The Cisco UCS C480 ML M5 is a purpose-built server specifically engineered for deep learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) workloads. Its design is unique among the options as it accommodates up to eight NVIDIA Tesla V100 GPUs interconnected with NVIDIA NVLink via the high-density SXM2 mezzanine form factor. This architecture provides the massive parallel processing capability and high-speed GPU-to-GPU communication essential for significant AI training tasks. The "ML" designation explicitly denotes its focus on Machine Learning, making it the correct choice for this requirement.

A. Cisco UCS C240 M5: This general-purpose server supports GPUs, but only in the standard PCIe card form factor, not the required SXM2 module.

B. Cisco UCS B200 M5: This is a blade server with significant space and thermal constraints, preventing the use of high-power, mezzanine-style SXM2 GPUs.

D. Cisco UCS C125 M5: This AMD-based server is designed for high-density storage or compute but supports only PCIe-based GPUs, not the SXM2 form factor.

1. Cisco UCS C480 ML M5 Server for Deep Learning Datasheet.

Reference: In the "Product overview" section, it states, "The server supports eight NVIDIA Tesla V100-SXM2-32GB GPUs interconnected with NVIDIA NVLink." This directly confirms support for the required GPU form factor.

Source: Cisco. (2021). Cisco UCS C480 ML M5 Server for Deep Learning Datasheet. Retrieved from the official Cisco website.

2. FlexPod Datacenter with NVIDIA AI Enterprise and VMware vSphere Design Guide (Cisco Validated Design - CVD).

Reference: The "Compute Hardware" section under "Solution Design" details the bill of materials, specifying the "Cisco UCS C480 ML M5" for AI workloads. The section "Cisco UCS C480 ML M5 Server for Deep Learning" further describes its architecture with "eight NVIDIA V100 32GB SXM2 GPUs with NVLink."

Source: Cisco & NetApp. (2022). FlexPod Datacenter with NVIDIA AI Enterprise and VMware vSphere Design Guide.

3. Cisco UCS C240 M5 Rack Server Datasheet.

Reference: The "GPUs" section lists supported graphics cards, including the NVIDIA Tesla V100, but specifies the "PCIe" form factor. There is no mention of SXM2 support.

Source: Cisco. (2022). Cisco UCS C240 M5 Rack Server Datasheet. Retrieved from the official Cisco website.