Rack servers exploit data centre-class Intel Xeon processors
Available for aerospace and defence missions, Mercury Systems’ RES X08 rugged edge servers feature the fourth generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (formerly known as Sapphire Rapids). The processors will accelerate compute-intensive edge workloads and drive faster insights for critical aerospace and defence missions, said Mercury.
The COTS Rugged Edge Server (RES) rackmount servers support low-latency PCIe 5.0 fabrics, powerhouse Nvidia H100 GPUs, 400Gbits per second network cards, high speed DDR5 memory and versatile Compute Express Link (CXL) expansion. The rugged, configurable chassis is designed to dissipate massive thermal loads created by larger and more powerful components, observed Mercury’s to deliver high computational performance in a small footprint which has been optimised for accelerated workloads in military and industrial applications.
The RES rackmount servers have been developed in responses to the proliferation of sensors on aerospace and defence platforms which generate large volumes of data which must be processed and exploited in real time using sensor fusion, artificial intelligence (AI) and high performance computing (HPC) technologies for situational awareness data. According to Mercury, the resulting insights can be bottlenecked by an outdated computing infrastructure that does not adequately allow data to flow seamlessly between peripheral devices and the CPU.
Another requirement for edge servers today is that they must also support seamless integration into retrofit platforms, extended lifecycles, manufacturing to high AS9100 quality standards, and validation testing for extreme environmental conditions.
“The RES X08 follows in the lineage of field-proven RES X07 and RES X06 servers that meet the demanding requirements of mission-critical workloads at the edge,” said Brian Perry, general manager of Mercury’s sensor systems business unit.
RES X08 delivers significant performance improvements over prior-generation technology, with a 50 per cent increased CPU core count and six-fold greater GPU performance, reported Mercury. There is also 50 per cent increased memory bandwidth, two times faster PCIe throughput, two times faster optical networking, 1.5 times faster NVMe data storage speeds and a 2.5-fold increase in total compute capability per rack unit. Power efficiency has also been improved by 15 per cent, confirmed Mercury.
Orders are now being taken for pre-production samples.
