JEFF'S PICKS! JEFF'S TOP RACKMOUNT COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Originally Published in the January Issue of COTS JOURNAL

COTS JOURNAL, VOL. 18, NO. 1, January, 2016 – For many military applications the priority is to pack as much compute density into a system as possible. To achieve that, a popular choice is a rackmount blade-computer architecture. By using the 1U form factor, it’s easier to integrate together systems that include existing off-the-shelf IT-based 1U boards. Systems of larger sizes such as 2U, 3U and 4U are also gaining acceptance in military systems where compute density is paramount. Unlike backplane-based architectures like VME or CompactPCI, rackmount systems are bus-less and typically use Ethernet or other cable-based technology to link boards with one another.

For many military applications the priority is to pack as much compute density into a system as possible. To achieve that a popular choice is a rackmount blade-computer architecture. By using the 1U form factor, it’s easier to integrate together systems that include existing off-the-shelf IT-based 1U boards. systems of larger sizes such as 2U, 3U and 4U are also gaining acceptance in military systems where compute density is paramount. Unlike backplane-based architectures like VME or CompactPCI, rackmount systems are bus-less and typically use Ethernet or other cable-based technology to link boards with one another.

For this month’s Editor’s Pick section COTS Journal evaluated several rackmount computing solutions based on three aspects: technology leadership, design innovation and market relevance. The winning product is the S2U King Cobra, Rugged 2U Server System from General Micro Systems (Figure 1). Traditionally General Micro Systems (GMS) has been mostly know over the years for its rugged VME, VPX and CompactPCI offers, and in more recent years credit-card sized system boards and small form factor (SFF) boxes.

As the company expanded into the rackmount server space, it added its extreme rugged capabilities that distinguish it from a lot of the commodity hardware style rackmount systems in the market. It also pushed the barriers of integration combining the performance and functions that typically require from 4 to 8 2U servers into one 2U system. In fact GMS claims that the S2U is the company’s most technically advanced product ever designed in its 35 plus year history. The S2U “King Cobra” is a 2U rackmount systems designed to replace several 1U/2U servers, switches/routers, RAID controllers, and Auxiliary Power Units (APU) with a single 2U, 17-inch deep rack mountable (or freestanding) enclosure.

100 Percent LRU Swappable
All the King Cobra’s subsystems and boards are “LRU swappable” using PCI Express 3.0 interfaces over OpenVPX at every system interface. This means that every subsystem can be customer-replaced (qualified technician)—an imperative for battlefield deployments such as shipboard, wide-body aircraft, or ground vehicles/TAOCs. At PCIe 3.0’s 8 Gbps, signal integrity throughout the system and interfaces—the OpenVPX SBC alone has 80 PCIe 3.0 lanes--is maintained by careful channel optimization, jitter tolerance and retimers.

The system’s dual E5 Xeon SBC uses a patent-pending GMS-designed CPU socket to avoid vibration damage on the Intel Xeons. CPUs and other hot components don’t use commercial-style heat sinks; instead, they are cooled by GMS’s low-profile patented Rugged- Cool technology that allows full CPU speeds over temperature with no clock speed derating. The dual Xeon E5 server system includes a 20-port managed Gigabit Ethernet switch (with 150W PoE and Layer II/III enterprise class features); removable PCIe 3.0 SSD-based 48 TB RAID storage (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 50); a PCIe 3.0 subsystem for user I/O with 4 standard full-length 16x PCIe plug-in boards (2 dual-height NVIDIA/AMD GPU cards can be added and cooled for high-res, moving map or real-time video displays.

In terms of design innovation the S2U’s real triumph is high-density design. In only 2U high, the S2U easily replaces at least 4 other 2U servers if you count processor power, Ethernet ports, I/O adaptation, and power supplies. Moreover, it is fully shock/vibration/ temperature rugged with MIL-SPEC compliance and configuration management. Besides replacing multiple boxes/racks into one, it has more performance and I/O per cubic inch than comparable servers—even in the commercial world. Lastly, the full modularity and PCIe 3.0 speeds found at every module/ sub-assembly in the S2U mean that it can be deployed to the harshest, most remote location/ platform, but still be maintained and upgraded in the field by qualified technicians.

January, 2016

By Jeff Child

Editor-in-Chief, COTS Journal