never be lost, and demand that rises sharply at certain times of the day, month, or year. These are the workloads that benefit most from high per-core performance, low-latency flash storage, and centralized data protection.

The solution suits any of these environments, and the choice between the 1U SR630 V4 and the 2U SR650 V4 lets each organization match the server to its data center, from space-constrained branch and regional sites to larger central data centers. The following verticals are a strong fit:

• Retail and ecommerce: order processing, point of sale, inventory, and loyalty systems that must keep up with seasonal peaks such as holiday sales. Fast commit times keep checkout responsive, and array snapshots protect order data without slowing transactions.
• Financial services: payments, account management, and lending systems that need steady transaction throughput and consistent response times. Replicated, encrypted storage on the DG Series array supports recovery and regulatory requirements for sensitive financial data.
• Healthcare and life sciences: electronic health records, claims processing, and scheduling systems that must stay available around the clock. Self-encrypting drives and ONTAP encryption help protect patient data, and snapshots allow fast recovery from errors.
• Manufacturing: ERP, manufacturing execution, and supply chain systems that record production, inventory, and shipping transactions across every shift. Storage that grows separately from compute lets plants keep years of history without adding servers.
• Public sector and education: citizen services, student information, and case management systems that need to replace aging infrastructure within tight budgets. Strong performance from a small number of licensed cores helps stretch software spending.
• Telecommunications: billing, subscriber management, and service order systems that process large volumes of records continuously. High throughput per server and shared storage help keep up with growing record volumes.

Both configurations are built for transactional (OLTP) workloads: order processing, ERP, customer-facing applications, billing, and other line-of-business systems that handle many small reads and writes and need fast, steady response times. These workloads benefit most from high per-core performance, low-latency flash storage, and a separate volume for the transaction log.

Lenovo validated the SR630 V4 with SQL Server 2025 Standard Edition and the SR650 V4 with SQL Server 2025 Enterprise Edition, both with an OLTP workload. Analytics and data warehouse workloads were not measured in this testing and should be sized with your Lenovo representative.

Standard Edition supports up to 32 cores and a 256 GB buffer pool per instance, which covers a large share of production databases. Workloads that need full Always On availability groups, or instances larger than those limits, should use Enterprise Edition.

Lenovo measured OLTP performance with HammerDB TPROC-C, a workload based on the TPC-C benchmark. HammerDB ran on a separate load-generation server so it did not use CPU on the system under test. Table 2 lists the test details and results for both servers.

TPM is the SQL Server transaction counter that HammerDB reports. These results are derived from the TPC-C benchmark and are not comparable to published TPC-C results, because HammerDB TPROC-C does not implement the full TPC-C specification. The two results are not a direct comparison of the servers, because the processors, memory, and SQL Server editions differ.

In Lenovo testing, the SR630 V4 configuration reached 811,611 transactions per minute (TPM) with SQL Server 2025 Standard Edition, and the SR650 V4 configuration reached 1,028,426 TPM with Enterprise Edition, as detailed in Table 2. Those results turn into business value in three ways.

• Performance per licensed core

  The SR630 V4 result came from one 8-core processor, which is four SQL Server 2-core license packs. The SR650 V4 result came from one 16-core processor, or eight 2-core license packs. Because SQL Server is licensed per core, more transactions from each core keep one of the largest costs in the database estate under control.

• Independent scaling and protection

  With data and log volumes on the DG Series array, capacity grows on the array without adding servers, and servers can be replaced without moving data. Snapshots, replication, and encryption are managed once on the array for every database volume, whether it is served by an SR630 V4 or an SR650 V4.

• Room to grow

  Both tests used one of the server's two processor sockets and one DIMM per memory channel. Organizations can add a second processor, more cores, and more memory as databases grow, up to 32 cores and a 256 GB buffer pool per Standard Edition instance, or move to Enterprise Edition for larger workloads. The SR650 V4 also has room for more adapters and drives.

SQL Server 2025 on the ThinkSystem SR630 V4 or SR650 V4 with DG Series storage is a tested way to replace older database servers. The 1U SR630 V4 and 2U SR650 V4 share the same Xeon 6 platform, so organizations can choose the form factor that fits their data center, and the DG Series array holds data and logs on shared, protected flash. In testing, one 8-core processor in the SR630 V4 ran 811,611 TPM and one 16-core processor in the SR650 V4 ran 1,028,426 TPM. Because those results came from just 8 and 16 licensed cores, the solution keeps SQL Server licensing cost low while leaving room to grow.

To learn more about Microsoft SQL Server 2025 on Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V4 and SR650 V4 with ThinkSystem DG Series storage, contact your Lenovo representative or Lenovo Business Partner, or visit the resources below.

References:

• Lenovo ThinkSystem SR630 V4 Server Product Guide:
  https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp1971-thinksystem-sr630-v4-server
• Lenovo ThinkSystem SR650 V4 Server Product Guide:
  https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp2127-thinksystem-sr650-v4-server
• Lenovo ThinkSystem DG5200 and DG7200 Unified Storage Arrays Product Guide:
  https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp2074-lenovo-thinksystem-dg5200-and-dg7200-unified-storage-arrays
• What's New in SQL Server 2025, Microsoft Learn:
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/sql-server/what-s-new-in-sql-server-2025?view=sql-server-ver17
• HammerDB database load testing and benchmarking tool:
  https://www.hammerdb.com

Tables 3 and 4 list the key components of the SR630 V4 and SR650 V4 configurations used in testing, and Table 5 lists the key components of the DG5200 storage array used with both servers.

Victor Talpeanu is a Microsoft Solutions Engineer with over 8 years of experience in the IT industry, specializing in Azure Local deployments and Azure Local cluster testing. He contributes to Lenovo’s MX portfolio through Software Builder Extension (SBE) validation, ensuring seamless integration and performance across hybrid and edge infrastructures. Victor focuses on delivering secure, modern, and reliable solutions built on Azure Local and enterprise cloud technologies.

Adelina Onofrei is a Microsoft Solutions Engineer, specializing in Azure Local deployments, Azure Local cluster and LXCI testing. Adelina is dedicated to enabling business success through secure, innovative, and reliable solutions based on Azure Local and enterprise cloud technologies.

Chris Honoré is a Solutions Product Manager at Lenovo with deep expertise in datacenter products and solution offerings. He has a strong background in consulting and solution development, helping customers design and support on-premises and hybrid environments. Chris has spent the past 15 years with IBM and Lenovo, specializing in x86 server and data center solutions. Prior to that, he built two decades of experience in the telecommunications industry, serving in both technical and business leadership roles.