Cisco HCIX-GPU-A100-80 | A100 80GB Graphics Card, PCIe 4.0, 300W Passive

Q: What is Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) and how does it work?
A: MIG technology allows the A100 to be partitioned into up to seven isolated GPU instances, each with dedicated compute resources and up to 10GB of HBM2e memory. Each instance appears as a separate GPU to the operating system, enabling multiple users or workloads to share a single physical GPU while maintaining quality-of-service and isolation. This maximizes GPU utilization in multi-tenant or containerized environments.

Q: Which Cisco server platforms support this GPU?
A: The HCIX-GPU-A100-80 is designed for Cisco UCS C-Series rack servers (such as C240 M6) and HyperFlex HX240c nodes. The GPU requires PCIe 4.0 x16 support and adequate server airflow for passive cooling. Cisco servers typically support up to three of these GPUs in specific riser slot configurations. A unique SBIOS ID is required for compatibility with CIMC and UCSM management.

Q: What are the primary use cases for this GPU?
A: The A100 80GB is optimized for large-scale AI model training, deep learning inference, data analytics, and high-performance computing applications including molecular dynamics, computational fluid dynamics, and genomics. The 80GB memory capacity enables training of the largest transformer models and processing massive datasets without memory constraints. It also excels in mixed-precision workloads using TF32, FP16, and INT8 operations.

Q: What are the power and cooling requirements?
A: This GPU has a 300W TDP and uses passive cooling, requiring adequate server chassis airflow to maintain thermal performance. The card draws power through the PCIe slot and auxiliary power connectors. Ensure your Cisco server power supply has sufficient capacity and that the system meets NVIDIA's airflow requirements for passive-cooled data center GPUs.

Q: How does the PCIe version compare to the SXM version?
A: The PCIe 4.0 version provides 1.94 TB/s memory bandwidth and 300W TDP, while the SXM version offers higher bandwidth (2.04 TB/s) and supports up to 400W TDP. The PCIe version fits standard server motherboards and is ideal for flexible server configurations, whereas SXM requires specialized HGX baseboards but enables direct GPU-to-GPU NVLink connectivity for multi-GPU scaling.