GIGABYTE Announces Rack Servers with Expanded DIMM Slots and New Internal Storage/Expansion Slot
Designed for 2nd Gen AMD EPYC™
Oct 22, 2020

Taipei, Taiwan, October 22nd 2020 – GIGABYTE Technology, (TWSE: 2376), an industry leader in high-performance servers and workstations, today announced two new rack servers, R162-ZA0 and R262-ZA0, designed for data centers and virtualization, and do so with cost savings, generational improvements, and server space maximization.

Key Features of New Rack Servers:

  • CAPEX Savings via DIMM slot expansion
  • Maximized internal server space with internal drives or an expansion slot
  • PCIe Gen 4 support for M.2 drives and all expansion slots
  • Silicon-based hardware Root of Trust for boot up security

CAPEX Savings and Improved Capacity:
GIGABYTE has expanded the number of DIMM slots from the industry standard of 8 to 16. Yet, it is still possible to maintain maximum memory bandwidth with a balanced memory configuration. However, by expanding to 2 DIMMs per channel a GIGABYTE server can be populated by less expensive DIMMs, while maintaining the capacity as a 8 DIMM configuration. A balanced 16 DIMM configuration offers higher performance per dollar, while offering the ability to scale up.

Secure Boot Process:
GIGABYTE has a new security module in the Socket-on-Chip (SoC) to ensure a secure boot process. As a system turns on, the security subsystem initializes to protect against firmware attacks by checking BMC/BIOS’s encrypted signature and SPI flash for compromised firmware. This Root of Trust (RoT) is found on the R162-ZA0 and R262-ZA0.


▲ R162-ZA0: front & rear view

Introduction to R162-ZA0:
The new rack server, GIGABYTE R162-ZA0, trades less storage bays for more DIMM slots in a 1U chassis. The server houses a single AMD EPYC 7002 series processor, up to 240W, on a motherboard with 16DIMMS that supports 8-channel 3200MHz DDR4, and up to 4TB of DDR4 memory. In order to accommodate space for the DIMMs in a 1U chassis, one PCIe expansion slot moved internally using a riser card. Doing so allows for two more PCIe expansion slots (Gen 4 x16) to be available in the rear of the chassis, and all slots are full-height half-length. As for storage in the R162-ZA0, there are 4 x 3.5”/2.5” SATA/SAS bays and 1 x M.2 (Gen 4 x4).

R162 series
Model Name R162-Z10 R162-Z11 R162-ZA0
PCIe Gen 3 and 4 Gen 4
Memory 8 DIMMs 16 DIMMs
Expansion Slots 3 2 + 1(internal)
SATA/SAS supported * 6‎ x 2.5" 4 x 2.5"/3.5"
U.2 10 x 2.5" * 4 x 2.5" -
* The 6 drive bays can be U.2, SATA or SAS

Introduction to R262-ZA0:
The GIGABYTE R262-ZA0 is the first in a new family of servers, R262 series, designed for 2nd Gen AMD EPYC processors, and storage minded. Like the R162-ZA0, this server has support for up to 240W AMD EPYC processors and 16 DIMMs of 3200MHz DDR4. The R262-ZA0 offers up to 40 SATA/SAS drive bays (enabled with a SAS card) and 2 x U.2 bays, and do so using a 48-port Broadcom® SAS/SATA expander. To support 40 bays an internal 8-bay solution was used that can pop up for easy access to the bays. As this server prioritizes storage, there is room for 2 x PCIe (full-height half-length cards) expansion slots and 1 x OCP 3.0 (Gen 4 x16) mezzanine slot.


▲ R262-ZA0: rear & rear view
R262-ZA0
CPU Single AMD EPYC 7002
PCIe Gen 4
Memory 16 DIMMs
Expansion Slots 2 (Gen 4 x16)
SATA/SAS 40 x 2.5"
U.2 2

Remote and Multiple Server Management:
As part of GIGABYTE’s value proposition, GIGABYTE provides GIGABYTE Management Console (GMC) for BMC server management via a web browser based platform. Whether for server monitoring, updating BIOS and firmware, or remote management, GMC delivers. Additionally, GIGABYTE Server Management (GSM) software is free to download and used to monitor and manage multiple servers. GMC and GSM offer great value while reducing license and customer maintenance costs.

For more about Rack servers with AMD: https://www.gigabyte.com/Rack-Server?fid=2222
For further enquiries or assistance, contact us directly through marketing@gigacomputing.com

* AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, EPYC and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names used in this publication are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.

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