Cisco UCSB-EX-M4-3: Extended Memory Blade Server for Demanding Workloads

Jun 18 , 2025 99

Cisco UCSB-EX-M4-3: Extended Memory Blade Server for Demanding Workloads

Product Overview
The Cisco UCSB-EX-M4-3 is an extended memory blade server designed for the Cisco Unified Computing System (UCS), specifically optimized for memory-intensive applications. This fourth-generation blade server provides exceptional memory capacity while maintaining high compute performance in a half-width form factor.

Key Specifications:

• Processor: Dual Intel® Xeon® E7-8800 v3/v4 processors (up to 18 cores each)

• Memory: 96 DIMM slots supporting up to 6TB DDR4 RAM

• Storage:

• 2 x 2.5" hot-swappable drive bays

• Optional M.2 boot drive

• Networking:

• Cisco UCS Virtual Interface Card (VIC) 1387 support

• 40Gb Unified Fabric connectivity

• Expansion: 3 x PCIe 3.0 mezzanine slots

Performance Features:

• Up to 36 processing cores per blade

• Industry-leading memory capacity for in-memory computing

• Support for large-scale virtualization (1,000+ VMs per chassis)

• Ideal for SAP HANA, big data analytics, and large databases

• Energy-efficient design with dynamic power management

Next-Generation Evolution: UCSB-EX-M5-4 (Current Generation)

Major Improvements:

• Processor: Dual Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors (up to 28 cores each)

• Memory: 96 DIMM slots supporting up to 12TB DDR4 RAM (24TB with 256GB DIMMs)

• Storage:

• 4 x 2.5" NVMe/SAS/SATA drive options

• Dual M.2 boot drives

• Networking:

• 100Gb Unified Fabric connectivity

• Cisco VIC 1450 series support

• Expansion: 4 x PCIe 4.0 mezzanine slots

• Performance:

• 2x memory bandwidth compared to M4

• Support for Intel Optane DC persistent memory

• 30% better performance per watt

Why Upgrade?

• Double the maximum memory capacity

• Significant processor performance improvements

• Future-proof NVMe storage support

• Higher-speed networking capabilities

• Better support for persistent memory applications

• Improved virtualization density

Conclusion:
The UCSB-EX-M4-3 remains a powerful solution for memory-bound workloads, while the UCSB-EX-M5-4 delivers substantial improvements in memory capacity, processing power, and I/O performance. The M5 generation is particularly valuable for next-generation in-memory computing, large-scale virtualization, and real-time analytics workloads, offering better scalability and efficiency for modern data center requirements.