Cisco continues to redefine AI infrastructure with the launch of the UCS C880A M8 Rack Server, now outfitted with the ultra-powerful NVIDIA HGX B300 SXM GPUs and the newest Intel Xeon Sixth-Era (Granite Rapids) CPUs. This marks a convergence of state-of-the-art GPU acceleration, high-throughput CPU compute, and enterprise-grade infrastructure administration, optimized for contemporary AI workloads.
NVIDIA: HGX B300 — Unprecedented AI Efficiency
Drawing on NVIDIA’s messaging across the HGX B300 platform:
- Inference efficiency: As much as 11× larger throughput for fashions like Llama 3.1 405B versus the earlier Hopper era, due to Blackwell Tensor Cores and Transformer Engine optimizations.
- Coaching pace: As much as 4× quicker for large-scale LLMs like Llama 3.1 405B by way of FP8 precision enhancements, NVLink 5 interconnects (with 1.8 TB/s bandwidth), InfiniBand, and Magnum IO software program.
- SXM type issue benefit: Excessive-bandwidth socket structure permits superior GPU-to-GPU NVLink connectivity and energy supply with out cabling, minimizing bottlenecks and simplifying scaling.
Intel: Xeon Sixth-Gen CPUs — CPU Energy Meets AI Acceleration
Powered by the newly launched Intel Xeon 6 (6700P/6500P) P-core processors, the UCS C880A M8 delivers:
- As much as 86 cores per socket, doubled reminiscence bandwidth, and built-in AI accelerators—together with Belief Area Extensions (TDX), Superior Matrix Extensions (AMX), Information Streaming Accelerator (DSA), QuickAssist (QAT), and In-Reminiscence Analytics Accelerator (IAA).
- Assist for DDR5-6400 and MRDIMMs, boosting reminiscence throughput additional.
- Optimized for compute-intensive and hybrid AI workloads—from inference pipelines to large-scale coaching nodes.
Cisco: Intersight Administration + AI POD Integration
Cisco’s AI infrastructure goes past uncooked compute:
- The UCS C880A M8 integrates seamlessly with Cisco Intersight, Cisco’s SaaS-based administration platform providing centralized management, visibility, and coverage administration throughout the distributed AI stack.
- It matches inside Cisco AI PODs, modular AI infrastructure options designed for speedy deployment at scale. These validated knowledge heart models simplify AI manufacturing unit rollouts whereas guaranteeing interoperability with compute, networking, and safety.
Key Use Instances Enabled by HGX B300 (SXM)
The mixing of HGX B300 SXM GPUs and Xeon Sixth-Gen CPUs permits a set of AI workloads:
- Actual-Time LLM Inference
- Run huge fashions like Llama 3.1 405B with ultra-low latency and excessive throughput, superb for chatbots, brokers, and real-time reasoning.
- Massive-Scale Mannequin Coaching & Fantastic-Tuning
- Benefit from 4× quicker coaching and big inter-GPU bandwidth to coach or fine-tune fashions with lots of of billions of parameters.
- Excessive-Efficiency AI Pipelines
- Leverage CPU offload for knowledge preparation and orchestration, alongside GPU acceleration, for ETL, multimodal processing, and inference workflows.
- AI-Native Information Facilities / AI Factories
- Construct composable, safe, and scalable AI infrastructure blocks with Cisco AI PODs, prepared for integration in knowledge facilities or on the edge.
- HPC & Scientific Simulation
- Run contiguous reminiscence fashions and multi-GPU workloads with enhanced NVLink connectivity for top constancy simulations and analytics.
Abstract Desk
Element |
Spotlight |
GPU |
NVIDIA HGX B300 SXM: 11× inference, 4× coaching, NVLink 5 bandwidth — main AI acceleration |
CPU |
Intel Xeon Sixth-Gen P-core (as much as 86 cores), DDR5-6400, built-in AI accelerators |
Platform |
Cisco UCS C880A M8 with Intersight integration—scalable, orchestrated, and enterprise-ready |
Ecosystem |
Cisco AI PODs + Safe AI Manufacturing unit + sturdy interconnect (community, safety, validation) |
Use Instances |
LLM inference/coaching, AI pipelines, AI POD deployment, HPC workloads |
Closing Ideas
The Cisco UCS C880A M8: HGX B300 with Intel Xeon Sixth-Gen units a brand new benchmark in AI infrastructure. It presents hyperscale-level AI efficiency, rock-solid CPU assist, enterprise-grade manageability by way of Intersight, and safe deployments via Cisco Safe AI manufacturing unit with Nvidia and Cisco AI PODs scalable architectures. Whether or not you’re constructing an AI coaching cluster, LLM inference engine, or composable AI infrastructure, this platform is purpose-built for the following frontier of AI.
Uncover the facility of next-gen AI infrastructure—learn the Cisco UCS C880A M8 Information Sheet
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