Lenovo ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated System and Certified Node (AMD 9004)

The Lenovo ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes are 2-socket 1U systems that feature the AMD EPYC 9004 "Genoa" family of processors and are designed for deploying industry-leading hyperconvergence software from Nutanix on Lenovo enterprise platforms. Nutanix brings the benefits of web-scale technologies to enterprise applications through enterprise storage, data protection, infrastructure resilience, management and analytics, and security. With up to 96 cores per processor and support for the new PCIe 5.0 standard for I/O, the HX645 V3 offer the ultimate in two-socket performance in a 1U form factor.

The 1U systems are available either as an Integrated System (HX645 V3 IS) or Certified Node (HX645 V3 CN):

• The ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated System delivers fully validated and certified Lenovo hardware and firmware preloaded with licensed Nutanix software. It also includes ThinkAgile Advantage support with one single point of contact for support of the hardware and software.
• The ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Certified Node delivers fully validated and certified Lenovo hardware and firmware and can be preloaded with Nutanix software. Certified Nodes do not include licenses to Nutanix software and enhanced software support.

Common uses for these HX Series system include compute-heavy workloads such as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), server virtualization, private/hybrid clouds, enterprise applications, light databases, and remote office and branch office workloads.

Figure 1. ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes

The ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes are built on the Lenovo ThinkSystem SR645 v3 server that features enterprise-class reliability, management, and security.

The HX645 V3 Integrated Systems offer ThinkAgile Advantage Single Point of Support for quick 24/7 problem reporting and resolution.

The systems have been designed to take advantage of the features of the AMD EPYC 9004 Series "Genoa" family of processors, such as the full performance of 96-core processors, support for 4800 MHz memory and PCIe Gen 5.0 support.

The systems are available as an Integrated System or a Certified Node delivering greater virtualized workload consolidation with higher core count, GPU support and easy-to-use lifecycle management console.

Combining performance and flexibility, the ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes 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.

HX645 V3 Integrated System

The HX645 Integrated System offers the following key features:

• Factory-integrated, pre-configured ready-to-go appliances built on proven and reliable Lenovo ThinkSystem servers that provide compute power for a variety of workloads and applications and powered by industry’s most feature-rich hyperconverged infrastructure software from Nutanix.
• Provide quick and convenient path to implement a hyperconverged solution powered by Nutanix with "one stop shop" and a single point of contact provided by Lenovo for purchasing, deploying, and supporting the solution.
• Meet various workload demands with performance-optimized all-flash storage configurations.
• Deliver fully validated and integrated hardware and firmware that is certified with Nutanix software.
• Include Lenovo ThinkAgile Advantage Single Point of Support for quick 24/7 problem reporting and resolution.
• Offer Lenovo deployment services to get customers up and running quickly.

HX645 V3 Certified Node

The HX645 V3 Certified Node offers the following key features:

• Built on proven and reliable Lenovo ThinkSystem servers that provide compute power for a variety of workloads and applications.
• Deliver fully validated and integrated hardware and firmware that is certified with Nutanix software.
• Preloaded with Nutanix software and ready for out-of-box deployment (Note: software licenses are not included).
• Provide flexibility in using the existing Nutanix term-based software licenses and active support contracts or purchasing new software licenses and support contracts from Nutanix.
• Offer optional Lenovo Professional Services to get customers up and running quickly

The Nutanix software running on the HX645 V3 delivers the following key features:

• A natively integrated solution for data protection and continuous availability at VM granularity that gives administrators an affordable range of options to meet the recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO) for different applications.
• A fault resistant platform, with no single point of failure and no bottlenecks with shared-nothing architecture, where all data, metadata and services are distributed to all nodes within the cluster, that is built to detect, isolate and recover from failures anywhere in the system.
• An intuitive user-centric management experience to simplify every aspect of the IT infrastructure lifecycle and provide a single pane of glass to monitor and control Nutanix clusters, with simplified workflows and rich automation for common administrative tasks.
• Powerful security features, such as two-factor authentication and data-at-rest encryption, with a security development lifecycle that is integrated into product development to help customers meet the most stringent security requirements.

Hardware features

The ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes systems are based on the ThinkSystem SR645 V3 and have the following hardware features:

Scalability and performance

The appliance and certified node offer numerous features to boost performance, improve scalability and reduce costs:

• Supports one or two fourth-generation AMD EPYC 9004 processors
  • Up to 96 cores and 192 threads
  • Core speed of up to 3.6 GHz
  • TDP rating of up to 360 W
• Support for DDR5 memory DIMMs to maximize the performance of the memory subsystem:
  • Up to 24 DDR5 memory DIMMs, 12 DIMMs per processor
  • 12 memory channels per processor (1 DIMM per channel)
  • DIMM speeds up to 4800 MHz
  • Using 256GB 3DS RDIMMs, the server supports up to 6TB of system memory
• Support up to 12x 2.5-inch hot-swap drive bays, by using combinations of front-accessible (up to 10 bays) and rear-accessible (2 bays).
• Supports 4x NVMe drives without the need for additional NVMe adapters and without oversubscription of PCIe lanes (1:1 connectivity). The use of NVMe drives maximizes drive I/O performance, in terms of throughput, bandwidth, and latency
• Supports M.2 drives for convenient operating system boot functions or data storage. Available M.2 adapters support two M.2 drives with a RAID adapter installed in a slot.
• The systems have a dedicated industry standard OCP 3.0 small form factor (SFF) slot, with a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, supporting a variety of Ethernet network adapters. Simple-swap mechanism with thumbscrews and pull-tab enables tool-less installation and removal of the adapter. Supports shared BMC network sideband connectivity to enable out-of-band systems management.
• The server offers PCI Express 5.0 (PCIe Gen 5) I/O expansion capabilities that doubles the theoretical maximum bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 (32GT/s in each direction for PCIe 5.0, compared to 16 GT/s with PCIe 4.0). A PCIe 5.0 x16 slot provides 128 GB/s bandwidth, enough to support a 400GbE network connection.
• Up to three PCIe 5.0 slots, all with rear access, plus an internal bay for a cabled RAID adapter or HBA, plus a slot dedicated to the OCP adapter.

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

• The HX645 V3 uses ECC memory and supports memory RAS features including Single Device Data Correction (SDDC, also known as Chipkill), Patrol/Demand Scrubbing, Bounded Fault, DRAM Address Command Parity with Replay, DRAM Uncorrected ECC Error Retry, On-die ECC, ECC Error Check and Scrub (ECS), and Post Package Repair.
• M.2 configuration with RAID support which can enable two SATA M.2 drives to be configured as a redundant pair
• The systems have two hot-swap redundant power supplies and up to eight hot-swap redundant fans to provide availability for business-critical applications.
• The power-source-independent light path diagnostics uses LEDs to lead the technician to failed (or failing) components, which simplifies servicing, speeds up problem resolution, and helps improve system availability.
• Solid-state drives (SSDs) offer more reliability than traditional mechanical HDDs for greater uptime.
• Proactive Platform Alerts (including PFA and SMART alerts): Processors, voltage regulators, memory, internal storage (SAS/SATA HDDs and SSDs, NVMe SSDs, M.2 storage, flash storage adapters), fans, power supplies, server ambient and subcomponent temperatures. Alerts can be surfaced through the XClarity Controller to managers such as Lenovo XClarity Administrator, VMware vCenter, and Nutanix Prism. These proactive alerts let you take appropriate actions in advance of possible failure, thereby increasing server uptime and application availability.
• The built-in XClarity Controller 2 continuously monitors system parameters, triggers alerts, and performs recovery actions in case of failures to minimize downtime.
• Offer a diagnostics port on the front of the server to allow you to attach an external diagnostics handset for enhanced systems management capabilities.

Manageability and security

Systems management features simplify local and remote management:

• The server includes an XClarity Controller 2 (XCC2) to monitor server availability. Included upgrade to XCC Platinum to provide remote control (keyboard video mouse) functions, support for the mounting of remote media files, FIPS 140-3 security, enhanced NIST 800-193 support, boot capture, power capping, and other management and security features.
• Lenovo XClarity Administrator offers comprehensive hardware management tools that help to increase uptime, reduce costs and improve productivity through advanced server management capabilities.
• Support for Lenovo XClarity Energy Manager which captures real-time power and temperature data from the server and provides automated controls to lower energy costs.
• An integrated industry-standard Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) enables improved setup, configuration, and updates, and simplifies error handling.
• Administrator and power-on passwords help protect from unauthorized access to the server.
• Support AMD Secure Root-of-Trust, Secure Run and Secure Move features to minimize potential attacks and protect data as the OS is booted, as applications are run and as applications are migrated from server to server.
• Industry-standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) NI support for faster, stronger encryption.
• Additional physical security features are a chassis intrusion switch (standard in all models) and a lockable front bezel (optional).

The ThinkAgile HX645 V3 Integrated Systems and Certified Nodes are based on the ThinkSystem SR645 V3 server.

The following table provides an overview comparison between the HX systems.

The following table lists the standard specifications.

Factory-integrated models of the appliances and certified nodes are configured by using the Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC), http://dcsc.lenovo.com

During the configuration process, you are selecting one of the base Configure-to-Order (CTO) models first, and then you are adding components (processors, memory, drives, and network adapters) to the selected model according to the output from the Nutanix Sizer tool, http://services.nutanix.com/

Note: You are required to engage a Lenovo representative in the project that includes the ThinkAgile HX Series appliances. ThinkAgile HX certified nodes do not have this requirement.

The following table lists the base CTO models.

The HX645 V3 support the following processors.

For details about these options, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#processors

The HX645 V3 support the following memory options.

For details about these options, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#memory-options

The HX645 V3 support up to 12x 2.5-inch drive bays.

All drives are hot-swap and are accessible from the front or from the rear. AnyBay drive bays support SAS, SATA or NVMe drives.

SATA and SAS SSDs are supported for cache, however NVMe drives are not supported for cache.

The systems also support two M.2 drives, installed in an M.2 adapter, as an OS boot drive alternative.

Backplanes

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

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.lenovo.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#internal-storage

Boot drive enablement

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

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#internal-storage

The HX645 V3 support the following internal storage controllers.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#internal-storage

The following table lists the supported drive options for the HX645 V3.

Note: NVMe serviceability has improvements planned for AOS 6.8. Before AOS 6.8 some features, like hot-swap, are not enabled. To replace a NVMe drive, please follow Nutanix’s documentation for drive replacement without VMD on the portal –https://portal.nutanix.com.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#network-adapters

The HX645 V3 support the following GPU options.

For details about these options, including configuration rules, see the SR645 V3 product guide:
https://lenovopress.com/lp1607-thinksystem-sr645-v3-server#gpu-adapters

The systems support the hypervisors listed in the following table. Hypervisors are installed on the 2x M.2 SSDs configured in a RAID-1 drive group.

Configuration notes:

• In ESXi-based environments, HX Series Integrated Appliances require VMware vCenter Server.
• The HX systems support firmware updates from Nutanix  with the ThinkAgile HX Lifecycle Manager (UEFI, XCC, drives, network adapters, and SAS HBAs)

For the information on appliance firmware levels, hypervisor versions, and software versions that have been tested for interoperability, refer to the Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series Best Recipes:
http://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht505413

The ThinkAgile HX Series Integrates Systems can be configured with a three-, four, or five-year hardware warranty with 24x7 ThinkAgile Advantage Single Point of Support (Lenovo Integrated Systems hardware and Nutanix software) and various levels of coverage with a well-defined scope of services, including service hours, response time, term of service, and service agreement terms and conditions.

The Lenovo local support centers perform problem determination and resolution for hardware-related issues and escalate to Nutanix, on behalf of the customer, for software-related problem determination. Nutanix will contact the customer and will own the software-related problem resolution until closure.

For more information refer to the Lenovo Support Plan - ThinkAgile HX Integrated Systems and Lenovo Converged HX Series
https://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht505404

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

The base warranty provides 9x5 Next Business Day response with parts delivered. Lenovo’s additional support services provide a sophisticated, unified support structure for a customer's data center, with an experience consistently ranked number one in customer satisfaction worldwide.

For more information refer to the Lenovo Support Plan - ThinkAgile HX Certified Nodes
https://support.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/HT510301

Hardware warranty

The systems have a 3-year warranty:

• 7D9M - 3 year warranty

The standard warranty terms are customer-replaceable unit (CRU) and onsite (for field-replaceable units FRUs only) with standard call center support during normal business hours and 9x5 Next Business Day Parts Delivered.

Lenovo’s additional support services provide a sophisticated, unified support structure for your data center, with an experience consistently ranked number one in customer satisfaction worldwide. Available offerings include:

• Premier Support

  Premier Support provides a Lenovo-owned customer experience and delivers direct access to technicians skilled in hardware, software, and advanced troubleshooting, in addition to the following:

  • Direct technician-to-technician access through a dedicated phone line
  • 24x7x365 remote support
  • Single point of contact service
  • End to end case management
  • Third-party collaborative software support
  • Online case tools and live chat support
  • On-demand remote system analysis
• Warranty Upgrade (Preconfigured Support)

  Services are available to meet the on-site response time targets that match the criticality of your systems.

  • 3, 4, or 5 years of service coverage
  • 1-year or 2-year post-warranty extensions
  • Foundation Service: 9x5 service coverage with next business day onsite response. YourDrive YourData is an optional extra (see below).
  • Essential Service: 24x7 service coverage with 4-hour onsite response or 24-hour committed repair (available only in select markets). Bundled with YourDrive YourData.
  • Advanced Service: 24x7 service coverage with 2-hour onsite response or 6-hour committed repair (available only in select markets). Bundled with YourDrive YourData.
• Managed Services

  Lenovo Managed Services provides continuous 24x7 remote monitoring (plus 24x7 call center availability) and proactive management of your data center using state-of-the-art tools, systems, and practices by a team of highly skilled and experienced Lenovo services professionals.

  Quarterly reviews check error logs, verify firmware & OS device driver levels, and software as needed. We’ll also maintain records of latest patches, critical updates, and firmware levels, to ensure you systems are providing business value through optimized performance.

• Technical Account Management (TAM)

  A Lenovo Technical Account Manager helps you optimize the operation of your data center based on a deep understanding of your business. You gain direct access to your Lenovo TAM, who serves as your single point of contact to expedite service requests, provide status updates, and furnish reports to track incidents over time. In addition, your TAM will help proactively make service recommendations and manage your service relationship with Lenovo to make certain your needs are met.

• Enterprise Server Software Support

  Enterprise Software Support is an additional support service providing customers with software support on Microsoft, Red Hat, SUSE, and VMware applications and systems. Around the clock availability for critical problems plus unlimited calls and incidents helps customers address challenges fast, without incremental costs. Support staff can answer troubleshooting and diagnostic questions, address product comparability and interoperability issues, isolate causes of problems, report defects to software vendors, and more.

• YourDrive YourData

  Lenovo’s YourDrive YourData is a multi-drive retention offering that ensures your data is always under your control, regardless of the number of drives that are installed in your Lenovo server. In the unlikely event of a drive failure, you retain possession of your drive while Lenovo replaces the failed drive part. Your data stays safely on your premises, in your hands. The YourDrive YourData service can be purchased in convenient bundles and is optional with Foundation Service. It is bundled with Essential Service and Advanced Service.

• Health Check

  Having a trusted partner who can perform regular and detailed health checks is central to maintaining efficiency and ensuring that your systems and business are always running at their best. Health Check supports Lenovo-branded server, storage, and networking devices, as well as select Lenovo-supported products from other vendors that are sold by Lenovo or a Lenovo-Authorized Reseller.

Examples of region-specific warranty terms are second or longer business day parts delivery or parts-only base warranty.

If warranty terms and conditions include onsite labor for repair or replacement of parts, Lenovo will dispatch a service technician to the customer site to perform the replacement. Onsite labor under base warranty is limited to labor for replacement of parts that have been determined to be field-replaceable units (FRUs). Parts that are determined to be customer-replaceable units (CRUs) do not include onsite labor under base warranty.

If warranty terms include parts-only base warranty, Lenovo is responsible for delivering only replacement parts that are under base warranty (including FRUs) that will be sent to a requested location for self-service. Parts-only service does not include a service technician being dispatched onsite. Parts must be changed at customer’s own cost and labor and defective parts must be returned following the instructions supplied with the spare parts.

The following optional Lenovo Professional Services are available to get customers up and running quickly.

• Basic Hardware Installation Services
  • Unpacking and inspecting the systems
  • Installing options and mounting the systems in a rack cabinet
  • Connecting the systems to electrical power and network
  • Checking and updating firmware to the latest levels
  • Verifying operations
  • Disposal of the packaging materials (within the customer site)
• Nutanix deployment services - Base (per node)
  • Conducting remote preparation and planning
  • Verifying firmware versions and performing firmware updates, if needed
  • Installing and configuring hypervisor and Nutanix controller VM
  • Creating Nutanix cluster
  • Configuring storage
  • Configuring administrative features
• Nutanix deployment services - Advanced (per cluster)
  • Configuring and integrating a virtualized environment
    • Nutanix containers and Acropolis (AHV) cluster
    • VMware vCenter Server and vSphere cluster (for VMware installations)
  • Transferring knowledge
• Nutanix deployment services - Advanced with XClarity (per cluster)
  • Nutanix deployment services - Advanced
  • Installing Lenovo XClarity
  • Configuring Lenovo XClarity network settings and performing discovery and inventory
  • Installing system updates

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

Lenovo Financial Services reinforces Lenovo’s commitment to deliver pioneering products and services that are recognized for their quality, excellence, and trustworthiness. Lenovo Financial Services offers financing solutions and services that complement your technology solution anywhere in the world.

We are dedicated to delivering a positive finance experience for customers like you who want to maximize your purchase power by obtaining the technology you need today, protect against technology obsolescence, and preserve your capital for other uses.

We work with businesses, non-profit organizations, governments and educational institutions to finance their entire technology solution. We focus on making it easy to do business with us. Our highly experienced team of finance professionals operates in a work culture that emphasizes the importance of providing outstanding customer service. Our systems, processes and flexible policies support our goal of providing customers with a positive experience.

We finance your entire solution. Unlike others, we allow you to bundle everything you need from hardware and software to service contracts, installation costs, training fees, and sales tax. If you decide weeks or months later to add to your solution, we can consolidate everything into a single invoice.

Our Premier Client services provide large accounts with special handling services to ensure these complex transactions are serviced properly. As a premier client, you have a dedicated finance specialist who manages your account through its life, from first invoice through asset return or purchase. This specialist develops an in-depth understanding of your invoice and payment requirements. For you, this dedication provides a high-quality, easy, and positive financing experience.

For your region-specific offers, please ask your Lenovo sales representative or your technology provider about the use of Lenovo Financial Services. For more information, see the following Lenovo website:

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/landingpage/lenovo-financial-services/

For more information, see these resources:

• Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series
  https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/data-center/software-defined-infrastructure/ThinkAgile-HX-Series/p/WMD00000326
• ThinkAgile HX Series Comparison reference
  https://lenovopress.com/lp1336-thinkagile-hx-series-comparison

• Interactive 3D Tour of ThinkAgile HX Series offerings:
  https://lenovopress.com/lp0454-lenovo-thinkagile-hx-series-interactive-3d-tour

• Lenovo Data Center Solution Configurator (DCSC):
  http://dcsc.lenovo.com
• Lenovo ThinkAgile product publications (user manuals):
  https://thinkagile.lenovofiles.com/help/index.jsp
• Nutanix documentation
  http://portal.nutanix.com/#/page/docs
• Lenovo ThinkAgile HX Series Best Recipes
  http://datacentersupport.lenovo.com/us/en/solutions/ht505413
• Lenovo Data Center Support
  http://datacentersupport.lenovo.com