SuperRack: Super Design

Sept. 27, 2010
SuperMicro's SuperRack has a modular design ideal for HPC and larger server farm deployments.

SuperMicro SuperRack

SuperRack power cabling

SuperRack network cabling

SuperServer 1017C-MTF

SuperServer 6016GT-TF-FM205

SuperMicro's new 42U SuperRack uses a slick modular design (Fig. 1). This scalable platform is designed from the ground up for ease of installation and maintenance. SuperMicro's rack is great for server farms and high performance computing (HPC) environments. It is certified to handle up to a 5600 pound static/dynamic load with front and rear hot plug capability. Rear access means power supplies and hard drives on dual access systems like SuperMicro's Double Sided Storage Systems can be swapped out at any time.

SuperMicro took a "per U" approach to the design. For example, they used short power cables (Fig. 2) and side mount power units in the rear to minimize cable conflicts. The sockets are color coded to make it easy to see what servers plug into a particular socket.

The system also allows easy network cable access (Fig. 3). This, combined with short power cables, eliminates may cooling issues because the approach allows the maximum, unobstructed airflow.

The SuperRack is ideal for new platforms like SuperMicro's SuperServer 1017C-MTF (Fig. 4). The 1017C-MTF is designed to support Intel's next generation Sandy Bridge processor. It uses the Intel C204 chipset and handles up to 32 Gbytes of DDR3 SDRAM with ECC support. The 1U, 330W server has a x8 PCI Express socket for expansion and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports. The front panel exposes 8 2.5-in SATA drive bays. The BMC supports IPMI 2.0 and KVM with a dedicate LAN.

Of course, a number of HPC systems might find a home for SuperMicro's SuperServer 6016GT-TF-FM205 (Fig. 5). This 1U server combines a Xeon 5x00 processor with a pair of NVidia Fermi M2050 GPU cards. The GPUs are connected to x16 PCI Express sockets and there is an additional x4 low profile PCI Express socket on the motherboard. The Xeon processor uses the Intel 5520 chipset and has access to 192 Gbytes of ECC memory.

SuperRacks are compliant with ANSI/EIA RS-310-C/D/E standards. They are compatible with APC InfraStruXure products and certified for IEC/IECQ 17205, ISO 17025, and ISO 9001.

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