Cisco and AMD are announcing an important new product. The new Cisco UCS 4200 system and Cisco UCS C125 M5 rack server node. The new Cisco UCS 4200 platform is important for the industry as it is another 4 node 2U AMD EPYC platform that allows for up to 8x AMD EPYC CPUs in a 2U chassis. With the AMD EPYC 7000 series first generation this means up to 256 cores and 512 threads in a single 2U chassis. These systems are extremely popular as virtualization platforms since they offer solid density and easy maintenance.
Cisco UCS C4200 and C125 M5
The Cisco UCS C4200 chassis is a 2U4N design. There are 24x front hot swap 2.5″ drive bays, six for each node. Each node can get either 6x SAS3 / SATA3 or 2x NVMe plus 4x SAS3 / SATA3. The chassis also has dual 2400W power supplies which is more than is needed in this generation but allows for future expansion.
Nodes are the Cisco UCS C125 M5 model. Each node supports up to 32 cores / 64 threads per CPU and up to two CPUs per node. That means that in four nodes with eight AMD EPYC 7000 series CPUs, the UCS C4200 can handle up to 256 cores in this generation. Each CPU gets 8x DDR4 DIMM slots for 16x DIMM slots per node and up to 2TB of RAM per node.
Sicne these are Cisco UCS products, they support Cisco’s 4th generation VIC. They also have two PCIe slots and an OCP slot. The nodes also use the Cisco/ Broadcom 9460-8i SAS controller with 2GB of FBWC. There are boot options ranging from SD to M.2 drives to preserve front panel drive bays.
Cisco UCS C4200 and C125 M5 Key Specifications
Here are the key specs for the Cisco UCS C4200 and C125 M5:
| Item | Specification |
|
Chassis |
2RU Cisco UCS C4200 Rack Server Chassis |
|
Server nodes |
Up to four Cisco UCS C125 M5 Rack Server Nodes |
|
Processors |
AMD EPYC 7000 series processors (1 or 2) |
|
Processor cores |
Up to 64 per node |
|
Memory |
16 DDR4 DIMM slots: 16, 32, 64, and 128 GB and up to 2666 MHz per node |
|
PCIe expansion |
1 PCIe 3.0 x 16 slots and 1 PCIe 3.0 x 8 slots, plus one dedicated OCP 2.0 network mezzanine slot per node |
|
RAID controller |
Internal controllers: Cisco 12-Gbps PCIe RAID Controller (PCIe 3.0) with 2-GB Flash-Backed Write Cache (FBWC), providing enterprise-class data protection for up to six SAS and SATA Hard-Disk Drives (HDDs), or Solid Disk Drives (SSDs) |
|
Internal storage |
24 SFF 2.5-inch direct-attach drives
● Each C125 M5 node has up to six direct- attach 2.5-inch SAS/ SATA HDDs/SSDs or up to two 2.5-inch NVMe PCIe drives and four SAS/SATA drives per node |
|
Networking |
Dedicated OCP 2.0 mezzanine slot that can flexibly accommodate 10-, 25-, 40-, and 100-Gbps adapters per node |
|
Power supplies |
Hot-pluggable, redundant 2400W AC |
|
Other storage |
● Dual internal Cisco FlexFlash Secure Digital (SD) cards (32, 64, and 128 GB) for installing an operating system or hypervisor
● Support for RAID 0 mirroring between SD cards ● Dedicated Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) MicroSD card (32 GB) for server utilities ● Dual M.2 SATA SSD or NVMe |
|
Management |
● Cisco Intersight
● Cisco IMC ● Cisco UCS Manager |
|
Rack options |
Cisco ball-bearing rail kit or friction rail kit with optional reversible cable management arm |
|
Physical unit |
● 2RU high x 32-in. depth
● High reliability, availability, and serviceability features with easy-to-use latching lid, and hot-swappable and hot-pluggable components |
|
Hardware and software interoperability |
See the Cisco Hardware and Software Interoperability Matrix for a complete listing of supported operating systems and peripheral options. |
Update: You can read about our Cisco UCS C4200 with C125 M5 AMD EPYC node review here.
