14 DAY TRIAL // After releasing the ESC4000 2U quad-SLI Tesla server at the end of last week, Asus is continuing its assault on the high-performance computing market with the introduction of a new 2U system that can pack up to eight Intel six-core Xeon processors and as much as 384GB of DDR3 memory.
The new server is called the RS724Q-E6/RS1 and is equipped with 4 independent hot-pluggable nodes packed inside a a 2U chassis.
Each node supports six-core and quad-core Intel Xeon 5500/5600 processors as well as 12 DIMM slots with up to 96GB of memory.
Storage is provided by the Intel ICH10R controller that support four SATA2 3Gbps ports per node.
In addition, Asus also offers a PIKE slot in its server, that was specifically designed to accommodate a SAS add-on card and the chassis can house up to 12 3.5-inch hard drives.
Other features include on-board InfiniBand QDR (40Gb/s) support, thanks to a Mellanox ConnectX MT25418 controller, one low-profile PCI Express x16 slot per node, and three RJ-45 ports.
One of these is used for the optional ASMB4-iKVM upgrade kit, that provides users with a graphical user interface for controlling the server remotely via the Asus ASWM software.
All thew power required by the system is provided by a pair of 1,600W 80Plus Platinum high efficiency power supply units which are configured in a 2+0 redundant mode and that can average a 88% power efficiency under load.
To further ease the maintenance of the server, Asus has designed the RS724Q-E6/RS12 so that each of the four nodes has its own individual panel and all the hard drives, fans and power supplies are hot-pluggable.
The RS724Q-E6/RS1 is already listed on Asus website, together with a full list of parts, but its price hasn't been announced yet.