Baserock Slab Specifications

Overview

Codethink’s Baserock Slab ARM® Server is designed for Linux server appliance applications needing a combination of:

  • High processor core density
  • High I/O performance per low-power, energy efficient processor
  • Low power consumption

Target applications include:

  • Cloud computing infrastructure
  • Native ARM build and test

A Baserock Slab is small enough to sit on a desk and draws much less power under load than a typical PC, yet each unit contains eight of the fastest ARM® processors available today; the Marvell® quad-core 1.33GHz Armada® XP. Each processor sits on Cogent’s field upgradeable CSB1726 SoM, has its own dedicated Solid State Drive and is hooked up to very fast network fabric; up to 5Gbit/s of dedicated network bandwidth for each processor.

For data centre and cloud applications, Baserock Slabs stack back-to-back, two per 1U, up to seventy-six units in a full-height rack. That’s 2432 cores per rack, with no special power handling or cooling infrastructure.

Physical form factor

  • Eight processors (32 cores) per Slab
  • 64 cores per 1U when installed back-to-back
  • Half-depth 1U chassis, 19” x 1U x 14” (483mm x 44mm x 355m)
  • 260W PSU

Compute SoMs

  • Cogent CSB1726
  • Marvell® Armada® XP quad-core ARMv7-A CPU, 1.33GHz
  • 2GB of ECC DDR3 RAM per node

Carrier board

  • 30GB (max 120GB) mSATA SSD, max 250MB/sec r/w, per SoM
  • SATA port for additional dedicated storage, per SoM
  • Dual 2.5Gbit/s ethernet, trunkable to a single 5Gbit/s link
  • Management SoM for remote power, fan and reset control
  • Firmware upgrade via the network

Managed network switching fabric

  • Internal 24-port SGMII switch, providing 2.5Gbit/s per port
  • Two links per compute node giving 5Gbit/s of bonded bandwidth
  • One link to management node for internal services
  • Wire-speed switching and routing at 119 million packets a second
  • Two 1/10Gbit/s ethernet SFP+ ports direct to switching fabric
  • Four copper 10/100/1000 ethernet ports direct to switching fabric
  • One copper 10/100/1000 ethernet port for lights-out management
  • Support for 10KB Jumbo frames
  • VLAN and Quality of Service functionality

Management SoM

  • Cogent CSB1724
  • Built-in lights-out management using a 1.6GHz Marvell® Armada® 300
  • SSH access to each node’s console port
  • Web interface for power control, access control setup etc. (planned)
  • Two high-speed USB ports for peripherals and firmware upgrades
  • RS232 serial via DB9 for configuration and management

Compatible Software

  • Baserock Appliance Linux
  • Debian GNU/Linux
  • Ubuntu (planned)
  • Fedora (planned)