P-core CPUs provide up to 86 cores and 172 threads, while E-core CPUs provide up to 144 cores and 144 threads. Both configurations support CPUs with up to 350W TDP using air cooling. The Supermicro SuperServer 542B-E1CR36L supports versatile storage configurations, with up to 38x drive bays through two deployment options with a Broadcom SAS3816 controller and a SAS host bus adapter (HBA). The front panel includes 24x hot-swap 3.5" SAS/SATA bays, while the rear holds 12x hot-swap 3.5" SAS/SATA bays and 2x hot-swap 2.5" SAS/SATA bays. Alternatively, the system can be configured with up to 10x NVMe ports including 8x front-facing hot-swap 3.5" PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe bays and 2x rear-facing hot-swap 2.5" PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe bays, though additional cables and/or controllers may be required for full NVMe compatibility. The system also supports 2x M.2 PCIe 5.0 x2 NVMe slots.
Up to 2TB of DDR5 ECC RDIMM memory can be installed on the X14 motherboard, utilizing all 8x DIMM slots outfitted with 256GB memory modules. Its 8-channel memory architecture delivers speeds up to 6400MT/s. For expansion, the rear of the chassis offers 6x PCIe slots, including 3x PCIe 5.0 x8 and 3x PCIe 5.0 x16 slots. Note that slots 1 and 2 are occupied by the default controller and JBOD module. Power is provided by dual 1600W redundant (1+1) Titanium Level (96%) power supplies.
For management, administrators can utilize Supermicro’s suite of software tools, including SuperCloud Composer, SuperServer Automation Assistant (SAA), Thin-Agent Service (TAS), Super Diagnostics Offline (SDO), and Supermicro Server Manager (SSM). With Super Diagnostics Offline, administrators can assess key components such as the CPU, RAM, BMC, HDD, USB, power supply, backplane, PCIe, VGA, GPU, and networking, using either CLI or GUI modes on a local host. Remote diagnostics are also possible when integrated with SSM and SMCIPMITool.
