Frames can consist of thin, wide, or high nodes.
The main difference between thin and wide nodes is that generally wide nodes have the capacity for larger memory and a larger memory cache. Standard SP2 systems could contain up to 256 nodes. Up to 512 nodes can be ordered from IBM by special request. Such a switch can interconnect up to 16 nodes with up to 16 other nodes. More than one HPS may be included when the number of nodes in the SP2 system is greater than 32.