Graviton, a Russia-based server supplier, has unveiled its first AI and high-performance computing (HPC) server, the Graviton S2124B. This new machine is powered by Russia’s domestic processors, marking a significant step towards reducing the country's reliance on foreign technology. The server can support up to eight compute GPUs designed to handle artificial intelligence (AI) and supercomputer workloads, though the exact GPU models it uses are not specified. This is likely due to the legal complexities surrounding foreign sanctions on certain components.

The Graviton S2124B is equipped with two undisclosed 48-core CPUs running at 2 GHz, paired with DDR4-3200 memory. Based on early specifications, these processors seem to be the Baikal Electronics BE-S1000 server-grade chip, which packs 48 Arm Cortex-A75 cores. This particular version of the chip appears to be clocked lower than expected, possibly due to changes in its manufacturing process. While these chips have the potential to deliver significant performance, it remains unclear how well they will integrate with AI workloads.

Despite the innovation in processor development, the S2124B's GPU requirements present a challenge. The server can utilize Nvidia’s H100 PCIe GPUs, which are powerful accelerators designed for AI and HPC applications. These GPUs can provide up to 60 FP64 TFLOPS of compute power for supercomputing and 3340 FP8/INT8 TFLOPS/TOPS for AI tasks. However, Graviton does not recommend any specific GPUs due to sanctions, which makes it uncertain whether the machine will perform at its peak without Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem support.

The S2124B server can accommodate 12 SATA drives or 12 NVMe U.3 SSDs, offering substantial storage capacity for AI and supercomputer applications. While the server is already available for order, its pricing remains undisclosed, and it is unclear whether Graviton can supply the required Nvidia H100 GPUs to customers.

Alexander Filchenkov, the head of server and network systems at Graviton, emphasized that this server represents a significant step in advancing domestic computing technologies. Graviton aims to meet the demand for high-performance computing solutions using Russian processors, offering a potential solution for complex data processing challenges.

TECHCRUNCH