Server Documentation
Server Documentation: The "Apex-7000" High-Density Compute Platform
This document provides a comprehensive technical specification, performance analysis, and operational guide for the Apex-7000 server configuration. The Apex-7000 is designed as a flagship 2U rackmount platform optimized for high core density, massive memory capacity, and ultra-low-latency I/O, targeting mission-critical virtualization, in-memory databases, and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads.
1. Hardware Specifications
The Apex-7000 chassis architecture is built around maximizing compute density while adhering to stringent thermal and power envelope constraints. This section details the standardized configuration profile (SKU: APX7000-HPC-D4).
1.1. Chassis and Physical Attributes
The chassis adheres to the standard 19-inch rack mount form factor, utilizing a high-airflow design optimized for front-to-back cooling.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | 2U Rackmount |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 87.5 mm x 448 mm x 790 mm (3.44 in x 17.6 in x 31.1 in) |
| Weight (Fully Loaded) | ~35 kg (77 lbs) |
| Material | SECC Steel, Aluminum Heatsinks |
| Rack Mounting | Sliding Rails (Toolless installation supported) |
| Front Panel Access | LCD Diagnostic Panel, Power/UID Buttons, USB 3.0 Port |
1.2. System Board and Processor Architecture
The platform utilizes a dual-socket motherboard supporting the latest generation of server-class processors, featuring high core counts and extensive UPI/Infinity Fabric bandwidth.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| CPU Sockets | 2 (Dual Socket Configuration) |
| Supported CPU Family | Intel Xeon Scalable (4th Generation, Sapphire Rapids Equivalent) or AMD EPYC (Genoa/Bergamo Equivalent) |
| Maximum Cores Per Socket (Configured) | 64 Cores / 128 Threads (Total 128C/256T) |
| Base Clock Frequency (Configured) | 2.4 GHz (All-Core Turbo Profile) |
| L3 Cache (Total) | 256 MB (Configured for 2x 128MB) |
| Chipset | Intel C741 PCH equivalent or AMD SP5 Platform Controller |
| Interconnect | Dual UPI Links (Intel) or 12-Channel Infinity Fabric (AMD) |
| PCIe Lanes Available (Total) | 160 Lanes (PCIe 5.0) |
1.3. Memory Subsystem
The Apex-7000 supports massive memory capacity, crucial for in-memory workloads and large VM consolidation ratios. It supports DDR5 technology exclusively, leveraging the high channel count of modern server CPUs.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Memory Type | DDR5 Registered ECC RDIMM (RDIMM required for full density) |
| Total DIMM Slots | 32 (16 per CPU socket) |
| Standard Configuration (SKU Default) | 1 TB (32 x 32 GB DIMMs) |
| Maximum Supported Capacity | 8 TB (32 x 256 GB LRDIMMs or 32 x 128GB RDIMMs, dependent on validated BIOS revision) |
| Memory Speed (Max Supported) | 4800 MT/s (JEDEC Standard) or 5600 MT/s (Overclocked/XMP Profile) |
| Memory Channels | 8 Channels per CPU (16 total channels) |
| Memory Bandwidth (Theoretical Peak) | > 1.2 TB/s (Using 4800 MT/s DIMMs) |
1.4. Storage Subsystem
The storage configuration emphasizes high-speed, low-latency NVMe storage, balanced with high-capacity archival options via SATA/SAS interfaces. The backplane supports hot-swap capabilities for all primary drives.
| Slot Type | Quantity | Interface/Protocol | Maximum Capacity (Per Slot) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Bays (Primary) | 12 x 2.5" U.2/U.3 | NVMe PCIe 5.0 | 15.36 TB |
| Internal M.2 Slots (Boot/OS) | 2 x M.2 22110 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | 7.68 TB |
| Rear Storage Bays (Optional Add-on) | 4 x 3.5" HDD/SSD | SAS3 / SATA III | 22 TB |
The primary boot configuration utilizes a RAID 1 mirror across two of the internal M.2 devices, managed by the onboard BMC firmware interface, independent of the main storage RAID controller.
1.5. Networking and I/O Expansion
The Apex-7000 provides extensive PCIe 5.0 connectivity, essential for high-throughput networking and specialized accelerators (GPUs, FPGAs).
| Slot Designation | Physical Slot Size | Electrical Configuration | Purpose / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCIe Riser 1 (Mid-Plane) | Full Height, Full Length (FHFL) | PCIe 5.0 x16 | Primary GPU/Accelerator slot |
| PCIe Riser 2 (Rear Slot A) | Low Profile, Half Length (LPHL) | PCIe 5.0 x8 | Dedicated Storage Controller or Network Card (e.g., InfiniBand) |
| PCIe Riser 3 (Rear Slot B) | FHFL | PCIe 5.0 x16 | Secondary Accelerator or High-Speed NIC (e.g., 400GbE) |
| OCP 3.0 Slot | Standard OCP 3.0 Form Factor | PCIe 5.0 x16 (Dedicated link from PCH) | Primary Network Interface Card (NIC) Offload |
The base networking configuration includes dual 25GbE ports integrated via the OCP 3.0 slot, managed by a dedicated controller (e.g., Broadcom BCM57504 equivalent).
1.6. Power and Cooling Subsystem
Power redundancy and thermal management are critical due to the high component density (128+ cores and numerous NVMe drives).
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Power Supplies (PSUs) | 2x Hot-Swap Redundant (1+1) |
| PSU Rating (Configured) | 2200W 80 PLUS Titanium Certified |
| Maximum Theoretical Power Draw (Peak Load) | ~1950W (With 2x 350W CPUs, 8TB RAM, 12x 15TB NVMe) |
| Cooling System | 6x Redundant Hot-Swap Fans (N+1) |
| Airflow Direction | Front-to-Back (Topology: Cold Aisle intake, Hot Aisle exhaust) |
| Operating Temperature Range | 18°C to 27°C (Recommended for sustained peak performance) |
The system utilizes sophisticated dynamic power capping managed by the Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) IPMI 2.0 interface to prevent immediate tripping of facility power circuits during transient load spikes such as Turbo Boost activation. PDU sizing must account for this peak draw.
2. Performance Characteristics
The Apex-7000 achieves its performance targets through optimized memory topology, high-speed interconnects, and massive parallel processing capability.
2.1. Synthetic Benchmarks
Performance evaluation focuses on metrics critical for datacenter workloads: computational density, memory latency, and I/O throughput.
- 2.1.1. Compute Performance (SPECrate 2017 Integer)
The benchmark highlights the system's efficiency in multi-threaded integer operations, typical of transactional databases and enterprise Java applications.
| Configuration Detail | Score (Relative) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Apex-7000 (128C/256T) | 18,500 (Estimated) | High core count, optimized memory access. |
| Previous Gen (Apex-6000, 80C/160T) | 11,200 | Baseline comparison for generational uplift. |
| Target HPC Cluster Node (Lower Frequency, Higher Core Count) | 16,100 | Demonstrates superior per-watt performance density. |
- Note: Scores are normalized relative to a reference server configuration running at equivalent clock speeds.*
- 2.1.2. Memory Latency and Bandwidth
Memory performance is critical, especially for databases requiring rapid access to large datasets residing in DRAM. The 8-channel per CPU configuration is leveraged fully.
- **Latency (Single-Core Read):** Measured at 68 ns (non-NUMA access). This low latency is achieved through the direct connection of the memory controllers to the CPU die via UPI/Infinity Fabric.
- **Bandwidth (Aggregate Read):** 1.25 TB/s achieved using 32 x 4800 MT/s DIMMs, measured using specialized streaming benchmarks like STREAM.
2.2. I/O Throughput Analysis
The PCIe 5.0 infrastructure allows for significant I/O saturation, shifting bottlenecks away from the CPU/Memory subsystem towards the storage media itself.
| Test | Configuration | Result | Bottleneck Identification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential Read (128K Block) | 12x 7.68 TB U.2 NVMe (RAID 0) | 42 GB/s | PCIe 5.0 x16 link saturation (Theoretical Max: ~47 GB/s) |
| Random Read (4K IOPS) | 12x U.2 NVMe (Configured for 80% Read/20% Write) | 9.8 Million IOPS | NVMe controller queue depth limitations. |
| Network Throughput (iPerf3) | Dual 25GbE NICs | 48.5 Gbps (Bidirectional) | Confirms NIC performance is not artificially limited by the PCIe bus. |
The performance profile suggests that for I/O-intensive tasks, the system can sustain near-maximum theoretical limits across all connected peripherals, provided the RAID HBA supports PCIe 5.0 bifurcation effectively.
2.3. Power Efficiency Metrics
Efficiency is measured using the performance-per-watt metric, crucial for large-scale cloud deployments.
- **Idle Power Draw:** 285W (Measured at the PDU input, with BMC/Networking active, no heavy computation).
- **Average Operational Power (Virtualization Host):** 1150W (Under 70% sustained general-purpose load).
- **Performance per Watt (SPECrate):** Approximately 16.0 SPECrate units per kilowatt (kW). This represents a 35% improvement over the previous generation's 11.8 units/kW, primarily attributable to the process node shrink of the CPUs and DDR5 efficiency gains.
3. Recommended Use Cases
The Apex-7000 is engineered for environments where density, scalability, and low-latency data access are paramount. It excels where older architectures would become severely limited by memory bandwidth or PCIe lane count.
3.1. High-Density Virtualization and Cloud Infrastructure
With 128 physical cores and up to 8TB of RAM, this server can host an exceptionally high number of Virtual Machines (VMs) or containers.
- **VM Density:** Capable of supporting over 1,500 standard 4 vCPU/16GB RAM VMs, depending on the workload profile (see VM density planning guides).
- **Hypervisor Support:** Certified for VMware ESXi, Microsoft Hyper-V, and KVM distributions. The high core count benefits heavily from modern Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) balancing features within the hypervisor layer, ensuring optimal resource allocation across the dual sockets.
3.2. In-Memory Databases (IMDB)
The large DRAM capacity and high memory bandwidth make the Apex-7000 ideal for platforms like SAP HANA, Redis clusters, and specialized analytical databases.
- **SAP HANA Sizing:** A single node can comfortably support Tier 1 production workloads requiring up to 6TB of active working memory, minimizing the need for complex multi-node clustering for datasets under that threshold.
- **Data Caching Layers:** Excellent for high-throughput, low-latency key-value stores requiring massive RAM allocation to avoid disk I/O latency.
3.3. High-Performance Computing (HPC) and AI Inference
While not strictly a GPU-centric server, the PCIe 5.0 x16 slots allow for robust integration of accelerator cards necessary for deep learning inference or specific parallel computational tasks.
- **Interconnect Focus:** When paired with high-speed networking (e.g., 200GbE or InfiniBand via the expansion slots), it serves as an excellent computational node in tightly coupled HPC clusters, especially those reliant on MPI communication across large datasets residing in local memory. MPI performance scales well due to the high core count and reduced inter-socket latency compared to older generations.
3.4. Large-Scale Data Analytics (Big Data)
For environments running Apache Spark or Hadoop analytical clusters where the datasets fit comfortably within the 8TB RAM limit, the Apex-7000 significantly reduces MapReduce shuffle overhead by keeping intermediate results in memory.
4. Comparison with Similar Configurations
To justify the premium associated with the Apex-7000's density and PCIe 5.0 capabilities, it is compared against two relevant alternative configurations commonly deployed in enterprise environments.
| Feature | Apex-7000 (2U) | Apex-6500 (1U, High Density) | Apex-8000 (4U, GPU Optimized) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | **Form Factor** | 2U | 1U | 4U | | **Max CPU Cores** | 128 (Dual Socket) | 96 (Dual Socket) | 128 (Dual Socket) | | **Max RAM Capacity** | 8 TB | 4 TB | 8 TB | | **PCIe Generation** | 5.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 | | **Max NVMe Bays** | 12 x 2.5" | 10 x 2.5" | 24 x 2.5" (Requires SAS Expander) | | **Max GPU Support** | 2 x FHFL (x16) | 1 x FHFL (x16) | 8 x Double-Width (Full Power) | | **Target Workload** | Virtualization, IMDB | Scale-out Web Services | AI Training, Massive Parallelism | | **Power Efficiency (Per Core)** | High | Moderate | Lower (Due to transient GPU loads) |
4.1. 1U Density vs. 2U Scalability
The 1U Apex-6500 offers excellent density per rack unit, but its limitations become apparent in memory size (4TB max) and I/O speed (PCIe 4.0). For workloads requiring deep memory access or ultra-fast storage access (e.g., databases), the Apex-7000's 2U chassis provides the necessary thermal headroom and physical slot count to overcome these constraints without requiring a full 4U system. The difference between PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 bandwidth is approximately 100% for x16 slots, which is non-trivial for high-speed NVMe-oF deployments.
4.2. HPC vs. General Purpose
The Apex-8000, though having similar CPU capabilities, is architecturally biased towards GPU acceleration, often sacrificing local drive density and maximizing power delivery to the accelerator slots (up to 700W per slot). The Apex-7000 is better suited where the *main* bottleneck is CPU core saturation and memory capacity, rather than massive parallel floating-point operations driven by dedicated GPUs. GPU acceleration is an optional feature in the 7000, whereas it is the primary design driver for the 8000 series.
5. Maintenance Considerations
Proper maintenance ensures the longevity and sustained performance of the high-density Apex-7000 platform. Given the thermal density, specific attention must be paid to power redundancy and cooling infrastructure.
5.1. Thermal Management and Airflow
The system relies heavily on maintaining strict ambient temperature and airflow standards.
- **Airflow Path Integrity:** Ensure that all blanking panels on the front bay are securely installed. Any breach in the front-to-back airflow path can lead to recirculation zones, causing localized hot spots around the CPU sockets and DIMMs, potentially triggering thermal throttling even if the overall ambient temperature is acceptable.
- **Fan Redundancy:** The 6x N+1 fan configuration means the failure of one fan will not immediately cause a system shutdown, but the remaining fans will spin up to higher RPMs, increasing acoustic output and system power consumption. Proactive replacement of high-hour fans is recommended.
- **Rack Density:** Deploying more than 40 Apex-7000 units in a single standard 42U rack (assuming 2:1 rack density) requires specialized high-CFM cooling infrastructure (e.g., in-row cooling or rear-door heat exchangers). Standard CRAC/CRAH units may struggle to handle the cumulative 40kW+ heat load generated at peak utilization.
5.2. Power Redundancy and Load Balancing
The dual 2200W Titanium PSUs offer significant overhead, but careful management is required, especially during startup sequences.
- **PSU Configuration:** Both PSUs must be connected to separate, independent power sources (A-side and B-side PDU chains) to maintain full redundancy (N+1).
- **Inrush Current:** When powering up a fully loaded rack, staggered power-on sequences are mandatory. The combined inrush current from multiple 2200W PSUs engaging simultaneously can exceed the tripping threshold of standard circuit breakers.
- **Firmware Updates:** Ensure the BMC firmware is updated concurrently with the BIOS/UEFI firmware. Modern BMCs manage dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) in coordination with the CPU microcode, which directly impacts power consumption and thermal behavior under load. BMC updates often contain critical power management fixes.
5.3. Storage Maintenance Procedures
Hot-swapping NVMe drives requires adherence to specific vendor protocols, often managed via the operating system or specialized storage management software.
- **Drive Removal Warning:** Before physically removing any U.2 NVMe drive, verify via the BMC interface or OS utility that the drive is set to a "Safe to Remove" state. Attempting removal while the drive is active in a RAID array or managing firmware updates can lead to array corruption or catastrophic failure of the RAID HBA.
- **Firmware Management:** NVMe drives benefit significantly from regular firmware updates to improve wear-leveling algorithms and maintain high IOPS consistency over time. Use the integrated M.2 drives for the OS/Hypervisor, keeping the primary NVMe bays dedicated to high-churn application data.
5.4. Upgrade Path Considerations
The architecture is designed for longevity, primarily through CPU and memory upgrades, as the PCIe 5.0 I/O subsystem is future-proofed for several generations of network and storage devices.
- **CPU Upgrade:** When upgrading CPUs, ensure the new processors are electrically compatible (e.g., socket type) and that the installed BIOS revision supports the stepping level of the new silicon. Memory retraining during POST may take significantly longer with new processors.
- **RAM Upgrade Planning:** When increasing RAM capacity beyond 4TB, shifting from standard RDIMMs to LRDIMMs (Load-Reduced DIMMs) might be necessary to maintain signal integrity across all 32 slots at high speeds. This transition must be validated against the specific CPU memory controller specification to prevent instability or reduced operating frequency. LRDIMM usage requires careful planning.
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.* ⚠️