Sound Card for cisco UCS C-Series

[Amer rajai Sha'er]

Hello,

Anyone know if cisco C-Series can have the option to add a sound card? i have a requirement for one of my customers that they need sound card installed on the UCS Server.

Amer

[Kirk J]

None of the UCS servers have order-able sound cards as those are not typical data center/compute type devices (I'm sure there are use cases).

I would just confirm what type of server you have, and what type of PCI-E slot type and height it has.

For example a C220m5 SFF would list:

■ Riser 1 (controlled by CPU 1):
• One full-height profile, 3/4-length slot with x24 connector and x16
lane.
■ Riser 2 (controlled by CPU 2):
• One half-height profile, half-length slot with x24 connector and x16
lane.

Also, please keep in mind that when adding non-Cisco equipment (or at least equipment not on the spec sheet), the server will not have thermal/power profiles for that added equipment, and will typically run the fans at a high rate to ensure the equipment is kept cool.

Kirk...

[Amer rajai Sha'er]

Hello Kirk,

Thanks for the quick feedback.

The server i am planning to sell to the customer is UCSC-C220-M5SX

and i was planning to use the 770w Power supply.

The question is, if i added a sound card PCI from lets say Nvidia (Small specs, nothing advanced is required) and i replaced the power to 1050 or 1600W, would that solve the problem?

Also one more thing, would the server still be supported in case i added a PCI that is not in the product sheet.

Amer

[Kirk J · Accepted solution]

The Server would still be supported by TAC.  However, just keep in mind you would need to call your sound card MFG for any sound card specific questions, issues, drivers, etc.

If you call TAC around server stability (i.e. your server is getting BSOD's in Windows), then they may ask that the non-Cisco supported equipment is removed while troubleshooting.

I think the PCI-E slots are typically limited to 25 Watts.

Usually Nvidia GPUs will have a 2nd separate Power lead coming directly from the PSUs if they require more power than what they can pull via the PCI-E slot.  Can't envision a sound card taking much power unless it's some sort of GPU/sound combined unit.

There is a UCS power calculator tool at https://ucspowercalc.cloudapps.cisco.com/public/index.jsp

Kirk...