Server Resellers
Dell NH7WD BOSS-N1 NVMe Expansion Card for PowerEdge R770, R7725, R6725 and R670
The NH7WD BOSS N1 is Dell’s boot-optimized NVMe expansion card for modern PowerEdge servers. It gives PowerEdge R770, R7725, R6725, and R670 systems a dedicated OS boot device on M.2 NVMe flash, completely separate from the data drives in your front bays. The result is faster boot times, cleaner drive allocation, and a much simpler path when you rebuild or reinstall the operating system.
Please note: this listing is the BOSS-N1 card only. The M.2 NVMe SSD is sold separately.
Key Specifications
| Item | Detail |
| Dell Part Number | NH7WD |
| Product Line | BOSS-N1 (Boot Optimized Storage Solution) |
| Device Type | NVMe expansion / boot card |
| Drive Slots | 1 x M.2 NVMe |
| Drive Included | No — M.2 NVMe SSD not included |
| Host Interface | PCIe via supported PowerEdge slot |
| Compatibility | PowerEdge R770, R7725, R6725, R670 |
| Function | Dedicated OS boot device |
Why Boot From a Separate Device
On a conventional PowerEdge build, the operating system usually sits on the same RAID array as your data. That means OS growth steals capacity from production volumes, an OS corruption event puts your data at risk, and reinstalling means touching the data array. The BOSS-N1 card solves this: the hypervisor or OS lives on its own NVMe device, so your data volumes stay untouched during rebuilds, upgrades, and re-provisioning.
Faster Boot and Lower Latency
Because the boot device is NVMe flash rather than spinning media or shared array capacity, POST-to-login time drops noticeably. That matters most in fleets — HPC clusters, VDI hosts, and container nodes that reboot often — where a few seconds per node per reboot compounds into real operational time. The card also removes OS write traffic from your data array, which can extend the life of your primary drives.
Serviceable and Chassis-Friendly
The NH7WD occupies a dedicated slot inside the chassis, keeping the front drive bays free for data drives. Boot media is accessible for replacement without disturbing production disks, and the card is designed for the dense airflow environment of 2U PowerEdge systems. Verify slot availability against your specific chassis configuration before ordering.
Ideal Applications
- Hypervisor and OS boot on R770, R7725, R6725 and R670
- Virtualization hosts that need isolated boot volumes
- Cluster nodes with frequent rebuilds or reimages
- Fleets standardizing on a single boot configuration
Compatibility, Warranty and Support
Every NH7WD card is tested before shipment and matched to PowerEdge R770, R7725, R6725, and R670 systems. Units ship with our warranty and technical support, and volume pricing is available for fleet builds and refresh projects.
Need to confirm chassis fitment? Read more about the NVMe standard, or shop more PowerEdge server options and expansion cards from our catalog.
