BOSS Controller Cards
Dell BOSS (Boot Optimized Server Storage) Controller Cards
Dell BOSS (Boot Optimized Server Storage) controller cards provide a dedicated M.2 SSD boot solution for Dell PowerEdge servers, keeping the OS boot drives separate from the data storage backplane. A BOSS card installs in a PCIe slot (or Dell’s dedicated BOSS slot on newer models) and presents one or two M.2 SATA SSDs as a RAID-1 mirrored boot volume — providing redundant OS storage without consuming a hot-swap drive bay.
BOSS cards are supported on 14th gen (R640, R740, R740xd), 15th gen (R650, R750), and 16th gen (R660, R760) PowerEdge servers. The BOSS-S1 supports one M.2 SSD (240GB or 480GB); the BOSS-S2 supports two M.2 SSDs in RAID-1 mirroring. The BOSS-N1 (NVMe variant) provides faster boot storage on select configurations.
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![Dell 61F54 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS Controller [Low Profile] Front View](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR4nGP6zwAAAgcBApocMXEAAAAASUVORK5CYII=)
Dell 61F54 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS-S1 Controller [Low Profile]Availability: In StockManufacturer: Dell Condition: Refurbished 1 Year WarrantyBuy Now$17.98 - Dell K4D64 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS-S1 Controller [Low Profile]Availability: Available by QuoteManufacturer: Dell Condition: Refurbished 1 Year WarrantyRequest PricingOut of stock
![Dell 61F54 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS Controller [Low Profile] Front View](https://enterasource.com/media/catalog/product/cache/edfa14e1d5b26a0f8da1ee83d5b45a31/d/a/daily-receiving-2753_small.jpg)
![Dell K4D64 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS-S1 Controller [Low Profile]](https://enterasource.com/media/catalog/product/cache/edfa14e1d5b26a0f8da1ee83d5b45a31/a/g/aging-inventory-740_small.jpg)
![Dell K4D64 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS-S1 Controller [Low Profile]](https://enterasource.com/media/amasty/amlabel/out_of_stock_label.svg "Dell K4D64 Dual M.2 6G PCI-E BOSS-S1 Controller [Low Profile]")
BOSS Card Models and Use Cases
| Model | Interface | M.2 Slots | RAID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOSS-S1 | SATA M.2 | 1 | None (single drive) | Single-drive OS boot, 14th–16th gen |
| BOSS-S2 | SATA M.2 | 2 | RAID-1 mirror | Redundant OS boot; most common BOSS model |
| BOSS-N1 | NVMe M.2 | 2 | RAID-1 mirror | Faster boot storage; 15th–16th gen |
BOSS cards are the recommended boot storage solution for PowerEdge servers running VMware ESXi, Windows Server, or RHEL where preserving all front-panel drive bays for data storage is the priority. Unlike a USB boot device, BOSS provides enterprise-grade SSD reliability with RAID-1 redundancy — if one M.2 fails, the system continues running on the surviving drive.
- What is a BOSS card used for?
- A Dell BOSS controller card provides a dedicated boot device for the server operating system using M.2 SSDs, separate from the main hot-swap drive bays. This keeps all front-panel drive bays available for data storage. BOSS-S2 with two M.2 SSDs in RAID-1 is the standard OS boot solution for Dell PowerEdge servers running VMware ESXi or Windows Server.
