Inspur NF5468A5 User manual

Inspur Server NF5468A5
White Paper
Document Version: V1.1
Release Date: October 10, 2022

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following security risk statements.
When servers are to be repurposed or retired, it is recommended to restore their
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protect data privacy. Meanwhile, we recommend you to wipe the drive data
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For server open source software statements, please contact Inspur Customer
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equipment abnormality or business interruption. This is not described herein.
Please contact Inspur for such information.
External interfaces of Inspur servers do not use private protocols for
communication.
Inspur has established emergency response procedures and action plans for

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security vulnerabilities, so that product safety issues can be dealt with in a timely
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The purchased products, services and features shall be bound by the contract made
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Some product configurations, services, and features can be available only when
specific conditions (such as configuration, limitation, and temperature) are satisfied, as
described in Chapter 6 Product Specifications of this document. Inspur has no liability
for any issues arising therefrom.
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Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd.
Postal Code: 250101
Email:
[e-mail]

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Preface
Abstract
This white paper describes the NF5468A5 server's appearance, features, performance
parameters, and software and hardware compatibility, providing in-depth information
of NF5468A5.
Intended Audience
This white paper is intended for:
Inspur pre-sales engineers
Pre-sales engineers of channel partners
Enterprise pre-sales engineers
Symbol Conventions
The symbols that may be found in this document are defined as follows.
Symbol Description
A potential for serious injury, or even death if not properly
handled
A potential for minor or moderate injury if not properly
handled
A potential loss of data or damage to equipment if not
properly handled
Operations or information that requires special attention to
ensure successful installation or configuration
Supplementary description of manual information
Revision History
Version Date Description of Changes
V1.0 2022/09/07 Initial release

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Version Date Description of Changes
V1.1 2022/10/10
•Updated name of Table 7-11 from GPU
and Graphics Card Specifications to GPU
Specifications
• Added a note under Figure 5-4

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Table of Contents
1 Product Overview .......................................................................................1
2 Features .....................................................................................................2
2.1 Scalability and Performance ...........................................................................2
2.2 Availability and Serviceability .........................................................................2
2.3 Manageability and Security.............................................................................3
2.4 Energy Efficiency .............................................................................................3
3 System Parts Breakdown ............................................................................5
4 System Logical Diagram.............................................................................6
5 Hardware Description.................................................................................7
5.1 Front Panel......................................................................................................7
5.1.1 Appearance ..........................................................................................7
5.1.2 LEDs & Buttons......................................................................................8
5.1.3 Ports ...................................................................................................10
5.2 Rear Panel..................................................................................................... 11
5.2.1 Appearance ........................................................................................11
5.2.2 LEDs and Buttons................................................................................12
5.2.3 Ports ...................................................................................................14
5.3 Processors..................................................................................................... 15
5.4 Memory......................................................................................................... 16
5.4.1 DDR4 DIMM .........................................................................................16
5.5 Storage ......................................................................................................... 22
5.5.1 Drives.................................................................................................. 22
5.5.2 Drive Numbering ................................................................................ 23
5.5.3 Drive LEDs...........................................................................................25
5.5.4 RAID Controller Card ........................................................................... 26
5.6 Network ........................................................................................................ 26
5.7 I/O Expansion ............................................................................................... 26
5.7.1 PCIe Cards...........................................................................................26
5.7.2 PCIe Slots ............................................................................................27
5.8 PSUs .............................................................................................................. 29
5.9 Fan Modules.................................................................................................. 29
5.10 Boards........................................................................................................... 30
5.10.1 Motherboard ...................................................................................... 30
5.10.2 Drive Backplane..................................................................................31
5.10.3 GPU Board .......................................................................................... 34
6 Product Specifications .............................................................................. 35

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6.1 Technical Specifications ................................................................................ 35
6.2 Environmental Specifications........................................................................ 37
6.3 Physical Specifications .................................................................................. 39
7 Operating System and Hardware Compatibility........................................ 41
7.1 Supported Operating System ........................................................................ 41
7.2 Hardware Compatibility ................................................................................ 42
7.2.1 CPU Specifications ..............................................................................42
7.2.2 DIMM Specifications............................................................................43
7.2.3 Drive Specifications ............................................................................ 43
7.2.4 SAS/RAID Controller Card Specifications ............................................44
7.2.5 NIC Specifications ...............................................................................44
7.2.6 HCA Card Specifications...................................................................... 45
7.2.7 GPU Specifications..............................................................................45
7.2.8PSU Specifications .............................................................................. 46
8 Regulatory Information ............................................................................ 47
8.1 Safety............................................................................................................ 47
8.1.1 General............................................................................................... 47
8.1.2 Personal Safety...................................................................................47
8.1.3 Equipment Safety ............................................................................... 49
8.1.4 Transportation Precautions ................................................................50
8.1.5 Manual Handling Weight Limits..........................................................50
8.2 Maintenance and Warranty........................................................................... 51
9 System Management................................................................................ 52
9.1 Intelligent Management System ISBMC ......................................................... 52
9.2 Inspur Physical Infrastructure Manager (ISPIM)............................................. 54
9.3 Inspur Server Intelligent Boot (ISIB)............................................................... 56
10 Certifications ............................................................................................ 58
11 Appendix A............................................................................................... 59
11.1 Operating Temperature and Specification Limits .......................................... 59
11.2 Model ............................................................................................................ 59
11.3 RAS Features ................................................................................................. 59
11.4 Sensor List..................................................................................................... 60
12 Appendix B - Abbreviations...................................................................... 63
12.1 A - E............................................................................................................... 63
12.2 F - J................................................................................................................ 64
12.3 K - O .............................................................................................................. 65
12.4 P - T............................................................................................................... 65
12.5 U - Z .............................................................................................................. 66

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1Product Overview
The Inspur NF5468A5 is a heterogeneous computing platform built on AMD EPYC
Rome and Milan CPUs with up to 8 PCIe 4.0 AI accelerator cards. Thanks to its
superior PCIe device compatibility, it can host accelerator cards from NVIDIA and
other manufacturers to meet diversified needs in AI training, AI inference, and
video encoding & decoding, making it our most versatile and best-selling AI server.
With supremely optimized links, the NF5468A5 boasts excellent GPU/accelerator
expansion capabilities. Direct CPU-GPU connection maximizes the CPU-to-GPU
bandwidth and reduces communication latency for optimal performance,
providing customers with a platform that features supreme computing power. The
system supports twenty-four 2.5-inch drives or twelve 3.5-inch drives, offering
large-capacity local storage solutions.
Figure 1-1 24 × 2.5-inch Drive Configuration
Figure 1-2 12 × 3.5-inch Drive Configuration

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2Features
2.1 Scalability and Performance
Features AMD EPYC Rome or Milan processors, with up to 64 cores and 128
threads per processor, TDP up to 280 W, a max base frequency of 3.1 GHz and
up to 3 xGMI links at up to 18 GT/s, providing powerful processing capabilities.
CPUs are directly connected to GPUs, demonstrating AMD's topology
advantage in PCIe expansion. A single CPU supports up to 80 PCIe 4.0 lanes,
effectively reducing costs and improving energy efficiency.
Up to 32 DDR4 ECC DIMMs (RDIMM/LRDIMM, 4 TB max., up to 128 GB per DIMM),
delivering superior speeds and high availability.
Up to 8 hot-swap NVMe SSDs with IOPS ten times that of high-end enterprise-
class SATA SSDs, bringing a giant leap in storage I/O performance.
Up to 12 × 3.5-inch drive or 24 × 2.5-inch drive at the front.
An optional OCP 3.0 module with multiple network port options
(1G/10G/25G/40G/100G), delivering a more flexible network architecture for
different applications.
Up to 10 PCIe 4.0 expansion cards, including up to 8 FHFL GPU cards with a
max. total graphics card power of 350 W, further enhancing I/O performance.
A technical review is required for the 8-NVMe drive configuration.
2.2 Availability and Serviceability
Based on humanization design, the server allows tool-less maintenance. The
modular structural parts enable quick removal/installation, greatly reducing
O&M time.
Inspur's unique intelligent control technology combined with the cutting-edge
air-cooling technology creates an optimum operating environment to ensure
stable running of the server.
The server supports up to 12 × 3.5-inch or 24 × 2.5-inch hot-swap storage
drives and RAID controller cards with RAID levels 0/1/1E/10/5/50/6/60, RAID

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cache and data protection enabled by the super-capacitor in case of power
failures.
With the latest BMC technology, technicians can quickly identify the faulty
system via the BMC Web GUI, locate the faulty system via the UID LED on the
front panel, and then identify the components that have failed (or are failing)
via LEDs for fault diagnosis, enabling simple, quick, and efficient O&M.
The BMC can monitor system parameters and send alerts in advance to enable
technicians to take appropriate actions, minimizing system downtime and
ensuring stable running of the system.
For information about warranty policies, refer to Chapter 9 Inspur Limited Warranty
in
Inspur Server NF5468A5 User Manual .
For other product resources (such as product marketing materials, user manuals,
drivers, firmware, and product certifications), visit https://en.inspur.com.
2.3 Manageability and Security
The motherboard and backplane feature overcurrent and overvoltage
protection functions, and the onboard connectors and cables are designed to
be foolproof, thus preventing potential circuit hazards.
A hood latch is added to the top cover and an intrusion switch connector is
integrated on the motherboard to monitor chassis-opening activities,
preventing unauthorized operations.
BIOS image files are signed using secure encryption algorithms before release,
and the signature must be validated before firmware update, thus ensuring
the integrity and legitimacy of the firmware.
The BMC intelligent management system provides various security features
such as identification and authentication, authorization and access control,
web security configuration, and log audit, offering industry-leading security
capability.
All physical I/O ports are clearly defined.
Optional Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 is provided for data security,
enabling secure boot of servers.
2.4 Energy Efficiency
Equipped with 80 PLUS Platinum PSUs (1,600 W – 3,000 W) with power
efficiency up to 94% at a load of 50%.
Features efficient voltage regulator down (VRD) solutions, reducing DC-DC
conversion loss.

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Supports intelligent fan speed control to conserve energy.

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3System Parts Breakdown
Figure 3-1 NF5468A5 Parts Breakdown (Demonstrated with 24 × 2.5-inch Drive
Configuration)
Item Feature Item Feature
1 Lower 2U Air Vent Bezel 2 Air Duct
3 Super-Capacitor 4 Internal M.2 SSD Module
5 Fan Modules 6 PSUs
7 GPUs 8 PCIe Add-in Cards
9 GPU Board 10 GPU Tray
11 Processor Heatsinks 12 Motherboard
13 DIMMs 14 Drive Backplane
15 Front Drives 16 Chassis

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4System Logical Diagram
Figure 4-1 NF5468A5 System Logical Diagram
Supports 2 AMD Rome or Milan CPUs.
Supports 32 DIMMs.
The 2 processors are interconnected through 3 xGMI links.
Supports three 8 × 2.5-inch drive backplanes or one 12 × 3.5-inch drive
backplane on the front panel.
Supports up to 8 GPUs.
Supports up to 2 x16 NICs or 1 x16 NIC + 2 x8 NICs.

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5Hardware Description
5.1 Front Panel
5.1.1 Appearance
24 × 2.5-inch Drive Configuration
Figure 5-1 Front View
Item Feature Item Feature
1 Service Tag (including SN
label and drive numbers) 2 Drive Bay × 24

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12 × 3.5-inch Drive Configuration
Figure 5-2 Front View
Item
Feature
Item
Feature
1 Service Tag (including SN
label and drive numbers) 2 Drive Bay × 12
5.1.2 LEDs & Buttons
1. LED and Button Location
Figure 5-3 Front Panel LEDs and Buttons

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Item Feature Item Feature
1 Power Button and LED 2 UID Button and LED
3 System Reset Button 4 System Health LED
2. LED and Button Description
Table 5-1 Front Panel LED and Button Description
Icon LED & Button Description
Power Button
and LED
Power LED:
Off = No power
Solid green = Power-on state
Solid orange = Standby state
Power button:
Long press 4 seconds to force a shutdown
from the power-on state.
Follow the prompt under the OS to shut it down.
Short press the power button to power on the system in
standby state.
UID Button
and LED
The UID LED is used to identify the device to be
operated
Off = System unit not identified
Solid blue = System unit identified
Flashing blue = System unit being operated
remotely
The UID LED turns on or off when activated by the UID button or
via ISBMC remotely.
Long press the UID button for over 6 seconds to reset the BMC.
System Reset
Button Press the button to reset the system
System Health
LED
Off = Normal
Red = System error

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5.1.3 Ports
1. Port Location
Figure 5-4 Front Panel Ports (Demonstrated with 24 × 2.5-inch Drive Configuration)
Item Feature Item Feature
1 VGA Port 2 USB 3.0 Port
3 USB 3.0 Port 4 System Serial Port
The ports are identical for the 24 × 2.5-inch drive configuration and 12 × 3.5-inch
drive configuration.
2. Port Description
Table 5-2 Front Panel Port Description
Port Type Quantity Description
VGA Port DB15 1
Enables you to connect a display terminal,
for example, a monitor or KVM, to the
system
USB 3.0 Port USB 3.0 2
Enables you to connect a USB 3.0 device to
the system
Make sure the USB device is in good condition or it
may cause the server to work abnormally.
System
Serial Port RJ45 1 Captures BMC logs and provides the BMC debugging function

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5.2 Rear Panel
5.2.1 Appearance
Figure 5-5 Rear View
Item
Feature
Item
Feature
1 PSU × 4 2 USB 3.0 Port × 2
3 BMC Management Network
Port 4 OCP 3.0 Card Hot-Plug Button and LED
5 OCP 3.0 Card 6 VGA Port
7
BMC Serial Communication
Port
8 UID Button and LED
9 GPU Slots 10 Add-in Card Slots

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5.2.2 LEDs and Buttons
Figure 5-6 Rear Panel LEDs and Buttons
Item Feature Item Feature
1 PSU LED × 4 2
Data Transmit Rate LED of
BMC Management Network
Port
3
Connection Status LED of
BMC Management Network
Port
4 OCP 3.0 Card Hot-Plug Button
and LED
5 UID Button and LED
1. LED and Button Description
Table 5-3 Rear Panel LED and Button Description
Icon LED Description
UID Button and
LED
The UID LED is used to identify the device to
be operated
Off = System unit not identified
Solid blue = System unit identified
Flashing blue = System unit being
operated remotely
The UID LED turns on when activated by the UID button or
via ISBMC remotely.
Long press the UID button for over 6 seconds to reset the
BMC.

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Icon LED Description
Hot_Plug
OCP 3.0 Card
Hot-Plug Button
and LED
Button:
‐Enables the hot-swap function of the
OCP 3.0 Card
LED:
‐Solid blue = OCP card is powered on
‐Flashing blue = OCP card power
being removed or connected
‐Off = OCP NIC is not powered on
N/A
Data Transmit
Rate LED of BMC
Management
Network Port
Off = No network connection
Solid green = Normal network connection
(1000 Mbps)
Solid orange = Normal network
connection (100 Mbps/10 Mbps)
N/A
Connection
Status LED of
BMC
Management
Network Port
Off = No network connection
Solid green = Normal network connection
Flashing green = Data transmission in
progress
N/A PSU LED
Off = No AC power to PSU
Flashing green (1 Hz) = PSU operating in
standby state with normal AC input.
Solid green = Normal input and output
Flashing amber (1 Hz) = PSU warning
event where the PSU continues to operate
(possible causes: PSU overtemperature,
PSU output overcurrent, excessively high
or low fan speed)
Solid amber = PSU critical event causing a
shutdown (possible causes: PSU
overtemperature protection, PSU output
overcurrent or short circuit, output
overvoltage, short circuit protection,
component (not all components) failure)