# Innovations

## Oxide Rack: Visual Overview and Technical Innovations

### Visuals of the Oxide Rack and Sleds

While the provided PDF does not contain photographs, several sources—including a recent YouTube tour and technical documentation—offer clear descriptions and some visual cues for the Oxide Rack and its components.

#### Oxide Rack Structure

* The rack is a large, integrated chassis standing 92.7 inches (2354mm) tall, 23.7 inches (600mm) wide, and 41.8 inches (1060mm) deep, weighing up to 2,518 lbs (1,145 kg)\[1]\[2].
* It houses up to 32 custom-designed compute sleds, two integrated network switches, and a centralized power shelf\[1]\[4]\[6].

#### Compute Sleds

* Each sled is a hot-swappable server module, custom-designed by Oxide (not based on any standard reference design)\[6].
* Sleds slide horizontally into the rack, connecting via blind-mate connectors for both power and networking—no manual cabling required for removal or insertion\[2]\[4]\[6].
* Each sled contains:
  * A single AMD EPYC 7713P processor (64 cores, 128 threads)
  * 16 DDR4 DIMM slots (up to 2 TiB RAM)
  * 10 U.2/U.3 2.5-inch NVMe SSD bays (up to 32 TiB per sled)
  * Dual 100 GbE network connections
  * Custom service processor (no traditional BMC)\[1]\[4]\[6].

#### Power Shelf

* Located centrally in the rack, the power shelf converts three-phase AC to DC, distributing power via a DC bus bar\[1]\[4]\[6].
* Supports up to 6 redundant power supplies (N+1 or N+N), delivering up to 15 kW to the rack\[1]\[4].
* All sleds blind-mate to the DC bus bar for power, eliminating the need for individual power cables\[2]\[5]\[6].

#### Network Switches

* Two custom “Sidecar” switches (one per rack side) use Intel Tofino 2 ASICs, offering 6.4 Tbit/s bandwidth and 32x 100/200G QSFP uplink ports\[1]\[4].
* Rear-facing ports connect directly to sleds via the cabled backplane, while front-facing ports handle external connectivity\[1]\[4].
* Switches also include integrated management ASICs and service processors\[4].

#### Cabling and Backplane

* The rack uses a cabled backplane for both networking and power, enabling blind-mate connections for all sleds\[4]\[6].
* This design dramatically reduces cabling clutter, improves airflow, and simplifies maintenance\[2]\[5]\[6].

#### Visual Representation

While direct photographs are not included in the PDF, the \[YouTube tour]\[6] and CoreSite deployment photos\[3] (not included here for copyright reasons) show:

* A tall, clean rack with sleds inserted horizontally from the front.
* Central power shelf and side-mounted switches.
* No visible cabling at the front; all connections are internal/blind-mate.
* Sleds are easily removable for service.

### What Do These Parts Do?

**Compute Sleds:**\
Provide the raw computing power—each is a self-contained server with CPU, memory, storage, and network interfaces. They are designed for easy hot-swap maintenance and high-density deployment\[1]\[4]\[6].

**Power Shelf:**\
Centralizes power conversion and distribution, improving efficiency and reliability. The DC bus bar approach reduces conversion losses and cabling complexity\[2]\[4]\[5]\[6].

**Network Switches:**\
Deliver high-throughput, low-latency networking to every sled, with uplinks for external connectivity and a management network for control and monitoring\[1]\[4].

**Cabled Backplane:**\
Enables blind-mate connections for both power and networking, allowing for tool-less sled replacement and minimizing downtime\[2]\[4]\[6].

### Technical Innovations

| Feature                      | Oxide Rack Innovation                                                                | Conventional Rack Approach                           |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Blind-mate Backplane**     | Sleds connect to power and network with no manual cabling.                           | Manual cabling for each server.                      |
| **Centralized Power Shelf**  | Single AC→DC conversion, DC bus bar, fewer cables, higher efficiency.                | Individual server PSUs, more cables, less efficient. |
| **Custom Sled Design**       | Designed from scratch for airflow, serviceability, and integration.                  | Based on standard reference designs.                 |
| **Integrated Switches**      | Custom, high-bandwidth switches with direct sled connections.                        | External switches, more cabling.                     |
| **Service Processor**        | Custom, networked service processors replace traditional BMCs for better management. | Standard BMCs, less integration.                     |
| **Hot-swappable Everything** | All sleds, power supplies, and switches are hot-swappable from the front.            | Typically requires rear access and more downtime.    |

#### Additional Innovations

* **Airflow and Cooling:**\
  Larger, more efficient fans reduce power draw for cooling to just 2% of total server power, compared to up to 20% in traditional designs\[2]\[5].
* **Unified Management:**\
  Integrated API, portal, and SDKs allow for seamless provisioning and monitoring of compute, storage, and networking resources\[4].
* **Cloud-like On-Premises Experience:**\
  The rack is delivered as a fully integrated system, bringing hyperscale cloud hardware and operational benefits to enterprise data centers\[3]\[5]\[7].

### Summary

The Oxide Rack is a fully integrated, rack-scale computer system with innovations in power distribution, networking, serviceability, and management. It brings the efficiency and operational model of hyperscale cloud providers to on-premises deployments, offering a unique alternative to traditional piecemeal server racks\[2]\[3]\[5]\[6].

For actual photographs and a detailed visual walkthrough, the \[YouTube tour]\[6] is highly recommended, as it provides a close-up look at the rack, sleds, and internal components.

Sources

1. [Oxide-Rack-Specifications-2025/02/17](https://ppl-ai-file-upload.s3.amazonaws.com/web/direct-files/attachments/49592179/fd7a330c-ee66-413b-86fe-343bbf4f1714/Oxide-Rack-Specifications-20250217.pdf)
2. [Oxide reimagines the DC rack as a 2500-lb blade server?](https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/16/oxide_3000lb_blade_server/)
3. [Oxide deploys racks at CoreSite's SV2 data center in Silicon Valley ...](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/oxide-deploys-racks-at-coresites-sv2-data-center-in-silicon-valley-california/)
4. [Introduction / Guides / Oxide](https://docs.oxide.computer/guides/introduction)
5. [Row-Scale On-Premises Cloud Infrastructure from Oxide Computer](https://futurumgroup.com/insights/)row-scale-on-premises-cloud-infrastructure-from-oxide-computer/
6. [Oxide Cloud Computer Tour - Front - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHbgjB0RQ1s)
7. [Startups on hard mode: Oxide. Part 1: Hardware](https://newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/oxide)
8. [Oxide Computer Company](https://oxide.computer)
9. [Specifications - Oxide Computer](ttps://oxide.computer/product/specifications)
10. [A New Standard in National Security and Innovation - Oxide Computer](https://oxide.computer/blog/)oxide-computer-company-and-lawrence-livermore-national-laboratory
11. [Initial Rack Setup / Guides / Oxide](https://docs.oxide.computer/guides/system/initial-rack-setup)

#### Other resources & links

* [Oxide CDS Usage Breakdown](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/oxide_cds_usage_breakdown/README.md)
* [oxide CDS Usage v2](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/oxide_cds_v2/README.md)
* [Oxide OS+Hardware](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/hardware/README.md)
* [Oxide Rack Customers](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxice/customers/README.md)
* [Oxide Single AMD EPYC 7713P](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/single_amd_epyc_7713p_sled/README.md)
* [Oxide Smallest Bang$](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/smallest_possible_sled/README.md)
* [Oxide Syndrom](https://github.com/ardeshir/docs/blob/main/oxide/oxide/oxide_syndrome/README.md)
