Overview

Overview

The Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server is a high-density, 1RU, single-socket rack server designed for versatile infrastructure and application deployment. This server can operate as a standalone unit or as part of the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), which integrates computing, networking, management, virtualization, and storage into a cohesive architecture. The UCS architecture facilitates end-to-end visibility, management, and control across both bare-metal and virtualized environments.

The Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server is orderable in two versions:

  • Small form-factor (SFF) drives version (UCSC-C225-M8S):

    • Supports up to 10 front-loading 2.5-inch SAS/SATA or NVMe U.3 drives.

    • Optionally supports direct-attach NVMe SSDs in the first four bays.

  • NVMe drives version (UCSC-C225-M8N):

    • Supports up to 10 front-loading 2.5-inch NVMe SSDs.

Technical Specifications

  • CPU Support

    • 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors, with up to 128 cores.

    • 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors, with up to 160 cores.


    Note

    For informatiion about specific CPUs supported, see Supported CPUs .

  • Memory

    • Up to 12 DIMM slots.

    • Supports 4th Gen AMD EPYC processors and DDR5 memory with speeds up to 4800 MT/s.

    • Supports 5th Gen AMD EPYC processors and DDR5 memory with speeds up to 6000 MT/s.

    • Maximum memory capacity of 3 TB using 256 GB DIMMs.

  • Storage Options

    • SFF Version:

      • Up to 10 drives with a mix of SAS/SATA/NVMe U.3.

      • Tri-mode RAID controller supports SAS4/NVMe hardware RAID.

    • NVMe Version:

      • Up to 10 direct-attach NVMe SSDs.

  • PCIe Expansion and Riser Options

    • Supports up to three PCIe 4.0 slots or up to two PCIe 5.0 slots.

    • Riser Options for 3 HH Riser Cage Support:

      • Riser 1:

        • Riser 1A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

        • Riser 1B (PCIe Gen5): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

      • Riser 2:

        • Riser 2A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, Single Wide GPU.

        • Riser 2B (PCIe Gen5): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, Single Wide GPU.

      • Riser 3:

        • Riser 3A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

    • Riser Options for 2 FH Riser Cage Support:

      • Riser 1:

        • Riser 1C (PCIe Gen5): Full-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

      • Riser 3:

        • Riser 3C (PCIe Gen5): Full-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

  • Management

    • Includes a dedicated management port for out-of-band management.

    • Supports Cisco Intersight and UCS Manager for unified management.

  • Storage Controllers

    • Internal Storage Controllers:

      • Cisco 24G Tri-mode RAID controller RAID Support: RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60, RAID 0, and RAID 00

      • Supports up to 10 internal SAS/SATA/NVMe drives.

    • External Storage Controllers: Cisco 12G 9500-8e 12G SAS HBA for external JBOD attach.

  • Supported VIC Cards:

    • UCSC-M-V5Q50GV2-D: Cisco UCS VIC 15427 Quad Port CNA MLOM with Secure Boot (mLOM, HHHL, SS)

    • UCSC-O-ID10GC: Intel X710T2LOCPV3G1L 2x10GbE RJ45 OCP3.0 NIC (mLOM/OCP 3.0 slot)

    • UCSC-P-V5Q50G-D: Cisco UCS VIC 15425 Quad Port 10/25/50G CNA PCIE (Riser 1 or 2, HHHL, SS)

    • UCSC-P-V5D200G-D: Cisco UCS VIC 15235 Dual Port 40/100/200G CNA PCIE (Riser 1 or 2, HHHL, SS)

  • Network Interface Cards (NICs):

    • 1 GbE NICs: UCSC-P-IQ1GC: Cisco-Intel I710-T4L 4x1GBASE-T NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

    • 10 GbE NICs:

      • UCSC-PCIEID10GF-D: Intel X710-DA2 Dual Port 10Gb SFP+ NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

      • UCSC-P-ID10GC-D: Cisco-Intel X710T2LG 2x10 GbE RJ45 PCIe NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

      • UCSC-P-IQ10GC-D: Cisco-Intel X710T4LG 4x10 GbE RJ45 PCIe NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

      • UCSC-PCIEIQ10GF-D: Intel X710 quad-port 10G SFP+ NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

    • 25 GbE NICs:

      • UCSC-P-I8D25GF-D: Cisco-Intel E810XXVDA2 2x25/10 GbE SFP28 PCIe NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

      • UCSC-P-I8Q25GF-D: Cisco-Intel E810XXVDA4L 4x25/10 GbE SFP28 PCIe NIC (Riser 1, 2, or 3, HHHL, SS)

      • UCSC-P-N7Q25GF: MCX713104AS-ADAT: CX-7 4x25GbE SFP56 PCIe Gen4x16, VPI NIC

      • 25GbE NICs: UCSC-P-N6D25GF: Cisco-NVDA MCX631102AS-ADAT CX6Lx 2x25GbE SFP28 x8 PCIe NIC

    • 100 Gbe NICs:

      • UCSC-P-M6CD100GF: Cisco-MLNX MCX623106AC-CDAT 2x100GbE QSFP56 PCIe NIC

    • 200Gbe NICs:

      • UCSC-P-N7D200GF: Cisco-NVDA MCX755106AS-HEAT CX7 2x200GbE QSFP112 PCIe Gen5x 16, PCIe NIC

Supported CPUs

The server supports the following CPUs.

Table 1. Supported 5th Generation AMD EPYC™ CPUs

Model

Cores

Frequency

DDR5 DIMM Clock (MT/s)

9845

160

2.10 Ghz

6000

9825

144

2.20 Ghz

6000

9745

128

2.40 Ghz

6000

9655

96

2.60 Ghz

6000

9645

96

2.30 Ghz

6000

9565

72

3.15 Ghz

6000

9555

64

3.20 Ghz

6000

9535

64

2.40 Ghz

6000

9455

48

3.15 Ghz

6000

9365

36

3.40 Ghz

6000

9355

32

3.55 Ghz

6000

9335

32

3.00 Ghz

6000

9255

24

3.20 Ghz

6000

9135

16

3.65 Ghz

6000

9115

16

2.60 Ghz

6000

9015

8

3.60

6000

9575F

64

3.30 Ghz

6000

9475F

48

3.65 Ghz

6000

9375F

32

3,80 Ghz

6000

9275F

24

4.10 Ghz

6000

9175F

16

4.20 Ghz

6000

9655P

96

2.60 Ghz

6000

9555P

64

3.20 Ghz

6000

9455P

48

3.25 Ghz

6000

9355P

32

3.55 Ghz

6000
Table 2. Supported Fourth Generation AMD EPYC™ CPUs

Model

Cores

Frequency

DDR5 DIMM Clock (MT/s)

Fourth Gen AMD 97X4 Series EPYC Processors

9754

128

2.25 Ghz

4800

9734

112

2.20 Ghz

4800

Fourth Gen AMD 9004 Series EPYC Processors

9654

96

2.40 Ghz

4800

9634

84

2.25

4800

9554

64

3.10 Ghz

4800

9534

64

2.45 Ghz

4800

9454

48

2.75 Ghz

4800

9354

64

2.45 Ghz

4800

9334

32

2.70 Ghz

4800

9254

24

2.90 Ghz

4800

9224

24

2.50 Ghz

4800

9124

16

3.70 Ghz

4800

9474F

48

3.60 Ghx

4800

9347F

32

3.85 Ghz

4800

9274F

24

4.065 Ghz

4800

9174F

16

4.10 Ghz

4800

9654P

96

2.40 Ghz

4800

9554P

64

3.10 Ghz

4800

9454P

48

2.75 Ghz

4800

9354P

32

3.25 Ghz

4800

Fourth Gen EPYC 9004 Series with 3D V-Cache™ Technology

9384X

32

310 Ghz

4800

9184X

16

3.55 Ghz

4800

External Features

Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Front Panel Features

The following figure shows the front panel features of the small form-factor drive versions of the server.

For definitions of LED states, see Front-Panel LEDs.

Figure 1. Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Front Panel

1

UCSC-C225-M8S Version—Drive bays 1 – 10 support SAS/SATA hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs). As an option, drive bays 1-4 can contain up to 4 NVMe drives in any number up to 4. Drive bays 5 through 10 support only SAS/SATA HDDs or SSDs.

UCSC-C225-M8N Version—Drive bays 1—10 supports 2.5-inch NVMe-only SSDs.

2

Unit identification button/LED

3

Power button/power status LED

4

KVM connector (used with KVM cable that provides one DB-15 VGA, one DB-9 serial, and two USB 2.0 connectors)

5

System LED cluster:

  • Fan status LED

  • System Status LED

  • Power supply status LED

  • Network link activity LED

  • Temperature status LED

-

Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Rear Panel Features

The rear panel features can be different depending on the number and type of PCIe cards in the server.

The following figure shows the rear panel features of the server with three riser configuration.

For definitions of LED states, see Rear-Panel LEDs.

Figure 2. Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Rear Panel Three-Riser Configuration

The following figure shows the rear panel features of the server with two riser configuration.

Figure 3. Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Rear Panel Two-Riser Configuration

1

PCIe slots

Following PCIe Riser combinations are available for 3 HH Riser cage configuration:

  • Riser 1:

    • Riser 1A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

    • Riser 1B (PCIe Gen5): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

  • Riser 2:

    • Riser 2A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, Single Wide GPU.

    • Riser 2B (PCIe Gen5): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, Single Wide GPU.

  • Riser 3:

    • Riser 3A (PCIe Gen4): Half-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

Following PCIe Riser combinations are available for 2 FH Riser cage configuration:

  • Riser 1:

    • Riser 1C (PCIe Gen5): Full-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

  • Riser 3:

    • Riser 3C (PCIe Gen5): Full-height, 3/4 length, x16, NCSI, Single Wide GPU.

2

Power supply units (PSUs), two, which can be redundant when configured in 1+1 power mode.

3

Modular LAN-on-motherboard (mLOM) card bay (x16 PCIe lane)

4

System identification button/LED

5

USB 3.0 ports (two)

6

Dedicated 1 GB Ethernet management port

7

COM port (RJ-45 connector)

8

VGA video port (DB-15 connector)

Component Location

This topic shows the locations of the field-replaceable components and service-related items. The view in the following figure shows the server with the top cover removed.

Figure 4. Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server, Two Riser Configuration Serviceable Component Locations

1

Front-loading drive bays 1–10 support SAS/SATA/NVMe drives.

2

Cisco 24G Tri-mode RAID controller

3

Cooling fan modules, eight.

Each fan is hot-swappable

4

SuperCap module mounting bracket

The SuperCap module (not shown) that mounts into this location provides RAID write-cache backup.

5

DIMM sockets on motherboard, 12 total.

6

Motherboard CPU socket

7

M.2 module connector

Supports a boot-optimized RAID controller with connectors for up to two SATA M.2 SSDs

8

Power Supply Units (PSUs), two

9

PCIe riser slot 2

10

PCIe riser slot 1

11

Modular LOM (mLOM) card bay on chassis floor (x16 PCIe lane)
Figure 5. Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server Three Riser Configuration Serviceable Component Locations

1

Front-loading drive bays 1–10 support SAS/SATA/NVMe drives.

2

Cisco M8 24G SAS RAID card or Cisco M8 24G SAS HBA Controller

3

Cooling fan modules, eight.

Each fan is hot-swappable

4

SuperCap module mounting bracket

The SuperCap module (not shown) that mounts into this location provides RAID write-cache backup.

5

DIMM sockets on motherboard, 12 total.

6

Motherboard CPU socket

7

M.2 module connector

Supports a boot-optimized RAID controller with connectors for up to two SATA M.2 SSDs

8

Power Supply Units (PSUs), two

9

PCIe riser slot 3

10

PCIe riser slot 2

11

PCIe riser slot 1

12

Modular LOM (mLOM) card bay on chassis floor (x16 PCIe lane)

Summary of Server Features

The following table lists a summary of server features for the Cisco UCS C225 M8 Server.

Feature

Description

Chassis

One rack-unit (1RU) chassis.

Central Processor

One socket, 4th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors, with up to 128 cores.

One socket, 5th Gen AMD EPYC™ processors, with up to 160 cores.

Memory

Up to 12 DIMM slots per CPU, supports DDR5 memory with speeds up to 4800 MT/s, maximum memory capacity of 3 TB using 256 GB DIMMs.

Up to 12 DIMM slots per CPU, supports DDR5 memory with speeds up to 6000 MT/s, maximum memory capacity of 1U Max supportd 12 DIMMs 3 TB using 256 GB DIMMs.

Multi-bit error protection

Multi-bit error protection is supported.

Video

The Cisco Integrated Management Controller (CIMC) provides video using the Matrox G200e video/graphics controller:

  • Integrated 2D graphics core with hardware acceleration.

  • Embedded DDR memory interface supports up to 512 MB of addressable memory (8 MB is allocated by default to video memory).

  • Supports display resolutions up to 1920 x 1200 16bpp @ 60Hz.

  • High-speed integrated 24-bit RAMDAC.

  • Single lane PCI-Express host interface running at Gen 1 speed.

Baseboard management

BMC, running Cisco Integrated Management Controller (Cisco IMC) firmware. Depending on your Cisco IMC settings, Cisco IMC can be accessed through the 1-Gb dedicated management port or a Cisco virtual interface card.

Network and management I/O

Rear panel:

  • One 1-Gb Ethernet dedicated management port (RJ-45 connector).

  • One RS-232 serial port (RJ-45 connector).

  • One VGA video connector port (DB-15 connector).

  • Two USB 3.0 ports.

  • One flexible modular LAN on motherboard (mLOM)/OCP 3.0 slot that can accommodate various interface cards.

Front panel:

  • One KVM console connector (supplies two USB 2.0 connectors, one VGA DB15 video connector, and one serial port (RS232) RJ45 connector).

Modular LAN on Motherboard (mLOM)/ OCP3 3.0 slot

The dedicated mLOM/OCP 3.0 slot on the motherboard can flexibly accommodate the following cards:

  • Cisco Virtual Interface Cards, Series 15xxx mLOM/VICs at speeds of 10G/25G/40G/50G/100G/200G depending on the mLOM/VIC installed.

  • OCP 3.0 network interface card (UCSC-O-ID10GC).

Power

Up to two of the following hot-swappable power supplies:

  • 1050 W DC.

  • 1200 W (AC).

  • 1600 W (AC).

  • 2300 W (AC).

One power supply is mandatory; one more can be added for 1 + 1 redundancy.

ACPI

The advanced configuration and power interface (ACPI) 4.0 standard is supported.

Front Panel

The front panel controller provides status indications and control buttons.

Cooling

Eight hot-swappable fan modules for front-to-rear cooling.

InfiniBand

The PCIe bus slots in this server support the InfiniBand architecture.

Expansion Slots

The server supports either of the following configurations:

Three half-height riser slots that support up to three add-in cards:

  • Riser 1: One x16 PCIe Gen4/Gen5 Slot, half-height.

  • Riser 2: One x16 PCIe Gen4/Gen5 Slot, half-height.

  • Riser 3: One x16 PCIe Gen4 Slot, half-height.

Or for the two full height version:

  • Riser 1: One x16 PCIe Gen5 Slot, full-height.

  • Riser 3: One x16 PCIe Gen5 Slot, full-height.