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AI Data Engine

Requirements for installing AI Data Engine on third-party servers

Contributors netapp-driley netapp-dbagwell
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Review the requirements for installing AI Data Engine (AIDE) on third-party servers. AIDE requires an AFX storage system, exactly three third-party servers designated as data compute nodes, network switches, and cables.

Hardware requirements

For AIDE software on third-party servers, an AFX storage system and the AI Data Engine (AIDE) running on exactly three compatible third-party servers are required. In this configuration, the third-party servers are the data compute nodes when added to the AIDE cluster. The AFX system provides the storage infrastructure, while the AIDE software on third-party servers host the AIDE software components that enable data management, curation, and AI capabilities.

  • AFX storage system: Includes an AFX controller, disk shelf, and network switch. The AFX storage system is required for AIDE deployment.

  • AIDE software on third-party servers: AIDE software on third-party servers requires exactly three nodes. You cannot deploy with fewer nodes or scale beyond three nodes.

    • All three nodes must have identical hardware specifications, including the same CPU model, memory capacity, network configuration, and server model. Mixed hardware configurations are not supported.

      Note You cannot mix NetApp-provided data compute nodes with third-party servers in the same AIDE cluster.

    • The following third-party servers are supported for running the AIDE software:

    • The third-party servers must meet the following minimum hardware specifications:

      Component Minimum requirement

      Supported Operating System

      The following operating systems are supported for running AIDE software on third-party servers:

      • Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 9.7

      CPU

      The following CPU models are supported for running AIDE software on third-party servers:

      • Intel Granite Rapids or higher

      • AMD Turin or higher

      • 64 cores or higher

      Memory

      128 GB RAM

      Network interfaces

      For each third-party server, six total ports are used for AIDE software on third-party servers:

      • 2 for data network (required)

      • 2 for cluster network (required)

      • 1 for management network (optional)

      • 1 for management network if high availability is needed (optional)

      Network speed

      The following network speeds are supported for running AIDE software on third-party servers:

      • Cluster and data ports - 100 GbE or higher recommended

      • Management port - 1 GbE or higher

      Disk Space

      512GB or higher

Network switch requirements

AIDE requires network switches to enable host network connectivity and inter-node communication for the data compute nodes.

  • Client switches for host network connectivity (Cisco Nexus 9332D-GX2B or Cisco Nexus 9364D-GX2A)

  • Cluster switches for inter-node communication (Cisco Nexus 9332D-GX2B or Cisco Nexus 9364D-GX2A)

  • Optional management switches for network management

    Note For more information on the AFX switches, see AFX system switches.

Multi-cluster support

After AIDE is deployed with AFX, it can connect to and manage data from other ONTAP 9.18.1 and later clusters using SnapMirror and cluster peering.

What's next

After reviewing the hardware requirements, install the AFX storage system.