Supermicro BigTwin SuperServer 220BT-DNTR

Description

The Supermicro BigTwin SuperServer 220BT-DNTR is a high-performance 2U appliance with 24 front mounted storage bays that can be configured for all-flash storage or for diskless HPC clusters. Each of the 2x server nodes is configured with dual Intel Xeon Scalable processors with up to 40 cores and 80 threads. CPUs are limited to a thermal design point (TDP) of 270W, but may be supported under specific configurations. There are 2x cooling fans per node, but the system will also accept optional liquid cooling.

*This system is only available as a fully assembled unit. 16x DIMMs are recommended per node, but the minimum requirement is 2x CPUs, 2x DIMMs, plus 1x NIC, per server node.

Performance

3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors support more cores, more memory, and more PCIe lanes than the previous generation. They also support PCIe 4.0 instead of just PCIe 3.0. Each of the 2x server nodes on this system support 2x 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and 8x memory channels for improved memory bandwidth.

Memory

There are 20x memory module slots total on this system with each processor allocated 10x memory module slots. With the CPUs providing 8x memory channels per CPU, there are 8x slots allocated for registered (RDIMM) memory modules, the 2x memory module slots to either side of the CPU are specifically for persistent memory modules (PMem). The PMem modules will be paired in the same memory channel with an RDIMM memory module for increased resiliency. That said, the system will support up to 4TB using 16x 256GB DIMM modules or up to 6TB with 8x 256GB memory modules paired with 8X 512GB PMem modules. Memory will run at speeds of 3200MHz. For optimal performance, it is recommended to populate all 16x DIMM slots per node.

Storage

With 24x front mounted 2.5-inch storage bays, each of the 2x server nodes is allocated 12x bays. The storage bays will support either 12x hot swap 2.5-inch NVMe or SATA drives, per server node. Balanced I/O performance is achieved using 6x PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives per socket, which basically means you will be using all NVMe drives in all storage bays. An optional M.2 PCIe 3.0 add-on card (AOC) is available to support the operating system in mirror mode for fail safe redundancy.

Expansion

Most PCIe slots are PCIe 4.0 on the system board, which is supported by the 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors. Both the optional storage adapter card and M.2 riser card, offering support for dual M.2 drives, have a dedicated slot on the motherboard. The advanced I/O Module (AIOM), also referred to as an OCP card by other manufacturers, also has a dedicated slot and is in fact required for a network connection. There are several options for AIOM cards providing 1GbE to 100GbE with various port counts and connection options. There is a dedicated Gb RJ45 management LAN port on each server node for at-chassis and remote management. Each of the 2x server nodes also has 3x PCIe 4.0 slots to work with that include, 2x PCIe 4.0 x8 slots and 1x PCIe 4.0 x16 slot.

Management

Access to the integrated ASPEED AST2500 module on the system board is through the baseboard management controller (BMC) and the dedicated RJ45 management LAN port on the back of the system. There are options for managing the system and include the Intel Node Manager plus a few proprietary Supermicro applications like Supermicro Server Manager (SSM) and SuperDoctor 5 (SD5). Additional applications provide more control over power settings and system updates. A Supermicro out-of-band (OOB) license key is required to enable remote access to the server.

Summary

Offering support for a number of high-performance computing applications, the Supermicro BigTwin SuperServer 220BT-DNTR delivers with 2x hot-plug server nodes running dual 3rd generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors in a 2U chassis. This platform is designed to support diskless HPC cluster, scale-out all-flash NVMe storage, a high-performance file system, plus big data and AI applications.