Extending the Cisco UCS portfolio with AMD EPYC 7003 Processor Series FAQ
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Q. What did Cisco announce on March 21, 2022?
A. Support for the new AMD EPYC
™ 7003 Series Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache
™ technology on the Cisco UCS
® C225 M6 and Cisco UCS C245 M6 servers.
Q. What is AMD 3D V-Cache technology?
A. AMD 3D V-cache adds a third dimension to the processor cache. It vertically stacks additional L3 cache capacity on top of each processor die using a copper-to-copper hybrid bonding process. Each CPU with AMD 3D V-Cache technology has 768 MB of L3 cache, three-times the cache of main-line AMD EPYC 7003 processors. This industry-leading enhancement is designed to accelerate memory-hungry technical computing workloads including electronic design automation (EDA), computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and finite element analysis (FEA).
Q. Which AMD EPYC CPUs are supported on the C225/C245 M6 servers?
A. Both 3
rd Gen and 2
nd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs are supported.
Q. How many cores do the 3
rd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs support?
A. AMD EPYC CPU options range from supporting 8 to 64 cores.
Q. Did Cisco announce any updates to the Cisco UCS C125 M5 Rack Server Node or to the Cisco UCS C4200 Rack Server Chassis?
A. No. The C125 M5 will continued to be offered with 1
st and 2
nd Gen AMD EPYC CPUs.
Q. How are these servers managed?
A. There are multiple ways to manage the AMD processor based servers, as with all Cisco UCS servers. The preferred way is through Cisco Intersight
™. Intersight is a cloud-based SaaS management platform that supports infrastructure management as well as many other services. The other option is through the Cisco
® Integrated Management Controller (IMC) as stand-alone servers.
Q. What workloads are these servers for?
A. The C225 M6 and C245 M6 can be used for most applications but excel in high-performance applications that can maximize multiple cores, such as VSI, EDA, HPC, and analytics.
Product details – Cisco UCS C225 M6 Rack Server
Q. How much memory is supported?
A. At launch, 4 TB (2 TB per socket) is supported.
Q. What version of PCIe is supported for I/O and storage?
A. PCIe 4.0 (the UCS C225 M6 and UCS 245 M6 are Cisco’s first PCIe 4.0 servers).
Q. How many PCIe slots are supported?
A. Up to three PCIe 4.0 expansion slots are supported per server.
Q. Is a PCIe slot the only way to add networking?
A. No, there is also a combination slot that supports mLOM or OCP, which means that all PCIe slots are available for other options.
Q. The Cisco UCS C225 M6 Rack Server is described as “single-socket optimized.” What does this mean?
A. All server I/O (storage, expansion slots, etc.) goes through CPU 1. This means that you get all server capabilities even if only one CPU is installed.
Q. What is the advantage of a single-socket server?
A. If an application can run with 2 TB of memory or less, and needs 64 cores or fewer, you can save money in server costs and potentially in software licenses.
Q. How many disk drives are supported?
A. There are two different configurations. There is an all-NVMe and a SAS/SATA version. Both support 10 disks.
Product details – Cisco UCS C245 M6 Rack Server
Q. How much memory is supported?
A. At launch, 4 TB (2 TB per socket) is supported.
Q. What version of PCIe is supported for I/O and storage?
A. PCIe 4.0 (the UCS 245 M6 and UCS C225 M6 are Cisco’s first PCIe 4.0 servers).
Q. How many PCIe slots are supported?
A. Up to eight PCIe 4.0 expansion slots are supported per server.
Q. How many disk drives are supported?
A. Up to 28 drives with up to eight NVMe drives per server.
Q. What do you mean by “up to” for PCIe expansion slots and drives?
A. There are 24 front-facing drives on each server. PCIe riser cages come in multiple versions. Four PCIe slots can be used for NVMe storage instead.
Q. Is a PCIe slot the only way to add networking?
A. No, there is also a combination slot that supports mLOM or OCP, which means that all PCIe slots are available for other options.
AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC, 3D V-Cache, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.