ASUS RS520QA-E13-RS8U 2U4N Single Socket AMD EPYC 9005 with CXL Memory Expansion
This is one that we first saw at OCP Summit 2024. The 2U 4-node server is different since each node has a single socket AMD EPYC 9005 CPU. With modern high core count CPUs, 128-192 cores per socket is attainable, making a single socket server’s simplicity advantageous in many scenarios.
The big difference here is that ASUS has CXL Type-3 memory expansion devices as an option for the server. If you had been using a dual socket server because you needed more DIMM slots, here we get extra DIMM slots for each node while still packing the density of four nodes in a 2U server.
We have been talking about CXL for a long time, so it is great to see it being used in servers to solve practical challenges. We almost always run out of memory before cores in our hosting nodes, and there are many others that run into the same challenge that this addresses.
ASUS ESC A8A-E12U AMD MI325X GPU Server
Since AMD now has the #1 and #2 spots on the Top500, it seemed fitting to at least highlight the 8-way AMD Instinct MI325X server, the ASUS ESC A8A-E12.
In many ways, the MI325X is more advanced than the accelerators used in the top-end supercomputers.
ASUS has a really nice serviceable design with trays for the GPUs as well as the CPU and networking.
An underappreciated facet of these big AI servers is that we are now seeing them weigh over 200lbs. As a result, they are not fun to service if you have to take them out of the rack. Having trays helps avoid this. Since we have three 8x GPU servers in the lab and studio right now that are being tested, photographed, B-roll taken, and so forth, the idea of having to de-cable and de-rack one of these big servers is very scary. The ASUS design allows you to keep the chassis in a rack and just remove the part you need to service it. That is much better.
Final Words
Hopefully you liked this look at some of the neat servers we saw at the ASUS booth at SC24. There was a lot there, so we just picked a few servers that were different than what we normally see. Well, those plus the robot dog.
