ThinkAgile MX3520 Appliances and MX 2U Certified Nodes (Intel Xeon SP Gen 2)

The Lenovo ThinkAgile MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes are 2-socket 2U systems that are designed for deploying highly available, highly scalable hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and software-defined storage (SDS) from Microsoft on Lenovo enterprise platforms that feature the 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors. The MX systems are available in two storage configurations: either Hybrid (HDDs and SSDs) or All Flash (SSDs only). The MX systems deliver fully validated and integrated Lenovo hardware and firmware that is certified for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI solutions.

The MX systems are available either as an Appliance or Certified Node:

• MX3520-H and ThinkAgile MX Certified Node with hybrid storage (HDDs + SSDs)
• MX3520-F and ThinkAgile MX Certified Node with all-flash storage (SSDs only)

MX Appliances deliver fully validated and integrated Lenovo hardware and firmware, certified and preloaded with licensed Microsoft Azure software. They also include ThinkAgile Advantage support with one single point of contact for support of the hardware and software.

MX Certified Nodes deliver fully validated Lenovo hardware and firmware, certified and can be preloaded with Microsoft Azure software. Certified Nodes do not include licenses to Microsoft Azure software and enhanced software support.

Figure 1. ThinkAgile MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes with hybrid storage

Combining performance and flexibility, the MX systems systems are a great choice for enterprises of all sizes. The systems offer a broad selection of processors, memory and drives, and offers high performance features that industries such as finance, healthcare and telco need. Outstanding reliability, availability, and serviceability (RAS) and high-efficiency design can improve your business environment and can help save operational costs.

ThinkAgile MX Series platforms offer the choice of Azure Stack HCI Appliance (Integrated System) or Azure Stack HCI Certified Node. These validated platforms help modernize on-premises infrastructure with pre-tested, pre-configured, and easy-to-order configurations, with seamless Azure integration. As a new direct and indirect Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, Lenovo offers cloud services and subscriptions through the Lenovo Cloud Marketplace, which enable HCI use cases with the ThinkAgile MX platforms.

• The appliances include the Azure Stack HCI operating system, which is delivered as an Azure subscription service via the Microsoft CSP program. It also includes ThinkAgile Advantage support with one single point of contact for support of the hardware and warm-case transfer for software. Deployment and Update features in Windows Admin Center and tight integration with Lenovo XClarity make cluster management, hardware and software update management & enforcing site-wide policies easy for administrators. Azure hybrid by design, native integration with Azure services makes it easy for customers to adopt a hybrid cloud strategy for their workloads and use cases.
• The certified nodes deliver fully validated and integrated Lenovo hardware and firmware that is certified for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI solutions. These HCI Certified Nodes have the option of Windows Server 2019 Datacenter Edition for HCI functionality, and guest licenses are included.

Appliance features

Certified Node features

The ThinkAgile MX Certified Nodes offer the following key features:

• Quick and convenient path to implement a hyperconverged solution powered by Windows Server 2019 Datacenter with Hyper-V virtualization, Microsoft Storage Spaces Direct (S2D), Software Defined Storage (SDS), and Software Defined Networking (SDN) network virtualization.
• Streamlined management of Azure Stack HCI with unified single-pane-of-glass for creating and managing VMs, S2D volumes, and virtual networks through Windows Admin Center.
• Consistent, low latency performance with hypervisor-embedded architecture, built-in read and write cache, and support for NVMe PCIe drives.
• Provides per-VM storage performance management with policy-driven Quality of Service (QoS) and continuous built-in monitoring and alerting with cluster-wide performance and capacity metrics.
• Can sustain drive, server, or component failures with built-in resiliency for continuous availability.
• GPU support to enable AI training, inferencing and data visualization scenarios, HPC workloads, virtual desktops and graphics intensive applications.
• Built on proven and reliable Lenovo ThinkSystem servers that provide compute power and space efficiency for a variety of edge workloads and applications.
• Provides comprehensive hardware management with advanced systems management capabilities.
• Delivers fully validated and integrated hardware and firmware that is certified for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI solutions.
• Ready for out-of-box deployment with the optional Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, or Azure Stack HCI OS preload.
• Provide flexibility in using the existing Microsoft Windows Server 2019 enterprise license agreements or purchasing new software licenses from Microsoft or Lenovo.
• Optional Lenovo deployment services to get customers up and running quickly.

Hardware features

The MX systems are based on the SR650 and have the following hardware features:

• Helps maximize system performance for data intensive applications with up to 2933 MHz memory speeds and up to 3 TB of memory capacity with 3DS RDIMMs.
• Offers flexible and scalable internal storage in a 2U rack form factor with up to 24x 2.5-inch and 2x 3.5-inch drives for performance-optimized configurations or up to 14x 3.5-inch drives for capacity-optimized configurations
• Provides flexibility to use SAS, SATA, or NVMe drives in the same drive bays with an AnyBay design.
• Provides I/O scalability with a LOM slot, PCIe 3.0 slot for an internal storage controller, and up to six PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 I/O expansion slots in a 2U rack form factor.

Availability and serviceability

The MX systems provide many features to simplify serviceability and increase system uptime:

• Offers protection in the event of a non-correctable memory failure with Single Device Data Correction (SDDC, also known as Chipkill, requires x4-based DIMMs), Adaptive Double Device Data Correction (ADDDC, also known as Redundant Bit Steering [RBS], requires x4-based DIMMs and Intel Xeon Gold or Platinum processors), memory mirroring, and memory rank sparing.
• Provides easy access to upgrades and serviceable parts (such as processors, memory DIMMs, and adapter cards) with tool-less cover removal.
• Offers data protection and greater system uptime with hot-swap drives supporting basic or advanced RAID redundancy.
• Provides availability for business-critical applications with redundant hot-swap power supplies and redundant hot-swap system fans.
• Simplifies servicing, speeds up problem resolution, and helps improve system availability with light path diagnostics.
• Allows preventive actions in advance of possible failure, thereby increasing server uptime and application availability with Proactive Platform Alerts (including PFA and SMART alerts) for processors, voltage regulators, memory, internal storage (SAS/SATA HDDs and SSDs, NVMe SSDs, M.2 storage, flash storage adapters), fans, power supplies, and server ambient and sub-component temperatures.
• Continuously monitors system parameters, triggers alerts, and performs recovery actions in case of failure to minimize downtime with Built-in XClarity Controller (XCC).
• Provides quick access to system status, firmware, network, health, and alerts information via Virtual Operator Panel from the XClarity Mobile App running on the Android or iOS mobile device that is connected to the front USB port with XClarity Controller access.
• Speeds up troubleshooting tasks to reduce service time with diagnostics built into the XClarity Provisioning Manager.

• Improves Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) system setup, configuration, updates, simplified error handling, and operating system deployment with the embedded XClarity Provisioning Manager.
• Offers XClarity Essentials software tools that can help you set up, use, and maintain the server.
• Increases uptime, reduces costs, and improves productivity through advanced server management capabilities with Lenovo XClarity Administrator that provides comprehensive hardware management.
• Provides on-the-go monitoring and management of devices in XClarity Administrator from anywhere with the Lenovo XClarity mobile app, which can help improve efficiency and reduce downtime risks.
• Centralizes infrastructure resource management with Lenovo XClarity Integrators for VMware vCenter and Microsoft System Center, extending XClarity Administrator features to virtualization management software tools and enabling users to deploy and manage infrastructure end-to-end.
• Offers advanced cryptographic functionality (such as digital signatures and remote attestation) with an integrated Trusted Platform Module (TPM)
• Provides faster, stronger encryption with industry-standard AES NI support.
• Helps prevent certain classes of malicious buffer overflow attacks with Intel Execute Disable Bit functionality, when combined with a supporting operating system.
• Enhances security through hardware-based resistance to malicious software attacks with Intel Trusted Execution Technology, allowing an application to run in its own isolated space, protected from all other software running on a system.

The following table lists the system specifications of the MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes.

Factory-integrated models of the MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes are configured by using the Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC):
http://dcsc.lenovo.com

During the configuration process, you are selecting the base Configure-to-Order (CTO) model first, and then you are selecting components (processors, memory, drives, network adapters, and software) for that model.

Models of the MX systems are defined based on whether the systems have 16x 2.5-inch, 24x 2.5-inch or 12x 3.5-inch drive bays at the front. For models, the feature codes for these chassis bases are as listed in the following table.

The MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes ship with two processors. The following table lists the processor options that are available for selection.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#processors

The MX systems systems support the following memory options.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#processors

The MX systems systems support the following Persistent Memory options.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#persistent-memory

For more information about Persistent memory, see the Intel Optane Persistent Memory 100 Series product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1066-intel-optane-persistent-memory-100-series

Configuration rules:

• Persistent memory is only supported in Memory mode
• Only certain combinations of DIMMs and PMem is supported - see the Intel Optane Persistent Memory 100 Series product guide:
  https://lenovopress.com/lp1066-intel-optane-persistent-memory-100-series

Internal storage configurations of the MX systems are as follows.

In this section:

• Hybrid storage systems
• All Flash storage systems
• Backplanes
• Boot drive enablement

Hybrid storage systems

The MX systems for Hybrid Storage support the following drive bay configurations:

• 14 hot-swap drive bays:
  • 12x 3.5" SAS/SATA (front) + 2x 3.5" SAS/SATA (rear)
  • 8x 3.5" SAS/SATA & 4x 3.5" AnyBay (front) + 2x 3.5" SAS/SATA (rear)

The following table lists supported internal storage configurations.

^ The numbers in brackets (x or x+y or x+y+z) specify the quantity of drive bays connected to each of the controllers.
* Supported only in the configurations with processors of 200 W or 205 W TDP, or Gold 6244 processors.
** Not supported in the configurations with processors of 200 W or 205 W TDP, or Gold 6244 processors.

The choice of backplanes supported varies by system, as listed in the following table.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#internal-storage

Boot drive enablement

For OS boot functions, the systems also support one or two M.2 drives installed on an adapter internal to the server. The following table lists the supported controllers/enablement kits for M.2 boot drives.

The M.2 with Mirroring Enablement Kit (AUMV) is connected to the Intel PCH via the PCIe link, and the kit supports two M.2 SATA SSDs configured in a RAID-1 drive group for a boot volume.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#internal-storage

The MX systems support the following internal storage controllers.

Systems with All Flash storage:

• 24 SFF hot-swap drive bays:
  • Configurations with capacity drives:
    • 3x 430-8i or 440-8i HBAs (12 Gbps SAS/6 Gbps SATA non-RAID).
    • 1x Onboard NVMe (non-RAID).
  • Configurations with NVMe PCIe SSDs (no capacity drives):
    • 3x 430-8i or 440-8i HBAs (12 Gbps SAS/6 Gbps SATA non-RAID).
    • 1x Onboard NVMe (non-RAID).
    • 2x 1610-4P NVMe Switch Adapters (non-RAID).
• 16 SFF hot-swap drive bays:
  • Configurations with capacity drives:
    • 1x 430-16i or 440-16i HBAs (12 Gbps SAS/6 Gbps SATA non-RAID).
    • 1x Onboard NVMe (non-RAID).
  • Configurations with NVMe PCIe SSDs (no capacity drives):
    • 2x 430-8i or 440-16i HBAs (12 Gbps SAS/6 Gbps SATA non-RAID).
    • 1x Onboard NVMe (non-RAID).
    • 1x 1610-4P NVMe Switch Adapter (non-RAID).

Systems with Hybrid storage:

• 14 LFF hot-swap drive bays:
  • 1x 430-16i or 440-16i HBA (12 Gbps SAS/6 Gbps SATA non-RAID)
  • 1x Onboard NVMe (non-RAID)

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#controllers-for-internal-storage

This section lists the supported drives:

• Boot drives
• Internal drives for MX3520-H
• Internal drives for MX Hybrid
• Internal drives for MX3520-F
• Internal drives for MX All Flash

This section lists the supported drives for internal storage.

Configurations with All Flash storage:

• In the configurations with capacity drives, from 4 to 24 capacity SSDs are required for selection, depending on the quantity of the NVMe PCIe cache drives:
  • No cache SSDs: From 4 to 24 capacity SSDs.
  • From 1 to 4 cache SSDs: From 4 to 20 capacity SSDs.
• In the configurations without capacity drives, from 4 to 12 PCIe NVMe SSDs are required for selection.
• All cache SSDs in the certified node must be of the same model and capacity. All capacity SSDs in the certified node must be of the same model and capacity.

Configurations with Hybrid storage:

• A minimum of four and a maximum of ten capacity HDDs must be selected. All HDDs must be of the same type and capacity.
• A minimum of two and a maximum of four cache SSDs must be selected. All SSDs must be of the same model and capacity.

Boot drives

The MX systems systems support the following drive for boot functions.

Internal drives for MX3520-H

The following table lists the drives support in the MX3520-H. The drives are classified as either Cache drives, Capacity drives, or both. The quantities listed in the table are the maximum supported for each drive option. For cache drives, a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 drives is required.

Internal drives for MX Hybrid

The following table lists the drives support in the MX Hybrid. The drives are classified as either Cache drives, Capacity drives, or both. The quantities listed in the table are the maximum supported for each drive option. For cache drives, a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 drives is required.

Internal drives for MX3520-F

The following table lists the drives support in the MX3520-F. The drives are classified as either Cache drives, Capacity drives, or both. The quantities listed in the table are the maximum supported for each drive option. For cache drives, a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 drives is required. 

Internal drives for MX All Flash

The following table lists the drives support in the MX All Flash. The drives are classified as either Cache drives, Capacity drives, or both. The quantities listed in the table are the maximum supported for each drive option. For cache drives, a minimum of 2 and maximum of 4 drives is required.

The MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes provide up to four (Hybrid systems) or seven (All Flash) PCIe slots:

• 3x PCIe 3.0 slots on the Riser Card 1 (only available in All Flash systems)
• 1x PCIe 3.0 slot on the system planar
• 2x PCIe 3.0 slots on the Riser Card 2
• 1x internal PCIe 3.0 slot on the system planar that is dedicated to an internal storage controller
• 1x LOM slot for networking

On systems with Hybrid storage, Riser Card 1 is replaced with two 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bays. The locations of the PCIe slots are shown in the Components and connectors.

The following table lists the PCIe Riser Card options.

The MX systems systems support the following networking options.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR650 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#i-o-expansion
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#network-adapters

Configuration notes:

• A minimum of one and a maximum of two PCIe network adapters can be selected. If two PCIe network adapters are used, they must be of the same model.
• The selection of a LOM card is optional (a LOM card is not supported for RDMA storage traffic and can be used only for the external network connectivity to the cluster).
• A two-node cluster supports direct node-to-node (no external switch is needed) or switched (an external switch is needed) network connectivity with the network ports on the PCIe network adapters. For three or more nodes, an external switch is required.

The MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes support graphics processing units (GPUs) listed in the following table.

Refer to the ThinkSystem SR650 product guide for the configuration rules for GPU adapters:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1050-thinksystem-sr650-server#gpu-adapters

The MX Integrated Systems include the preloaded Azure Stack HCI operating system only and requires activation via a CSP such as Lenovo Cloud Marketplace, with the option to purchase a Windows Server 2019 Datacenter or Windows Server 2022 Datacenter license if unlimited guest OS VMs are desired.

The MX Certified Nodes can optionally have Windows Server 2019 Datacenter, Windows Server 2022 Datacenter, or Azure Stack HCI OS preinstalled. Customers can use existing Windows Server Datacenter software licenses, or they can purchase new software licenses from Lenovo or Microsoft. If the licenses are purchased from Lenovo, Windows Server can be factory-installed or shipped in the box with the Certified Node for the installation at the customer site.

The following table lists the Windows Server Datacenter software options that are available for selection from Lenovo for Certified Nodes.

Configuration notes:

• The selection of Windows Server software licenses is optional.
• The quantity of core-based licenses should be sufficient to cover all processor cores in the system.
• Current supported version of Azure Stack HCI OS is 23H2

The ThinkAgile MX Appliances can be configured with a three-, four, or five-year hardware warranty with 24x7 ThinkAgile Advantage Single Point of Support (Lenovo appliance hardware and Microsoft software) and various levels of coverage with a defined scope of services, including service hours, response time, term of service, and service agreement terms and conditions. For more information refer to the Lenovo Support Plan - MX Appliance support plan, available from https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT511522.

The ThinkAgile MX Certified Nodes can be configured with a three-, four-, or five-year hardware warranty and various levels of service coverage with a defined scope of services, including service hours, response time, term of service, and service agreement terms and conditions.

The MX3520 Appliances and MX Certified Nodes have a 3-year base warranty:

• 7D5R - 2U Appliance - 3 year warranty
• 7Z20 - 2U Certified Node - 3 year warranty

For more information, consult the brochure Lenovo Operational Support Services for Data Centers Services.

The MX systems can optionally include Lenovo deployment services to get customers up and running quickly.

For more information, refer to the Data Center Implementation Services web page:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/services/implementation-services/

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For more information, see these resources:

• Lenovo ThinkAgile MX Series product page
  https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/software-defined-infrastructure/ThinkAgile-MX-Certified-Node/p/WMD00000377
• Microsoft Azure Stack HCI documentation
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure-stack/hci/overview
• Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC):
  https://dcsc.lenovo.com
• Lenovo ThinkAgile MX for Microsoft Azure Stack HCI Best Recipes
  https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht507406