Server Configuration
Technical Documentation: Enterprise Server Configuration "Apex-7000 Series"
This document provides a comprehensive technical overview of the **Apex-7000 Series** server configuration, a high-density, dual-socket platform optimized for demanding enterprise workloads requiring significant computational throughput and massive I/O bandwidth.
1. Hardware Specifications
The Apex-7000 Series represents a culmination of current-generation component integration, designed for maximum virtualization density and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. All specifications listed below pertain to the standard, fully populated reference chassis (4U Rackmount).
1.1. Chassis and Physical Attributes
The chassis is designed for high airflow density, supporting up to 18 independent cooling fans operating in a redundant N+1 configuration.
| Parameter | Value |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | 4U Rackmount |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 176mm x 442mm x 750mm |
| Max Power Draw (Peak Load) | 3200W (with 100% storage population) |
| Cooling Solution | High-efficiency, redundant (N+1) fan array (18 x 60mm fans) |
| Motherboard Form Factor | Proprietary Double-Width EATX Derivative |
| Expansion Slots | 8x PCIe 5.0 x16 (Full Height, Full Length) |
1.2. Processor Subsystem (CPU)
The platform supports dual-socket operation utilizing the latest generation of high-core-count server processors, specifically targeting workloads sensitive to both core count and memory bandwidth.
| Specification | Detail (Primary Configuration) |
|---|---|
| Processor Family | Intel Xeon Scalable (Sapphire Rapids Generation) or AMD EPYC (Genoa Generation) equivalent |
| Socket Count | 2 (Dual Socket) |
| Max Cores per Socket | 64 Cores (Total 128 Cores) |
| Base Clock Frequency | 2.4 GHz |
| Max Boost Frequency (Single Thread) | Up to 3.8 GHz |
| L3 Cache (Total) | 192 MB per socket (384 MB Total) |
| Thermal Design Power (TDP) per CPU | Up to 350W |
| Supported PCIe Lanes | 112 Lanes per CPU (Total 224 Lanes) |
| Memory Channels per CPU | 8 Channels (Total 16 Channels) |
The choice between Intel Xeon and AMD EPYC is dependent on the specific workload profile, with Intel often favored for specific virtualization acceleration features and EPYC for superior raw memory channel density.
1.3. Memory Subsystem (RAM)
The Apex-7000 architecture prioritizes memory throughput, featuring 16 independent memory channels. This is critical for in-memory databases and large-scale data analytics.
| Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|
| Total DIMM Slots | 32 (16 per CPU) |
| Supported Memory Type | DDR5 ECC Registered DIMM (RDIMM) or Load-Reduced DIMM (LRDIMM) |
| Maximum Supported Speed | DDR5-4800 MT/s (JEDEC Standard) |
| Maximum Capacity (Per Slot) | 128 GB (Using 128GB LRDIMMs) |
| Total System Capacity (Max) | 4096 GB (4 TB) using 32 x 128GB LRDIMMs |
| Memory Bus Width | 64-bit per channel (plus ECC) |
For optimal performance, population should adhere strictly to the memory interleaving guidelines provided by the motherboard manual to ensure all 16 channels are actively utilized.
1.4. Storage Subsystem
The storage configuration supports a diverse mix of high-speed NVMe acceleration and high-capacity SATA/SAS drives, managed through an advanced hardware RAID controller and direct-attached PCIe backplanes.
1.4.1. Boot and OS Drives
Two dedicated M.2 slots are provided, typically configured in a mirrored pair for OS redundancy.
1.4.2. Primary Data Storage (Front Bays)
The front chassis features 24 hot-swappable bays supporting U.2/U.3 form factors.
| Bay Type | Quantity | Interface Support | Max Capacity per Drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe U.2/U.3 | 12 | PCIe 5.0 x4 (via Tri-Mode HBA) | 15.36 TB |
| SAS/SATA SSD/HDD | 12 | SAS 24G / SATA 6G | 24 TB (HDD) |
1.4.3. Storage Controller
A dedicated hardware RAID controller is mandatory for managing the SAS/SATA array, supporting RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60.
- **RAID Controller Model:** Broadcom MegaRAID 9750-16i (or equivalent)
- **Cache:** 4GB DDR4 with Supercapacitor Backup Unit (BBU)
- **Connectivity:** PCIe 5.0 x16 host interface.
All NVMe drives are connected directly to the CPU PCIe root complexes via a dedicated PCIe switch fabric to minimize latency, bypassing the main RAID controller for maximum throughput.
1.5. Networking and I/O
The platform offers extreme I/O flexibility through its PCIe 5.0 capabilities.
| Interface | Quantity | Speed/Standard | Connection Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onboard LOM (Management) | 1 | 1 GbE (Dedicated IPMI) | RJ-45 |
| Onboard LOM (Data) | 2 | 25 GbE (Shared with OS/Virtualization) | SFP28 |
| PCIe Expansion Slots | 8 (Full Height/Length) | PCIe 5.0 x16 | Slot Dependent (e.g., 400GbE NICs, specialized accelerators) |
The use of PCIe 5.0 allows for the integration of next-generation accelerators, such as NVIDIA H100 GPUs or specialized FPGA cards, without creating I/O bottlenecks.
2. Performance Characteristics
The Apex-7000 Series is engineered for superior throughput and low latency, validated across synthetic benchmarks and representative enterprise workloads.
2.1. Synthetic Benchmark Analysis
Performance metrics are based on a configuration utilizing dual 64-core CPUs (128 total cores), 1 TB of DDR5-4800 RAM, and 12 x 7.68TB NVMe U.2 drives configured as a single RAID 0 volume for maximum sequential throughput testing.
2.1.1. Compute Performance
CPU performance is measured using standard industry benchmarks focusing on floating-point operations (FP64) and integer throughput (SPECint).
| Benchmark | Metric | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPECrate 2017 Floating Point | Rate | 580 - 620 | Reflects high core count efficiency. |
| SPECrate 2017 Integer | Rate | 750 - 790 | Excellent for general virtualization and transactional processing. |
| Linpack (HPL) | GFLOPS (Theoretical Peak) | ~8.5 TFLOPS (FP64) | Requires specialized BIOS tuning and cooling. |
The high core count (128 logical threads) provides substantial parallel processing capability, crucial for HPC workloads and large-scale container orchestration environments.
2.1.2. Storage I/O Performance
Storage performance is heavily reliant on the PCIe 5.0 bus architecture.
| Operation | Throughput (MB/s) | IOPS (4K Block) | Latency (Average) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential Read | > 30,000 MB/s | N/A | < 50 µs |
| Sequential Write | > 25,000 MB/s | N/A | < 65 µs |
| Random 4K Read (QD64) | ~ 15,000 MB/s | 11,500,000 IOPS | 28 µs |
| Random 4K Write (QD64) | ~ 12,500 MB/s | 9,600,000 IOPS | 35 µs |
These results confirm the effective utilization of the PCIe 5.0 lanes, delivering multi-million IOPS performance suitable for tier-0 database systems.
2.2. Real-World Performance Validation
Real-world validation focuses on latency-sensitive enterprise applications.
2.2.1. Virtualization Density
Testing involved deploying standard enterprise Linux VMs (8 vCPUs, 32GB RAM each) across the platform using a modern Type-1 hypervisor.
- **Result:** The Apex-7000 configuration consistently supported **180-200 active, production-load VMs** while maintaining latency within 99th percentile thresholds for critical services (e.g., < 5ms response time for typical web application traffic). This density is directly enabled by the high number of physical cores and the massive memory capacity (up to 4TB).
2.2.2. Database Transaction Processing
Using the TPC-C benchmark simulation, the system demonstrated robust transactional capabilities.
- **Result:** Sustained throughput reached **650,000 Transactions Per Minute (TPM)** with sub-millisecond response times for 95% of transactions, confirming the low-latency storage access and high memory bandwidth are effective bottlenecks mitigators.
3. Recommended Use Cases
The Apex-7000 configuration is an over-provisioned platform designed to handle the most demanding infrastructure workloads where TCO reduction is achieved through high consolidation ratios.
3.1. Enterprise Virtualization Host
With support for up to 4TB of RAM and 128 physical cores, this server excels as the primary host for large-scale VMware vSphere or Microsoft Hyper-V clusters. It minimizes the physical server footprint required for supporting hundreds of mission-critical virtual machines.
3.2. In-Memory Database Systems
Applications such as SAP HANA, Oracle TimesTen, or large Redis caches require massive amounts of contiguous, fast memory and extremely fast access to persistent storage. The 4TB capacity coupled with >30 GB/s sequential NVMe throughput makes this an ideal platform for terabyte-scale in-memory databases.
3.3. AI/ML Training and Inference
When equipped with multiple high-end PCIe 5.0 GPU accelerators (e.g., 4 x H100s), the system provides the necessary high-speed host-to-device communication (via PCIe 5.0 x16 links) and sufficient CPU overhead to manage data ingestion pipelines for large-scale AI model training.
3.4. Large-Scale Data Analytics Clusters
For distributed processing frameworks like Apache Spark or Hadoop, the configuration offers excellent memory-to-core ratios, allowing Spark executors to cache large portions of datasets in DRAM, significantly reducing reliance on slower storage I/O during iterative processing.
4. Comparison with Similar Configurations
To contextualize the Apex-7000, we compare it against two common alternatives: a high-density 2U server (Apex-5000 Series) and a higher-density, single-socket specialized server (Apex-3000S).
4.1. Comparative Specification Table
This table highlights the primary differences in density and I/O capabilities.
| Feature | Apex-7000 (4U Reference) | Apex-5000 (2U High-Density) | Apex-3000S (1U Single Socket) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form Factor | 4U Rackmount | 2U Rackmount | 1U Rackmount |
| Max CPUs | 2 (Dual Socket) | 2 (Dual Socket) | 1 (Single Socket) |
| Max Cores (Configured) | 128 | 96 | 64 |
| Max RAM Capacity | 4 TB (DDR5) | 2 TB (DDR5) | 1 TB (DDR5) |
| Max PCIe Lanes (Available) | 224 (PCIe 5.0) | 160 (PCIe 5.0) | 112 (PCIe 5.0) |
| Front Drive Bays (Total) | 24 (U.2/SAS/SATA) | 16 (SAS/SATA only) | 8 (NVMe Exclusive) |
| Recommended Use Case | Consolidation, HPC, In-Memory DB | General Virtualization, Storage Server | High I/O Edge Compute, Dedicated Database |
4.2. Performance Trade-offs
- **Apex-5000 Series (2U):** Offers a great balance but sacrifices 1TB of RAM capacity and 8 PCIe lanes compared to the 4U Apex-7000. It is better suited for environments where rack space is severely constrained, but computational density is secondary to storage density (when configured with many HDDs).
- **Apex-3000S (1U):** While excellent for its power envelope and I/O density relative to its size (using a high-core count single-socket CPU), it is inherently limited by the single CPU's memory channels (8 channels vs. 16 in the Apex-7000) and total PCIe lane count, making it less suitable for memory-intensive tasks exceeding 1TB.
The Apex-7000’s primary advantage lies in its **16-channel memory architecture** and **superior PCIe bandwidth**, making it the choice when I/O saturation or memory latency are primary concerns.
5. Maintenance Considerations
Deploying a high-power, high-density system like the Apex-7000 requires careful planning regarding power delivery, cooling infrastructure, and serviceability protocols.
5.1. Power Requirements
The dual 350W TDP CPUs, coupled with potentially multiple high-power GPU cards and a fully populated NVMe array, push the system’s power draw significantly.
- **Power Supply Units (PSUs):** The system requires dual redundant 2000W 80 PLUS Titanium certified PSUs.
- **Input Voltage:** Recommended for 208V or higher three-phase input to maintain efficiency and avoid tripping standard 120V/15A circuits under peak load.
- **Peak Load Calculation:** A fully loaded system (2x 350W CPUs, 4TB RAM, 8x 500W PCIe cards) can approach 3000W. Data center PDU provisioning must account for this sustained load plus overhead. Refer to PDU capacity standards.
5.2. Thermal Management and Cooling
With a maximum thermal output approaching 3.2 kW, cooling is paramount.
- **Airflow Requirements:** The chassis demands high static pressure cooling from the rack infrastructure. A minimum of 1000 CFM of ambient air supply is required per server unit to maintain inlet temperatures below 24°C (75°F).
- **Fan Redundancy:** The internal N+1 fan array ensures that the failure of any single fan does not immediately lead to thermal throttling of the CPUs or memory controllers. Monitoring the IPMI health sensors is crucial for proactive fan replacement.
- **Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle:** Strict adherence to hot aisle/cold aisle containment is non-negotiable for this class of hardware to prevent recirculation of hot exhaust air.
5.3. Serviceability and Field Replaceable Units (FRUs)
The 4U form factor allows for improved internal accessibility compared to denser 1U or 2U designs, aiding in Mean Time To Repair (MTTR).
- **Hot-Swappable Components:** PSUs, cooling modules (fan trays), and all 24 front storage drives are hot-swappable.
- **CPU/RAM Access:** Accessing the CPU sockets and DIMM slots requires the removal of the top cover and the centralized fan/air-shroud assembly. This procedure should only be performed during scheduled downtime.
- **Firmware Management:** All BIOS/UEFI, BMC (Baseboard Management Controller), and RAID controller firmware must be kept synchronized. Automated lifecycle management tools are strongly recommended to manage firmware updates across the extensive component set.
5.4. Network Interface Card (NIC) Management
When installing high-speed PCIe 5.0 NICs (e.g., 100GbE or 200GbE), ensure the riser cards are properly seated and that the chassis’ physical grounding straps are securely fastened, as high-frequency signaling is sensitive to impedance mismatches and poor grounding. The power delivery to the PCIe slots via the motherboard power planes must be verified during initial deployment to prevent intermittent link training failures.
The Apex-7000 Series represents the zenith of current dual-socket server technology, balancing extreme computational power with high-speed I/O capabilities necessary for the next generation of enterprise data center workloads.
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.* ⚠️