Cisco UCS C480 M5
The Cisco UCS C480 M5 was a 4U 4-socket enterprise rack server designed for in-memory databases, large-scale SAP HANA, business analytics, and massive virtualization consolidation. Powered by up to four Intel Xeon Scalable processors with 48 DIMM slots, 12 PCIe slots, and up to 32 drives, it delivered top-tier scale-up performance.
Specifications
| Brand | Cisco |
|---|---|
| Family | UCS C-Series |
| Form factor | 4U rack |
| Released | Jul 2017 |
| End of sale | Sep 2022 |
| End of support | Sep 2027 |
| Processor | Up to 4x 1st or 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors up to 28 cores each (up to 205W TDP) |
| Memory | 48x DDR4 DIMM slots supporting up to 6TB (with Intel Optane Persistent Memory support) |
| Drive bays | Up to 32x 2.5-inch SAS/SATA/NVMe SSDs in front-accessible drive modules |
| Expansion slots | Up to 12x PCIe 3.0 slots plus dedicated mLOM slot; supports up to 6x full-height double-wide GPUs |
| Network | mLOM slot for Cisco VIC adapters plus PCIe network interface cards |
| Power supply | Up to 4x redundant hot-swap power supplies up to 1600W |
| Management | Cisco IMC and Cisco Intersight |
Generations
- Previous generation: Cisco UCS C460 M4
Compatible parts
Network adapters
N2XX-AIPCI01 Cisco Intel X520 Dual Port 10Gb SFP+ NIC
UCSC-PCIE-C100-04 Cisco UCS VIC 1495 Dual Port 40/100G QSFP28
UCSC-PCIE-C25Q-04 Cisco UCS VIC 1455 Quad Port 10/25G SFP28 CNA PCIE
UCSC-PCIE-C40Q-03 Cisco VIC 1385 Dual Port 40Gb QSFP+ CNA
UCSC-PCIE-ID10GC Cisco Intel X550-T2 Dual Port 10GBase-T NIC
UCSC-PCIE-IRJ45 Cisco Intel i350 Quad Port 1GBase-T NIC
Hard drives
UCS-HD300G15K12N Cisco 300 GB 12G SAS 15K RPM SFF HDD
UCSC-C480-8HDD UCS C480 M5 Drive Module for 8x HDD (standard cage front facing)
Memory
UCS-ML-128G4RW Cisco 128 GB LRDIMM QRx4 3200 (16Gb) (non-3DS)
UCS-ML-256G8RW Cisco 256 GB DDR4-3200MHz LRDIMM 8Rx4 (16Gb) (3DS)
UCS-MR-X16G1RW Cisco 16 GB RDIMM SRx4 3200 (8Gb)
UCS-MR-X32G2RW Cisco 32 GB RDIMM DRx4 3200 (8Gb)
UCS-MR-X64G2RW Cisco 64 GB RDIMM DRx4 3200 (16Gb)
SSDs
UCS-NVMEM6-W3200 Cisco 3.2TB 2.5in U.2 WD SN840 NVMe Extreme Perf. High Endurance
UCS-SD32TKA3X-EP Cisco 3.2TB 2.5in Enter Perf 12G SAS Kioxia G2 SSD (3X)
UCS-SD480G121X-EV Cisco 480 GB 2.5 inch Enterprise Value 12G SAS SSD (Toshiba PM4)
UCS-SD480G63X-EP Cisco 480 GB 2.5in Enterprise Performance 6GSATA SSD(3X endurance)
UCS-SD960G63X-EP Cisco 960GB 2.5in Enterprise performance 6GSATA SSD(3X endurance)
UCSC-C480-8NVME UCS C480 M5 Drive Module for 8x NVMe drives (front facing cage)
UCSC-NVME2H-I1000 Cisco 2.5" U.2 1.0TB Intel P4510 NVMe High Perf.Value Endur
Boot devices
UCS-SD-128G Cisco 128 GB SD Card for UCS Servers
UCS-SD-32G-S Cisco 32 GB SD Card for UCS Servers
UCS-SD-64G-S Cisco 64 GB SD Card for UCS Servers
GPUs
UCSC-GPU-A100-80 Cisco TESLA A100, PASSIVE, 300W, 80GB
UCSC-GPU-M10 Cisco NVIDIA M10
UCSC-GPU-T4-16 Cisco NVIDIA T4 16GB
HBAs
UCSC-PCIE-BD16GF Cisco Emulex LPe31002 Dual Port 16G Fibre Channel HBA
UCSC-PCIE-QD16GF Cisco Qlogic QLE2692 Dual Port 16G Fibre Channel HBA
TPM modules
UCSX-TPM2-001 Cisco Trusted Platform Module 1.2 SPI-based for UCS Servers
Works together
How the Cisco UCS C480 M5 connects to servers, storage and the network: 4 ways, with the parts and products on each path.
Fibre Channel SAN
Serverwith an FC HBAFC switchtwo fabrics, A and BStorage arrayFC host ports
Match the speed: 16Gb and 32Gb FC HBAs, switches and array ports work together, and each generation also runs one or two speeds below its own (a 32Gb port runs at 16Gb and 8Gb).
Adapters for the server
- UCSC-PCIE-BD16GF Cisco Emulex LPe31002 Dual Port 16G Fibre Channel HBA
- UCSC-PCIE-QD16GF Cisco Qlogic QLE2692 Dual Port 16G Fibre Channel HBA
Switches
Cisco MDS 9132T 1U
Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX 1U fixed switch
Cisco MDS 9148T 1U
Cisco MDS 9396T 2U
Storage
Lenovo ThinkSystem TS4300 Tape Library 3U rack
NetApp E-Series E5700 2U/4U rack
Dell Unity 350F 2U rack
Dell Unity 450F 2U rack
Dell Unity 550F 2U rack
Dell Unity 650F 2U rack
Optics
DS-SFP-FC16G-LW Cisco 16Gbps Fibre Channel Longwave SFP+ Transceiver
DS-SFP-FC16G-SW Cisco 16Gbps Fibre Channel Shortwave SFP+ Transceiver
DS-SFP-FC32G-LW Cisco 32Gbps Fibre Channel Longwave SFP28 Transceiver
iSCSI and NVMe/TCP over Ethernet
Server10/25/100GbE NICEthernet switchstorage VLAN, two switchesStorage arrayiSCSI or NVMe/TCP ports
Keep the speed the same at all three points: a 25GbE server, a 25GbE switch port and a 25GbE array port. Mixed speeds work but the slowest link sets the pace.
Adapters for the server (check the fit list)
UCSC-O-ID10GC-D Cisco Intel X710T2LOCPV3G1L 2x10GbE RJ45 OCP 3.0 NIC
UCSC-O-ID25GF Cisco Intel XXV710DA2OCP1 2x25/10GbE OCP 2.0
UCSC-PCIE-E14102 Cisco Emulex OCe14102-FX dual-port 10 GbE FCoE CNA
UCSC-PCIE-Q8362 Cisco Qlogic QLE8362 dual-port 10 GbE FCoE CNA
Switches
Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX 1U fixed switch
Cisco Nexus 9364C 2U fixed switch
Cisco Nexus 31108PC-V 1U fixed switch
Cisco Nexus 34180YC 1U fixed switch
Storage
- NetApp E-Series E5700 2U/4U rack
Dell Isilon A2000 4U 4-node chassis
Dell Isilon F800 4U 4-node chassis
Dell Isilon H400 4U 4-node chassis
Dell Isilon H500 4U 4-node chassis
Dell Isilon H600 4U 4-node chassis
Optics
QSFP-100G-CWDM4-S Cisco 100GBASE-CWDM4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
QSFP-100G-LR4-S Cisco 100GBASE-LR4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
QSFP-100G-SR4-S Cisco 100GBASE-SR4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
Direct-attached SAS
Serverexternal SAS HBASAS cableMini-SAS HD, no switchArray or JBODSAS host ports or EMM
12Gb SAS uses Mini-SAS HD (SFF-8644) connectors; older 6Gb gear uses Mini-SAS (SFF-8088). Adapter cables exist, but the link runs at the slower speed.
Adapters for the server (check the fit list)
UCSC-9400-8E Cisco 12G 9400-8e 12G SAS HBA for external JBOD attach. You can install up to
Storage
Lenovo Lenovo Storage DS2200 2U rack
Lenovo ThinkSystem DS4200 2U rack
Dell PowerEdge MX5016s blade
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE2000H 2U rack
Lenovo ThinkSystem DE4000F 2U rack
Dell PowerVault ME4012 2U rack
File storage (NFS and SMB)
Server or clientEthernet NICEthernet switchdata or storage VLANNAS or scale-outNFS, SMB, S3 ports
Front-end ports face the clients; back-end ports (on scale-out systems) connect the nodes to each other and need their own switch pair.
Adapters for the server (check the fit list)
- UCSC-O-ID10GC-D Cisco Intel X710T2LOCPV3G1L 2x10GbE RJ45 OCP 3.0 NIC
- UCSC-O-ID25GF Cisco Intel XXV710DA2OCP1 2x25/10GbE OCP 2.0
- UCSC-PCIE-E14102 Cisco Emulex OCe14102-FX dual-port 10 GbE FCoE CNA
- UCSC-PCIE-Q8362 Cisco Qlogic QLE8362 dual-port 10 GbE FCoE CNA
Switches
- Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX 1U fixed switch
- Cisco Nexus 9364C 2U fixed switch
- Cisco Nexus 31108PC-V 1U fixed switch
- Cisco Nexus 34180YC 1U fixed switch
Storage
Dell Isilon A200 4U 4-node chassis- Dell Isilon F800 4U 4-node chassis
- Dell Isilon H400 4U 4-node chassis
- Dell Isilon H500 4U 4-node chassis
- Dell Unity 350F 2U rack
- Dell Unity 450F 2U rack
Optics
- QSFP-100G-CWDM4-S Cisco 100GBASE-CWDM4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
- QSFP-100G-LR4-S Cisco 100GBASE-LR4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
- QSFP-100G-SR4-S Cisco 100GBASE-SR4 QSFP28 Optical Transceiver
Plan and size it
- Draw this setup in the topology planner mrplanb.com
- Add up rack power and space rack-density.com
- Virtualization storage Ledger: scored storage platforms mrplanb.com
- SAN transport and NVMe over FC for backup mrplanb.com
Check compatibility with Cisco
Before you buy, confirm the exact configuration against the vendor's own lists: firmware levels, operating systems, adapters and optics that Cisco has tested with the Cisco UCS C480 M5.
- Compatibility Cisco UCS Hardware Compatibility List
- Compatibility Cisco Optics-to-Device Compatibility Matrix
- Support Cisco Support and Downloads
Equivalent models from other brands
FAQ
How many PCIe slots were provided on the C480 M5?
The C480 M5 provided up to 12 PCIe 3.0 slots supporting up to six double-wide GPUs.
What maximum memory did the C480 M5 support?
The C480 M5 supported up to 6TB across 48 DIMM slots with Optane Persistent Memory.
Buying or selling UCS C480 M5?
New, refurbished or used. Tell us the quantity and condition and we connect you with a vetted reseller in your region, usually within one working day.
Sources
- Cisco UCS C480 M5 Rack Server Data Sheet, checked 2026-10-28
- Cisco UCS C480 M5 High-Performance Rack Server Spec Sheet, checked 2026-10-28