Server Infrastructure Overview
Server Infrastructure Overview: The Apex 4U Compute Node (Model AC-4920X)
This document provides a comprehensive technical overview of the Apex 4U Compute Node, Model AC-4920X. This configuration is designed for high-density, mission-critical workloads requiring exceptional parallel processing power and massive I/O throughput, positioning it as a flagship platform for modern data centers.
1. Hardware Specifications
The AC-4920X utilizes a dual-socket motherboard architecture leveraging the latest generation of server processors and high-speed interconnects. The 4U chassis form factor allows for superior thermal management and extensive expandability compared to standard 1U/2U rackmount systems.
1.1 Chassis and Physical Attributes
The chassis design prioritizes airflow and component accessibility for efficient serviceability.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | 4U Rackmount |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 176mm x 440mm x 780mm (6.9 in x 17.3 in x 30.7 in) |
| Maximum Weight (Fully Loaded) | 45 kg (99.2 lbs) |
| Material | SECC Steel, Aluminum Rails |
| Cooling System | Redundant High-Static-Pressure Fans (10 x 80mm, Hot-Swappable) |
| Rack Compatibility | Standard 19-inch Rack Rails (Full-Extension Included) |
1.2 Central Processing Units (CPUs)
The system supports dual-socket configurations utilizing processors optimized for core density and memory bandwidth.
| Attribute | Specification (Per Socket) |
|---|---|
| Processor Family | Intel Xeon Scalable (4th Generation, Sapphire Rapids) |
| Maximum Quantity | 2 Sockets |
| Base Model Configuration | 2 x Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ (56 Cores, 112 Threads each) |
| Total Cores / Threads | 112 Cores / 224 Threads (System Total) |
| Base Clock Speed | 2.0 GHz |
| Max Turbo Frequency | Up to 3.8 GHz (All-Core Turbo) |
| Cache (L3) | 112 MB (Total System Cache: 224 MB) |
| TDP (Thermal Design Power) | 350W per CPU |
| Socket Type | LGA 4677 (Socket E) |
| Interconnect | UPI Link Speed: 18 GT/s |
The selection of the Intel Xeon Platinum 8480+ emphasizes high core count for virtualization density and scientific computing workloads. Further details on CPU Architecture principles are available via the linked documentation.
1.3 Memory Subsystem
The AC-4920X boasts extensive memory capacity and bandwidth, crucial for memory-intensive applications like in-memory databases and large-scale simulation.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Total DIMM Slots | 32 DIMM Slots (16 per CPU) |
| Maximum Supported Capacity | 8 TB (Using 32 x 256GB DDR5 RDIMMs) |
| Standard Configuration | 1 TB (32 x 32GB DDR5-4800 ECC RDIMM) |
| Memory Type Supported | DDR5 ECC RDIMM, LRDIMM |
| Memory Channels | 8 Channels per CPU (Total 16 Channels) |
| Max Supported Speed | DDR5-4800 MT/s (JEDEC Standard) |
The system supports advanced memory features such as Intel Optane Persistent Memory (though current standard configuration uses DDR5 RDIMMs) and Error-Correcting Code (ECC) memory validation.
1.4 Storage Architecture
The storage subsystem is designed for maximum throughput, featuring support for NVMe over PCIe Gen 5.0 and high-density HDD arrays.
1.4.1 Boot and System Drives
The system includes an internal dedicated storage area for the operating system and hypervisor.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Boot Controller | Onboard SATA/NVMe Controller (RAID 0/1/5/10 Support) |
| Internal Boot Volume | 2 x 960GB M.2 NVMe SSD (Mirrored for OS Redundancy) |
1.4.2 Primary Data Storage Bays
The 4U chassis supports a flexible backplane configuration.
| Bay Type | Quantity | Connectivity / Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| 2.5" U.2/SATA/SAS Bays | 24 Bays | Tri-Mode RAID Controller (SAS4/SATA3/NVMe Gen4/5) |
| 3.5" SATA/SAS Bays (Optional) | 12 Bays (Replaces 12 x 2.5" Bays) | SAS3 (12Gb/s) |
| Dedicated NVMe Slots | 8 x PCIe Gen 5.0 U.2 Slots (Direct CPU Attached) |
The primary data controller is the Broadcom MegaRAID 9750-8i Tri-Mode HBA, supporting hardware RAID Configuration up to RAID 60.
1.5 Networking and I/O
I/O capabilities are critical for a high-performance server. The AC-4920X leverages PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes extensively.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Onboard LOM (LAN On Motherboard) | 2 x 10GbE Base-T (Intel X710-AT2 equivalent) |
| PCIe Slots (Total) | 8 x Full Height, Full Length Slots |
| PCIe Generation | PCIe 5.0 |
| Available Lanes (Total System) | 128 Lanes (64 per CPU, plus Platform Resources) |
| Rear Expansion Slot (OCP 3.0) | 1 Slot (Supports up to 400GbE NICs or specialized accelerators) |
| Management Port | Dedicated 1GbE IPMI/BMC Port |
The availability of 128 PCIe 5.0 lanes ensures that high-speed peripherals, such as NVMe SSDs and InfiniBand adapters, do not suffer from bandwidth contention.
1.6 Power Subsystem
Redundancy and efficiency are paramount for enterprise deployment.
| Attribute | Specification |
|---|---|
| Power Supplies (Total) | 2 (Redundant, Hot-Swappable, N+1) |
| PSU Rating (Per Unit) | 2000W 80 PLUS Titanium Certified |
| Input Voltage | 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz (Auto-Sensing) |
| Power Distribution | Shared load balancing with automatic failover |
The Titanium rating ensures peak power efficiency, minimizing operational energy costs, a key aspect of Data Center Power Management.
2. Performance Characteristics
The AC-4920X is benchmarked against industry standards to validate its suitability for demanding environments. All tests were conducted using a standardized configuration: 2x P8480+, 1TB DDR5-4800, and a full complement of 24 x 3.84TB NVMe Gen 4 SSDs in RAID 0 for storage throughput testing.
2.1 Synthetic Benchmarks
Synthetic benchmarks provide a baseline understanding of raw computational capability.
2.1.1 Compute Performance (FLOPS)
Floating Point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) measurement is critical for HPC and AI inference tasks.
| Metric | Result (System Total) |
|---|---|
| SPECrate 2017 Integer_base | 11,500 |
| SPECrate 2017 Floating Point_base | 12,800 |
| Theoretical TFLOPS (FP64) | ~14.3 TFLOPS (Using AVX-512 peak) |
The high integer performance reflects the 112 physical cores available for parallel task scheduling, essential for high-throughput web serving and database operations.
2.2 Memory Bandwidth and Latency
Memory performance is often the bottleneck in modern server operations.
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Peak Bandwidth (Read) | 512 GB/s |
| Peak Bandwidth (Write) | 480 GB/s |
| Memory Latency (First Touch) | 65 ns |
The 8-channel memory architecture per CPU efficiently saturates the available DDR5-4800 bandwidth, significantly reducing memory stalls compared to previous generation dual-channel architectures. This is documented further in DDR5 Memory Performance Analysis.
2.3 Storage Throughput
Storage performance is validated using FIO (Flexible I/O Tester) across the dedicated PCIe Gen 5.0 backend.
| I/O Pattern | Queue Depth (QD) | IOPS | Bandwidth (MB/s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential Read | 128 | N/A | 18.5 GB/s |
| Random Read (4K Block) | 1024 | 1,950,000 IOPS | N/A |
| Random Write (4K Block) | 1024 | 1,620,000 IOPS | N/A |
The ability to sustain nearly 2 million random IOPS at high queue depths demonstrates the effectiveness of the PCIe Gen 5.0 connectivity directly to the storage controllers, bypassing typical chipset bottlenecks. This is critical for High-Performance Computing Storage.
2.4 Real-World Application Performance
Performance validation extends to industry-standard application suites.
2.4.1 Virtualization Density (VMware vSphere)
Testing involved provisioning standard 4 vCPU/16GB RAM virtual machines.
- **Result:** The AC-4920X sustained 280 active VMs running mixed workloads (web serving, light database access) with less than 5% performance degradation compared to baseline idle performance. This demonstrates excellent Hypervisor Efficiency due to the high core count and large L3 cache.
2.4.2 Database Transaction Rate (TPC-C)
When configured with high-speed NVMe storage, the system achieved an audited TPC-C result of **3,250,000 tpmC (Transactions Per Minute, large scale)**. This places the AC-4920X in the top tier for OLTP workloads, heavily leveraging the low-latency memory access paths described in NUMA Architecture Optimization.
3. Recommended Use Cases
The combination of high core density, massive memory capacity, and extensive high-speed I/O makes the AC-4920X suitable for several demanding enterprise roles.
3.1 Large-Scale Virtualization Hosts
With 112 physical cores and support for up to 8TB of RAM, this server is ideal for consolidating hundreds of virtual machines (VMs) or containers. It minimizes the physical server footprint while maximizing resource availability for Virtual Machine Density.
3.2 High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Simulation
The extensive support for AVX-512 instructions, coupled with high memory bandwidth, makes it excellent for CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and molecular modeling. Furthermore, the numerous PCIe 5.0 slots allow for the integration of specialized accelerators like GPU Computing Accelerators or dedicated FPGAs for specific simulation kernels.
3.3 In-Memory Databases (IMDB)
Applications such as SAP HANA or large-scale Redis clusters benefit immensely from the 8TB memory ceiling. The ability to keep entire working sets loaded in fast DDR5 memory minimizes reliance on slower storage I/O, leading to extremely low transaction latency. Reference Database Server Best Practices.
3.4 AI/ML Training and Inference
While primarily a CPU-centric node, its massive PCIe 5.0 capacity allows for the installation of 4 to 6 high-end accelerators (e.g., NVIDIA H100/L40S). The high core count servers as an excellent host for data preprocessing pipelines and managing the data flow to these accelerators, addressing the Data Movement Bottleneck common in GPU clusters.
3.5 Software-Defined Storage (SDS) Head Node
When populated with high-density SAS/SATA drives, the AC-4920X can serve as the metadata or control plane server for large-scale Software-Defined Storage clusters (e.g., Ceph, GlusterFS). Its robust CPU and high memory capacity ensure rapid metadata lookups and management operations under heavy load.
4. Comparison with Similar Configurations
To contextualize the AC-4920X (Apex 4U), it is beneficial to compare it against two common alternatives: a high-density 2U server and a specialized GPU-accelerated node.
4.1 Comparison Matrix
This table contrasts the AC-4920X with a standard 2U dual-socket platform (Model AC-2910S) and a GPU-focused 4U system (Model AC-4950G).
| Feature | AC-4920X (Apex 4U Compute) | AC-2910S (Standard 2U) | AC-4950G (GPU Accelerator) |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Cores (Max) | 112 Cores (2x 8480+) | 80 Cores (2x 8380) | 80 Cores (2x 8380) |
| Max RAM Capacity | 8 TB (DDR5) | 4 TB (DDR5) | 4 TB (DDR5) |
| Storage Bays (2.5") | 24 Bays + 8 NVMe Direct | 16 Bays | 8 Bays + 8 NVMe Direct |
| PCIe 5.0 Slots (Total) | 8 FHFL + 1 OCP 3.0 | 4 FHFL + 1 OCP 3.0 | 8 FHFL + 1 OCP 3.0 |
| GPU Support Density | 2 Double-Width Cards (Passive Cooling Required) | 1 Single-Width Card | 8 Double-Width Cards (Liquid Cooling Option) |
| Primary Strength | Core Count, Memory Capacity, I/O Bandwidth | Density, Power Efficiency | Raw Parallel Compute (GPU) |
4.2 Analysis of Comparison
- **Density vs. Capacity:** The AC-4920X sacrifices some power efficiency per rack unit compared to the 2U AC-2910S, but it offers 40% more CPU cores and double the maximum memory capacity, making it superior for workload consolidation where memory footprint is the constraint.
- **CPU vs. Accelerator Focus:** The AC-4950G prioritizes GPU attachment (up to 8 GPUs). While the AC-4920X has powerful CPUs, its primary strength lies in general-purpose parallel processing and heavy memory access, rather than massive floating-point acceleration provided by dedicated accelerators. For workloads that are not GPU-bound (e.g., Java application servers, large metadata services), the AC-4920X is the superior choice, offering excellent CPU Performance Metrics.
5. Maintenance Considerations
Proper deployment and ongoing maintenance are crucial for maximizing the uptime and lifespan of the AC-4920X due to its high power density and thermal profile.
5.1 Power Requirements and Redundancy
The dual 2000W Titanium PSUs necessitate robust power infrastructure planning.
- **Total System Draw (Peak):** Estimated maximum operational draw under full CPU load with all NVMe devices active is approximately 1600W.
- **PDU Requirements:** Each rack unit should be provisioned with PDUs capable of delivering at least 30A per high-density rack, ensuring adequate headroom for inrush current and future expansion of PCIe peripherals.
- **Redundancy:** The N+1 PSU configuration provides resilience against single power supply failure, provided the upstream feeds (A/B power) are diverse. Refer to Power Distribution Unit Standards for detailed PDU specification sheets.
5.2 Thermal Management and Cooling
The high TDP CPUs (350W each) generate significant localized heat, requiring stringent airflow management.
- **Airflow Requirements:** The system mandates front-to-back airflow. Minimum required cooling capacity is **1.2 kW per server** sustained, exceeding standard ambient data center recommendations.
- **Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle:** Strict adherence to hot aisle containment is essential. The high static pressure fans are designed to overcome resistance, but containment ensures that intake air remains below the maximum operating temperature of 35°C (95°F).
- **Component Replacement:** All critical components (PSUs, Fans, Storage Backplane) are designed for hot-swappable replacement, minimizing Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). Fan replacement requires only rear access, simplifying maintenance procedures detailed in the Server Field Service Manual.
5.3 Firmware and Management
The system utilizes an advanced Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) for remote operations.
- **BMC Interface:** The dedicated 1GbE port connects to an ASPEED AST2600 BMC, supporting Redfish API endpoints for modern Infrastructure as Code (IaC) integration (e.g., Ansible, Terraform).
- **Firmware Updates:** Firmware updates (BIOS, BMC, RAID Controller) must be applied sequentially. It is strongly recommended to update the BMC firmware prior to BIOS updates to ensure proper initialization of newer CPU microcode, as detailed in the Firmware Update Sequence Guide.
- **Diagnostics:** The system supports advanced diagnostics via the BMC, including remote KVM access and sensor logging, which is vital for proactive Predictive Maintenance.
5.4 Storage Reliability and Maintenance
Given the density of storage, proactive monitoring is crucial.
- **Drive Failure Prediction:** Utilizing S.M.A.R.T. data aggregated through the management software, the system can flag drives likely to fail within the next 90 days, allowing for planned component swaps during scheduled maintenance windows.
- **RAID Rebuild Time:** Due to the large capacity of modern drives (e.g., 18TB SAS drives used in optional configurations), RAID rebuild times can exceed 48 hours. This emphasizes the need for high-quality, high-endurance drives and ensuring the system remains adequately cooled during rebuilds to prevent cascading failures (see RAID Rebuild Impact on Performance).
The AC-4920X represents a significant investment in compute density and throughput, demanding corresponding diligence in facility planning and ongoing operational management to realize its full potential.
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.* ⚠️