Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID 940-16i RAID controller PCI Express x8 4.0 12 Gbit/s

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

The Lenovo ThinkSystem RAID 940-16i is the kind of controller that makes sense when you already live in the Lenovo server ecosystem and you want a straightforward, supported path to hardware RAID. At **£2,219 ex-VAT** it’s not “set-and-forget cheap,” so I’d only be buying this for workloads where you genuinely benefit from hardware RAID offload and consistent performance/rebuild behaviour—think virtualisation platforms, storage-heavy applications, or anywhere downtime and data integrity matter more than shaving budget.

That said, it’s easy to overbuy. If you’re running light workloads, short on drives, or you don’t have a clear reason to pay for hardware RAID versus a simpler approach, the price will feel steep and you’ll tie up budget that could go into more capacity or memory. Also, make sure your specific Lenovo server model supports this cleanly and that you’ll actually use the RAID configuration you’re paying for—if you can’t, you’ll end up paying for capability you can’t fully leverage. Bottom line: **buy this if it’s the correct Lenovo-compatible RAID solution for a real storage requirement**; **skip it if you just need basic redundancy** or you’re not sure the platform support/config is a perfect fit.