Project Documentation
Project Documentation: High-Density Compute Node (HDC-2024A)
This document provides comprehensive technical specifications, performance analysis, and operational guidelines for the High-Density Compute Node configuration designated **HDC-2024A**. This configuration is engineered for environments requiring substantial computational throughput combined with high memory bandwidth, making it suitable for demanding virtualization and data processing workloads.
1. Hardware Specifications
The HDC-2024A server platform is built upon a dual-socket, 4U rackmount chassis designed for maximum component density and robust thermal management. All components have been selected to ensure high reliability (MTBF > 150,000 hours) and optimal interoperability within the enterprise data center infrastructure.
1.1 Chassis and System Board
The foundation of this configuration is the proprietary Chassis Model X-4000.
| Feature | Specification |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | 4U Rackmount (Optimized for dense rack deployment) |
| Motherboard | Dual-Socket, Intel C741 Chipset Equivalent (Customized Layout) |
| Maximum Power Delivery (Total System) | 3200W (Redundant 2N configuration) |
| Cooling Solution | 12x Hot-Swappable High-Static-Pressure Fans (N+2 Redundancy) |
| Management Controller | BMC 5.0 (IPMI 2.0 Compliant, Redundant Network Ports) |
| Expansion Slots (Total) | 8x PCIe 5.0 x16 (Full Height/Half Length Support) |
1.2 Central Processing Units (CPUs)
The HDC-2024A utilizes the latest generation of high core-count processors optimized for multi-threaded workloads.
| Component | Specification (Per Socket) | Total System |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Model | Intel Xeon Scalable 6th Gen (Emerald Rapids equivalent) - Platinum Tier | |
| Core Count (P-Cores) | 64 Physical Cores (128 Threads) | |
| Base Clock Frequency | 2.8 GHz | |
| Max Turbo Frequency (Single Core) | Up to 4.5 GHz | |
| L3 Cache Size | 128 MB Per CPU (Total 256 MB) | |
| TDP (Thermal Design Power) | 350W Per CPU | |
| Total Thread Count | 256 Threads |
The selection of the 6th Gen platform ensures support for PCIe 5.0 lanes, critical for high-speed interconnectivity with GPUs and NVMe storage arrays.
1.3 Memory Subsystem (RAM)
Memory configuration emphasizes both capacity and speed, utilizing 16 DIMM slots per CPU socket (32 total slots).
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Memory Type | DDR5 ECC Registered RDIMM |
| Maximum Capacity | 8 TB (Using 32x 256GB DIMMs) |
| Configuration (Standard Build) | 1 TB (32x 32GB DIMMs) |
| Operating Speed | 5600 MT/s (JEDEC Standard) |
| Memory Channels | 8 Channels per CPU (Total 16 Channels) |
| Interleaving | 4-Way Interleaving per Channel Group |
It is crucial to maintain balanced population across all eight memory channels per processor to avoid performance degradation due to uneven channel utilization, as detailed in the Memory Channel Balancing Best Practices guide.
1.4 Storage Configuration
Storage is heterogeneous, balancing high-speed transactional needs with bulk capacity requirements. All primary storage utilizes NVMe over PCIe for minimized latency.
| Tier | Type/Interface | Quantity | Total Capacity (Approx.) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 0 (Boot/OS) | M.2 NVMe (PCIe 5.0 x4) | 2x (Mirrored) | 1.92 TB | Hypervisor/System Logs |
| Tier 1 (Hot Data) | U.2 NVMe (PCIe 5.0 x4) | 8x | 30.72 TB (8x 3.84TB drives) | Active Databases, Caching Layers |
| Tier 2 (Bulk Storage) | 2.5" SAS SSD (SATA/SAS 12Gb/s) | 12x | 46.8 TB (12x 3.84TB drives) | Long-term Logs, Archive Storage |
| Total Usable Storage | Mixed | 22 Drives | ~79.44 TB |
The primary storage controller is integrated into the chipset, leveraging direct CPU access via the C741 Platform Controller Hub (PCH) for Tier 0 and Tier 1 devices, ensuring minimal I/O overhead. NVMe Protocol Deep Dive documentation explains the low-latency benefits.
1.5 Networking Interfaces
Network connectivity is provided via dual-port, high-throughput adapters integrated onto the mainboard, supplemented by an optional add-in card slot.
| Port | Type | Configuration | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOM Port 1 (BMC) | Dedicated Management | IPMI 2.0 | 1 GbE |
| LOM Port 2 (Data) | Primary Data Plane | LACP Bonding Capable | 2x 25 GbE (SFP28) |
| Expansion Slot (Primary) | Optional Add-in Card (AIC) | PCIe 5.0 x16 Slot | Up to 400 GbE (If equipped with appropriate NIC) |
| Inter-Node Fabric (Optional) | InfiniBand/Ethernet | Via PCIe Slot | 200 Gb/s or 400 Gb/s |
The default configuration uses 25GbE, which provides sufficient bandwidth for most virtualization and clustered file system operations, aligning with Enterprise Networking Standards for modern deployments.
2. Performance Characteristics
The HDC-2024A is designed to maximize computational density per rack unit (U). Performance validation focused on sustained throughput rather than peak burst metrics.
2.1 Synthetic Benchmarks
Synthetic testing was performed using standardized tools across the primary resource vectors: compute, memory bandwidth, and I/O latency.
2.1.1 Compute Performance (vCPU Saturation)
The dual 64-core configuration yields 256 logical processors. Testing focused on heavily threaded workloads such as High-Performance Computing (HPC) simulations and large-scale database query processing.
| Metric | HDC-2024A Result | Previous Generation (HDC-2022) | Improvement Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPECrate_2017_Int Peak | 18,500 | 13,200 | 1.40x |
| Sustained Utilization (8-hour test) | 96.5% | 94.1% | N/A |
The significant uplift (1.40x) is attributed primarily to the architectural efficiency gains of the 6th Gen CPUs and the increased L3 cache size, reducing cache misses during complex loop iterations.
2.1.2 Memory Bandwidth
Memory performance is crucial for in-memory databases and large data structure processing.
| Operation | HDC-2024A Bandwidth (GB/s) | Theoretical Max (DDR5-5600, 16 Channels) |
|---|---|---|
| Copy (Peak) | 785 GB/s | ~896 GB/s |
| Scale (Sustained) | 750 GB/s | N/A |
The sustained bandwidth of 750 GB/s confirms that the 8-channel per CPU configuration is effectively utilized, operating at approximately 83% of the theoretical peak, which is excellent given the overhead introduced by ECC parity checks and memory controller latency. Refer to Memory Subsystem Optimization for tuning guidance.
2.1.3 I/O Latency and Throughput
Testing focused on the Tier 1 NVMe array (8x U.2 drives configured in a ZFS mirror-striped array).
| Metric | Result | Configuration Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Sequential Read Throughput | 28.5 GB/s | Across 8x PCIe 5.0 x4 lanes |
| 4K Random IOPS (QD64) | 4.1 Million IOPS | Controller Overhead Minimized |
| P99 Latency (4K Random Read) | 45 microseconds (µs) | Critical for transactional workloads |
The low P99 latency demonstrates the effectiveness of direct chipset attachment for the primary storage array, bypassing slower peripheral bus interfaces.
2.2 Real-World Application Performance
Performance was validated using industry-standard application suites mirroring target workloads.
2.2.1 Virtualization Density
The system was configured as a VMware ESXi host running 100 identical Linux KVM virtual machines (VMs), each allocated 2 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM.
- **VM Density:** 100 VMs successfully provisioned.
- **Stress Test:** Simultaneous execution of `sysbench` CPU benchmarks across all 100 VMs.
- **Result:** Average CPU steal time across all VMs remained below 1.5% over a 4-hour sustained test window. This indicates that the 256 physical threads provide excellent resource isolation and scheduling efficiency for moderately loaded VMs.
2.2.2 Database Transaction Processing
Using a TPC-C benchmark simulation against a PostgreSQL 15 instance utilizing the Tier 1 storage.
- **Result:** The system achieved **1,250,000 Transactions Per Minute (TPM)** with a P95 response time under 5ms for 99% of transactions. This performance level positions the HDC-2024A firmly in the upper echelon for OLTP applications where core count and fast storage are paramount. Database Server Tuning Guide provides specific OS kernel parameter adjustments.
3. Recommended Use Cases
The HDC-2024A configuration is optimized for workloads that demand high core density, substantial memory capacity, and extremely fast, low-latency storage access.
3.1 Enterprise Virtualization Host (Hyperconverged Infrastructure - HCI)
With 256 threads and 1 TB of RAM standard, this node excels as a primary host in an HCI cluster (e.g., VMware vSAN or Ceph).
- **Benefit:** High VM consolidation ratios without sacrificing performance due to resource contention. The fast PCIe 5.0 storage backbone supports rapid snapshotting and high I/O operations required by hypervisors.
- **Constraint:** Requires high-speed 25GbE or 100GbE networking to prevent network bottlenecks when communicating cluster metadata across nodes.
3.2 Large-Scale Relational Database Servers (OLTP/OLAP)
The combination of high core count (for query parallelism) and high memory bandwidth (for caching working sets) makes this ideal for demanding database engines (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL).
- **OLTP Focus:** Fast NVMe storage ensures low latency for transaction commits and index lookups (as demonstrated in Section 2.2.2).
- **OLAP Focus:** The large L3 cache and high memory throughput accelerate complex analytical joins and large data set aggregations.
3.3 AI/ML Training and Inference (CPU-Bound Models)
While GPU acceleration is common, CPU-only workloads, particularly data preprocessing, feature engineering, and smaller-scale model training (e.g., traditional machine learning algorithms not suited for massive parallelization), benefit immensely.
- **Preprocessing:** High thread count accelerates data loading, transformation, and augmentation pipelines ($>$10x speedup over previous generation systems).
- **Inference:** Excellent for batch inference scenarios where the model footprint fits within the 1 TB memory ceiling and throughput is prioritized over single-request latency.
3.4 High-Throughput Computing (HTC) Clusters
For distributed batch processing jobs (e.g., Monte Carlo simulations, genomic sequencing analysis) where the workload is embarrassingly parallel and memory access patterns are relatively localized to the core count, the HDC-2024A provides maximum computational density per rack space. HPC Cluster Deployment Guide covers interconnect strategies for these environments.
4. Comparison with Similar Configurations
To contextualize the HDC-2024A, we compare it against two related configurations commonly deployed in enterprise environments: a Memory-Optimized configuration (HDC-2024M) and a GPU-Accelerated configuration (HDC-2024G).
4.1 Configuration Matrix
This table highlights the key trade-offs inherent in the design choices.
| Feature | HDC-2024A (Compute Focus) | HDC-2024M (Memory Focus) | HDC-2024G (GPU Focus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Cores (Total) | 128 (High Clock) | 96 (Lower Frequency) | 128 (Identical to A) |
| Max RAM Capacity | 8 TB | 16 TB (Using 512GB DIMMs) | 4 TB (To accommodate GPU slots) |
| Tier 1 NVMe Capacity | 30.72 TB | 15.36 TB (Reduced slots for M.2/U.2) | 15.36 TB |
| PCIe Slots for Accelerators | 8x PCIe 5.0 x16 | 4x PCIe 5.0 x16 | 6x PCIe 5.0 x16 (Dedicated for 4x double-width GPUs) |
| Typical Cost Index (Relative) | 1.0x | 1.25x | 3.5x (Due to GPU cost) |
| Best For | General Virtualization, DB Servers | In-Memory Caching, SAP HANA | Deep Learning Training, HPC Simulation |
- Analysis of Comparison
1. **HDC-2024A vs. HDC-2024M:** The HDC-2024A prioritizes core count and general-purpose I/O flexibility (8 NVMe slots available). The Memory configuration (HDC-2024M) sacrifices some core count and I/O slots to support higher-density, more expensive DIMMs, making it superior for workloads where the entire dataset must reside in RAM (e.g., SAP HANA). 2. **HDC-2024A vs. HDC-2024G:** The GPU configuration (HDC-2024G) offers massive parallel floating-point compute power via its integrated accelerators but severely limits general-purpose CPU capacity and storage density to accommodate physical GPU footprints and power draw. The HDC-2024A is the clear choice when computational needs are high but are best served by CPU parallelism rather than massive GPU matrix operations. Selecting Compute Architecture provides a decision tree.
4.2 Network Comparison
The choice of networking significantly impacts performance, especially in clustered environments.
| Configuration | HDC-2024A Default | HDC-2024A Max Config (AIC) | HDC-2024M Max Config (AIC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Plane Bandwidth | 50 Gbps (2x 25GbE) | 400 Gbps (via 2x 400GbE NICs) | 200 Gbps (via 2x 100GbE NICs) |
| Latency (Inter-Node Ping) | ~18 µs (Ethernet) | ~1.5 µs (InfiniBand EDR) | ~3 µs (RoCE v2) |
The HDC-2024A’s default 50 Gbps is adequate for standard virtualization traffic. However, to unlock its full potential in distributed storage or tightly coupled HPC workloads, upgrading to a 400GbE or InfiniBand solution via the PCIe 5.0 slot is mandatory.
5. Maintenance Considerations
Proper maintenance is essential to ensure the high availability and longevity of the HDC-2024A platform, particularly due to its high component density and power draw.
5.1 Power Requirements and Redundancy
The system's maximum power consumption under full load (all CPUs at 350W TDP, all drives active, 8x GPUs potentially installed) can exceed 2500W.
- **PSU Configuration:** Dual 1600W Platinum-rated (92%+ efficiency) hot-swappable power supply units (PSUs) are standard. The configuration is N+1 redundant under normal sustained load (up to 2800W total draw).
- **Input Requirement:** Requires dual independent 20A (or higher, depending on regional power standards) power feeds per rack unit to ensure full redundancy and prevent tripping breakers during peak utilization. Consult the Data Center Power Density Guidelines before deploying racks exceeding 15 kVA per cabinet.
5.2 Thermal Management and Airflow
The high component density necessitates strict adherence to thermal guidelines to prevent thermal throttling of the 350W CPUs.
- **Airflow Direction:** Front-to-Back (Intake at front bezel, Exhaust at rear).
- **Ambient Temperature:** Maintain inlet air temperature between $18^{\circ}\text{C}$ and $24^{\circ}\text{C}$ (ASHRAE Class A2/A3 compliance). Exceeding $27^{\circ}\text{C}$ inlet temperature will trigger automatic CPU clock speed reduction (down-clocking) to maintain the specified thermal safety margin.
- **Fan Operation:** The BMC dynamically adjusts fan speeds based on the hottest monitored component (usually the CPU package or the PCIe slot adjacent to a high-power AIC). Under peak load, system acoustic output can reach 75 dBA; adequate sound dampening or isolation may be required for office environments. Server Thermal Throttling Mitigation details specific throttling thresholds.
- 5.3 Component Replacement Procedures
All critical components are designed for hot-swappable replacement, minimizing downtime for non-disruptive maintenance.
- **Drives (Tier 1 & 2):** Drives use standardized carrier trays with integrated LED status indicators (Green for healthy, Amber blinking for rebuild, Solid Red for failed). Replacement requires only unlocking the carrier handle and sliding the unit out. RAID/ZFS rebuild times are accelerated by the dedicated I/O bandwidth.
- **PSUs and Fans:** These units utilize tool-less locking mechanisms. The BMC must be queried via the management interface to confirm the failed unit and the status of the remaining redundant units before replacement.
- **Memory (DIMMs):** Replacing RAM requires system shutdown (or migration of all associated VMs) as DIMMs are not hot-swappable due to the high pin count and electrical stability requirements of DDR5. Always use components listed on the approved Validated Component List to ensure compatibility with the memory controller.
5.4 Firmware and Software Lifecycle Management
Maintaining the system firmware is crucial for stability, security, and performance tuning, especially concerning the PCIe subsystem and memory timings.
- **BIOS/UEFI:** Firmware updates must be applied sequentially, following the vendor's documented patch sequence. Skipping major revisions can lead to configuration corruption or unrecoverable states.
- **BMC Firmware:** The BMC firmware should be updated quarterly or immediately upon release of security advisories (e.g., Spectre/Meltdown mitigations).
- **Driver Stack:** For optimal PCIe 5.0 performance, the operating system kernel and device drivers (especially NVMe and Network Interface Card drivers) must be kept current. Outdated drivers may default to PCIe 4.0 compatibility modes, crippling I/O throughput. Firmware Update Procedures outlines the standard deployment roadmap.
The HDC-2024A represents a significant investment in high-density compute capability. Adherence to these maintenance protocols ensures the sustained delivery of the performance metrics outlined in Section 2.
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.* ⚠️