Cloud Testing Platform

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Cloud Testing Platform - Technical Documentation

This document details the hardware configuration designated as the "Cloud Testing Platform," designed for comprehensive software testing, continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines, and performance evaluation. This platform prioritizes high core counts, significant memory capacity, and fast storage to accommodate diverse testing workloads. This document is intended for system administrators, DevOps engineers, and hardware support personnel.

1. Hardware Specifications

The Cloud Testing Platform is built around a dual-socket server architecture to maximize processing power and redundancy. The following specifications detail the components:

Component Specification
Motherboard Supermicro X13DEI-N6 (Dual Socket LGA 4677) – Supports 3rd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable Processors
CPU (x2) Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ (56 Cores / 112 Threads per CPU, 3.2 GHz Base Frequency, 3.8 GHz Turbo Boost Frequency, 76MB Intel Smart Cache, 350W TDP)
RAM 2TB DDR5 ECC Registered 4800MHz (16 x 128GB DIMMs) – Configured in 8-channel mode per CPU socket. See Memory Configuration Best Practices for detailed information.
Storage – OS/Boot 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD (Samsung PM1743) – Used for Operating System (Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS) and essential boot files. See SSD Technology Overview for a detailed explanation of NVMe technology.
Storage – Testing Data/Builds 8 x 8TB SAS 12Gbps 7.2K RPM Enterprise HDD (Seagate Exos X22) – Configured in RAID 10 for data redundancy and performance. Managed by a Broadcom MegaRAID SAS 9660-8i RAID card. See RAID Configuration Guide for more details.
Storage – Temporary/Cache 4 x 4TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD (Western Digital SN850) – Used for caching build artifacts and temporary testing data.
Network Interface Card (NIC) Dual Port 100GbE Mellanox ConnectX-7 (Supports RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCEv2) – See RDMA Technology Overview for details)
Power Supply Unit (PSU) 2 x 1600W 80+ Titanium Redundant Power Supplies – Provides high efficiency and redundancy. See Power Supply Redundancy for more details.
Cooling High-Performance Air Cooling with redundant fans for each critical component. Liquid cooling options available upon request, see Cooling System Options.
Chassis Supermicro 8U Rackmount Chassis – Designed for high density and airflow. See Chassis Selection Guide for details.
Remote Management Integrated IPMI 2.0 with dedicated network port. Allows for out-of-band management. See IPMI Configuration and Usage.

Detailed Component Notes:

  • **CPU Selection:** The Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ processors were chosen for their exceptional core count and high clock speeds, critical for parallelized testing workloads. The high core count allows for running multiple virtual machines or containers simultaneously, accelerating test execution.
  • **Memory Capacity:** 2TB of RAM is essential for handling large datasets, running numerous virtual machines, and supporting memory-intensive testing frameworks. The 4800MHz speed ensures fast data access.
  • **Storage Tiering:** The storage configuration utilizes a tiered approach. The fast NVMe SSDs provide rapid access to frequently used data (OS, builds, temporary files), while the high-capacity SAS HDDs offer cost-effective storage for large test datasets.
  • **Network Connectivity:** The 100GbE NICs are crucial for fast data transfer between the testing platform and other systems in the cloud environment, particularly for performance and scalability testing. RoCEv2 support enables low-latency communication.
  • **Redundancy:** Redundant power supplies and RAID 10 storage configuration ensure high availability and data protection.


2. Performance Characteristics

The Cloud Testing Platform’s performance was evaluated using a suite of industry-standard benchmarks and real-world testing scenarios.

  • **CPU Performance (SPEC CPU 2017):**
   * SPECrate2017_fp_base: 542.3
   * SPECspeed2017_fp_base: 178.5
   * SPECrate2017_int_base: 485.1
   * SPECspeed2017_int_base: 155.2
  • **Storage Performance (IOmeter):**
   * OS/Boot SSD (Sequential Read): 12 GB/s
   * OS/Boot SSD (Sequential Write): 8 GB/s
   * RAID 10 HDD (Sequential Read): 800 MB/s
   * RAID 10 HDD (Sequential Write): 700 MB/s
   * Cache SSD (Sequential Read): 7 GB/s
   * Cache SSD (Sequential Write): 6 GB/s
  • **Network Performance (iperf3):**
   * 100GbE Throughput: 95 Gbps (sustained)
  • **Virtualization Performance (VMware vSphere 7.0):**
   *  Up to 64 virtual machines can be concurrently supported with 16 vCPUs and 32GB RAM allocated to each VM without significant performance degradation. See Virtualization Best Practices for optimization techniques.
  • **CI/CD Pipeline Performance (Jenkins):**
   *  Observed a 35% reduction in build and test execution time compared to a similar configuration with lower core counts and less memory.

Real-World Performance:

The platform was used to run a large-scale integration test suite for a complex microservices application. The test suite included:

  • Unit tests (10,000+ tests)
  • Integration tests (500+ tests)
  • Performance tests (simulating 10,000 concurrent users)

The entire test suite completed in 4 hours, a 50% improvement over the previous testing infrastructure. The platform’s ability to handle the high workload and provide fast storage access was crucial for achieving this improvement. Detailed performance reports are available in Performance Monitoring Dashboard.


3. Recommended Use Cases

The Cloud Testing Platform is ideally suited for the following applications:

  • **Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD):** Accelerating build and test cycles for faster software releases. See CI/CD Pipeline Implementation.
  • **Performance Testing:** Load testing, stress testing, and scalability testing of applications and infrastructure.
  • **Automated Testing:** Running large-scale automated test suites, including unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests.
  • **Virtual Machine Hosting:** Hosting multiple virtual machines for development, testing, and staging environments.
  • **Containerization:** Running containerized applications for testing and deployment. Support for Docker and Kubernetes is readily available. See Containerization Technologies.
  • **Big Data Testing:** Processing and analyzing large datasets for testing purposes.
  • **Security Testing:** Penetration testing and vulnerability scanning. See Security Testing Protocols.
  • **Chaos Engineering:** Simulating failures and disruptions to test the resilience of applications and infrastructure. See Chaos Engineering Implementation.


4. Comparison with Similar Configurations

The Cloud Testing Platform competes with several other server configurations. The following table compares it to two common alternatives:

Feature Cloud Testing Platform High-Memory Server High-Performance Compute
CPU 2 x Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ (56 Cores/CPU) 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6338 (32 Cores/CPU) 2 x AMD EPYC 7763 (64 Cores/CPU)
RAM 2TB DDR5 4800MHz 1TB DDR4 3200MHz 1TB DDR4 3200MHz
Storage 1TB NVMe (OS) + 8 x 8TB SAS (Data) + 4 x 4TB NVMe (Cache) 2TB NVMe (OS) + 4 x 16TB SAS (Data) 1TB NVMe (OS) + 2 x 8TB SAS (Data)
Network Dual 100GbE Dual 25GbE Single 100GbE
Price (approx.) $65,000 $40,000 $55,000
Primary Use Case Comprehensive Testing, CI/CD, Virtualization Large Database Hosting, In-Memory Computing High-Performance Computing, Simulations

Configuration Descriptions:

  • **High-Memory Server:** This configuration prioritizes RAM capacity over CPU core count. It is suitable for applications that require large amounts of memory, such as in-memory databases and data analytics.
  • **High-Performance Compute:** This configuration focuses on raw processing power, making it ideal for scientific simulations, rendering, and other computationally intensive tasks.

The Cloud Testing Platform strikes a balance between CPU power, memory capacity, and storage performance, making it the most versatile option for a wide range of testing scenarios.


5. Maintenance Considerations

Maintaining the Cloud Testing Platform requires careful attention to cooling, power, and software updates.

  • **Cooling:** The high-density server configuration generates significant heat. Regularly monitor the server room temperature and ensure that the cooling system is functioning correctly. Dust accumulation can reduce cooling efficiency. Clean the server fans and heatsinks every six months. See Data Center Cooling Best Practices.
  • **Power Requirements:** The platform requires a dedicated power circuit with sufficient capacity to handle the peak power draw of approximately 3200W. Ensure that the power supply units are properly grounded.
  • **Software Updates:** Keep the operating system, firmware, and drivers up to date to ensure security and stability. Schedule regular maintenance windows for applying updates. See Server Software Update Procedures.
  • **RAID Monitoring:** Regularly monitor the RAID array for any errors or failures. Replace failed hard drives promptly to prevent data loss. Utilize the RAID management interface for proactive monitoring. See RAID Array Management.
  • **Log Monitoring:** Implement a centralized logging system to collect and analyze server logs. This can help identify potential problems before they escalate. See Log Management System.
  • **Physical Security:** The server should be housed in a secure data center with restricted access. Implement physical security measures to prevent unauthorized access. See Data Center Security Protocols.
  • **Preventative Maintenance Schedule:** Implement a quarterly preventative maintenance schedule including visual inspection of components, fan testing, and cable management. See Preventative Maintenance Checklist.
  • **Remote Management Access:** Secure remote management access (IPMI) with strong passwords and multi-factor authentication. Limit access to authorized personnel only. See Secure Remote Access.


Intel-Based Server Configurations

Configuration Specifications Benchmark
Core i7-6700K/7700 Server 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 512 GB CPU Benchmark: 8046
Core i7-8700 Server 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2x1 TB CPU Benchmark: 13124
Core i9-9900K Server 128 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 1 TB CPU Benchmark: 49969
Core i9-13900 Server (64GB) 64 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i9-13900 Server (128GB) 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (64GB) 64 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (128GB) 128 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Workstation 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2 NVMe SSD, NVIDIA RTX 4000

AMD-Based Server Configurations

Configuration Specifications Benchmark
Ryzen 5 3600 Server 64 GB RAM, 2x480 GB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 17849
Ryzen 7 7700 Server 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2x1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 35224
Ryzen 9 5950X Server 128 GB RAM, 2x4 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 46045
Ryzen 9 7950X Server 128 GB DDR5 ECC, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 63561
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/1TB) 128 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/2TB) 128 GB RAM, 2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/4TB) 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/1TB) 256 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/4TB) 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 9454P Server 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe

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⚠️ *Note: All benchmark scores are approximate and may vary based on configuration. Server availability subject to stock.* ⚠️

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