TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3 THE FORTUNE 100 COMPANY’S INTERNALIT STRATEGY AND BUSINESS MANDATES
4 WHY SUPERMICRO’S MICROBLADE IS AN
OPTIMAL SOLUTION
6 RESULTS THE FORTUNE 100 COMPANY
ACHIEVED WITH SUPERMICRO SOLUTION

CASE STUDYSUPERMICRO MICROBLADE
DISAGGREGATED SERVER POWERSONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ENERGYEFFICIENT 1.06 PUE DATA CENTERSAT FORTUNE 100 COMPANY

SUPERMICRO® 3U MICROBLADE™ SYSTEM

Super Micro Computer, Inc.
980 Rock AvenueSan Jose, CA 95131 USA
www.supermicro.com- May 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Supermicro MicroBlade System
Deployed at the Fortune 100 Company•• 30,000+ Intel® Xeon® Processor
based Supermicro® MicroBlade™
Server blades

A Fortune 100 Company has deployed over 30,000 Supermicro® MicroBlade™ disaggregatedIntel® Xeon® processor based servers at its Silicon Valley data center, one of the world’s mostenergy efficient data centers with a PUE of 1.06, to support its growing compute needs.
Compared to a traditional data center running at 1.49 PUE, the new Silicon Valley datacenter achieves an 88% improvement in support infrastructure energy efficiency. When thebuild out is complete at a 35 megawatt IT load power, the company is targeting $13.18M insavings per year in total energy costs across the entire data center.

•• Each 3U MicroBlade enclosure
consists of 14 hot-swap serverblades•• 56% better data center space
utilization / density•• High efficiency shared Titanium
Level (96%+ efficiency) digital
power supplies and cooling•• 45% to 65% CAPEX savings due
to disaggregated hardware
architecture

56%

Supermicro MicroBlade is a compact and flexible all-in-one system that supports 14
hot-swappable server blades in 3U and 280 Intel Xeon processor based servers in a 9 foot(60U) rack, the highest server density in the industry*. With high-efficiency shared powerand cooling for the entire enclosure, integrated network switches and a single out-ofband management Ethernet cable for all 14 blades, MicroBlade system lowers overall
IT operating costs and improves data center space utilization by 56% compared to theincumbent solution. MicroBlade’s disaggregated rack scale design optimizes data center
refresh cycles and delivers better overall data center performance at 45% - 65% reduced
CAPEX costs.

$13MDENSITY IMPROVEMENTANNUAL ELECTRICITY SAVINGSBEFORE

Figure 1.

CAPEX SAVINGSAFTERDensity improvement, annual electricity savings and CAPEX savings per refresh cycle for the new Data Center of the Fortune
100 company*2

45%-65%

Each blade can be configured with one or more server nodes. 280 Intel Xeon processor based
servers per 9 foot rack density is achieved with one server node per blade.

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company

THE FORTUNE 100 COMPANY’S INTERNAL IT STRATEGY AND
BUSINESS MANDATES••Meeting up to 40 percent annual growth in compute, storage andnetworking with fixed physical space and power budget••

Taking advantage of the latest compute technology (CPU + memory)
without upgrading the entire infrastructure••

Lowering TCO Continuously while providing business units the best
Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and Quality of Service (QoS)

There are three pillars of this Fortune 100 Company’s internal IT strategy: providing itsbusiness units with the best Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and Quality of Service (QoS);
continuously minimizing IT infrastructure costs; and optimally increasing the resource
utilization of infrastructure assets.
The tasks the Fortune 100 Company IT face
1. How to future proof the investment to incorporate next generation computemodule (CPU+memory or NIC+DAS) without changing the rest of the components
2. How to deliver more computing power with same power per rack budget while
maintaining or lowering PUE
3. How to continuously lower the CAPEX and OPEX while providing the business unitsthe best possible SLAs and QoS
Leveraging its vertically integrated full service capabilities, Supermicro collaborated closelywith this Fortune 100 Company and delivered a solution from design concept to optimallytuned, high quality product with full supply chain and large scale delivery support in fiveweeks.

40% Annual GrowthFigure 2.

Up to 40% annual growth in compute, storage and networking at the Fortune 100company

Case Study - May 2018

3WHY SUPERMICRO’S MICROBLADE IS AN OPTIMAL SOLUTION••High-density, high-efficiency and cost-effective MicroBlade withintegrated network switching••Modular, Rack Scale Design (RSD) ready hardware enabling
independent update of compute modules (CPU + Memory)••High ambient temperature at 40 ˚Celsius operation

MicroBlade Product Family Advantages
6U/3U DP/UP Server Systems*, support upto:•• 112 nodes - Intel® Atom™ processor(C2750/C2550)•• 56 UP nodes - Intel® Xeon® processor
E3-1500 v5 (1585/1578L)•• 56 UP nodes - Intel® Xeon® processor
D-1500 (1581/1541)•• 56 UP nodes -Intel® Xeon® processor
E3-1200 v5•• 28 DP nodes – Intel® Xeon® processor
E5-2600 v4/v3•• High-efficiency Supermicro® systemdesign (as low as 10W per node)Supermicro Microblade solution is based on high-density, high-efficiency and costeffective all-in-one chassis that features 14 hot-swap server blades in 3U. The MicroBladeenclosure is configured with a Chassis Management Module for unified management,
integrated network switches to reduce within-rack cabling by up to 99%, and redundant
2000W Titanium Level certified digital power supplies for high energy efficiency (96%+).
Up to 86% improvement in cooling fan power efficiency is achieved by sharing fourcooling fans and integrated power modules across all 14 MicroBlade server blades*.
With reduced cabling and less parts, the serviceability of MicroBlade system is significantly
enhanced. Supermicro MicroBlade is shipped with industry standard IPMI 2.0 and Redfish
API designed to lower management overhead in large scale data centers. To maximize theutilization of the physical space in the data center, the company uses 9 foot (60U) racks,and packs 20 x 3U MicroBlade enclosures delivering the industry’s highest server density at
280 Xeon processor based servers per rack**.

•• Redundant (N+1 or N+N ) Titanium
Level (96%+ efficiency) digital
power supplies•• Redundant 10/2.5/1Gbps SDNswitches•• Redundant chassis management
modules with unified remotemanagement software•• Front-loading blades for easy accessand servicing

Figure 3.

**4

DP: Dual or Double Processor
UP: Uni or Single Processor

Front View of 3U MicroBlade System

Compared to 14 traditional 1U rack mount servers each configured with six cooling fans and two
power supplies.

** Each blade can be configured with one or more server nodes. 280 Intel Xeon processor based
servers per 9 foot rack density is achieved with one server node per blade.

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company“With 280 Intel Xeon processor
based server blades packed
into a 9 foot rack, the highdensity, high efficiency anddisaggregated MicroBladearchitecture is a game changer
and for the first time allows forthe independent refresh cyclesof the server compute modules.
This will unleash a new waveof disaggregated hardware
architecture.”
Shesha Krishnapura
Intel Fellow and Intel IT CTO

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) workloads are compute intensive and require many
servers to complete the complex simulations rapidly. Shortening the design cycle directlytranslates into Go-To-Market (GTM) competitive advantages for the company.
To support its business goals while minimizing IT infrastructure costs, IT at this Fortune
100 Company has deployed over 30,000 Supermicro MicroBlade server blades in its Silicon
Valley data center. In addition to industry leading server density and power efficiency,
the new innovative MicroBlade architecture enables the independent upgrades of thecompute modules without replacing the rest of the MicroBlade enclosure including
networking, storage, fans and power supplies, which refresh at a slower rate.
By disaggregating CPU and memory, each resource can be refreshed independently
allowing data centers to reduce refresh cycle costs (Why change the entire light fixture,when all you need is a more energy efficient and powerful light bulb?). When viewed overa three to five year refresh cycle, disaggregated rack scale design will deliver on-averagea higher performance and more efficient servers at lower costs than a traditional rip-andreplace model by allowing data centers to independently optimize adoption of new andimproved technologies.
Supermicro MicroBlade is equipped with advanced airflow and cooling design. The
ambient temperature for MicroBlade servers can be as high as 40 °C or 104 °F. Green
computing features such as this give IT at this Fortune 100 Company more latitude tooperate their data centers.

Intel® Xeon® processor

4 DDR4 DIMM slots

SATA DOM ports

2x 2.5" SAS3 drives

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Rear View of 3U MicroBlade System

1 of 14 hot-swap MBI6119G-C2 Server BladesCase Study - May 2018

5RESULTS THE FORTUNE 100 COMPANY ACHIEVED WITH
SUPERMICRO SOLUTION“The disaggregated server
architecture is a perfect fit forour data centers, just like whena homeowner upgrades lighting,they will only replace the bulbs
with the most energy efficientones without replacing the entire
lighting fixture, Intel IT prefers toupgrade just the compute modules
with the latest technologies
without replacing the entire
server infrastructure.”
Shesha Krishnapura
Intel Fellow and Intel IT CTO••MicroBlade makes the world’s most efficient data center with a PUE of1.06 even more effective by optimizing the maximum use of power andspace allowed per rack••

Future proof and disaggregated RSD ready architecture to incorporate
next generation compute module (CPU+memory) without changing therest of the design••

Improves data center space utilization by 56% and saves 45% to 65% inCAPEX per refresh cycle

According to a recent IDC data center research report*, two thirds of US enterprise datacenter facilities have a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) over 2.0, spending money on
uncontrolled cooling and power costs. The PUE measure divides total power delivered
to the data center by the actual power the IT equipment consumes. An ideal PUE is 1.0
meaning that all of the energy needed for a data center facility goes to the computing
devices instead of overhead such as cooling or power conversion.
With a PUE rating of 1.06, the Fortune 100 Company operates the world most efficient data
centers in Silicon Valley, California**.

56%

$13M

DENSITY IMPROVEMENTANNUAL ELECTRICITY SAVINGSBEFORE

Figure 6.

45%-65%CAPEX SAVINGS

AFTER

Density improvement, annual electricity savings and CAPEX savings per refresh cycle for the new Data Center of the Fortune
100 company*Quinn, Kelly. “Power Issues in the Datacenter: IDC Survey Results”. IDC Doc# US40885516. March2016** King, Rachael. “Intel CIO Building Efficient Data Center to Rival Google, Facebook Efforts”. Wallstreet Journal. Nov. 9, 2015

6

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company

Supermicro MicroBlade Disaggregated Server Powers One of the World’s
Most Energy Efficient 1.06 PUE Data Centers at Fortune 100 Company

FOR MORE INFORMATION•• Supermicro® MicroBlade™ Solutions
www.supermicro.com/products/MicroBlade/•• Supermicro Rack Scale Designwww.supermicro.com/solutions/
SRSD.cfm•• Intel® Xeon® Processor
www.intel.com

To further optimize the world’s most efficient data centers, IT at the Fortune 100 Company
searched for ways to maximize the number of servers that can be fitted in the 9 footrack with minimum amounts of power consumption. With 14 hot-swap server blades
in a 3U MicroBlade enclosure, IT is able to fit 280 server blades into one 9 foot rack, themost number of servers per cabinet footprint in the industry. This Fortune 100 Company
has improved data center space utilization by 56% with Supermicro MicroBlade servers
compared to previous solution. The MicroBlade architecture centralizes and shares highefficiency Titanium Level power supplies, and fans across all 14 server blades, further
reduces operating expenses***. With up to 99% cabling reduction for the MicroBladearchitecture, airflow is significantly improved, which in turn reduces the load on thecooling fans, resulting in even lower OPEX.
The future-proof, disaggregated MicroBlade hardware architecture provides the company
the flexibility to upgrade the compute modules (CPU + memory) at a faster pace while
preserving the existing investments made in the networking, storage, power supplies,and cables, resulting in lower CAPEX (spend only a fraction of what otherwise has tospend), lower OPEX (replacing a module involves less work and manpower than replacing
the entire server) and hence the overall data center TCO. For CAPEX alone, it is estimatedthat the savings is between 45% and 65% by upgrading only the compute module while
keeping the rest of the system intact.

Figure 7.

MicroBlade systems Inside the Data Center of the Fortune 100 company*** Supermicro internal analysis comparing MicroBlade solution to previous one deployed at theFortune 100 company

Case Study - May 20187

About Super Micro Computer, Inc.
Supermicro® (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology is a premier provider ofadvanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and Embedded Systems
worldwide. Supermicro is committed to protecting the environment through its “We Keep IT Green®” initiative and provides customers
with the most energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly solutions available on the market.
www.supermicro.com

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