Choosing the right servers for Enterprise AI

Investing in AI is a priority for any forward-looking enterprise, but it’s important to define and implement the right platforms


Sponsored by HPE New Logo

Edge-to-cloud, built to transform your business. Learn more about it here.


The explosion of generative AI and the possibilities it presents has had a profound impact on society, sparking debate around everything from the essence of creativity and artistic intellectual property to data privacy and security. But when it comes to business, it’s clear that early adoption of AI is a key strategy to remain competitive in almost any sector.

According to IDC, organizations will spend $150 billion on AI by 2027, delivering an economic impact of $11 trillion. “Enterprises are going to be going through a foundational shift; that includes hardware, software and data centric platforms,” said Crawford Del Prete, President of IDC.

Unlike consumers, large organizations don’t want their workforces to fire up browsers and log into any public AI services– open gen-AI platforms provide neither the data sovereignty, security and cost predictability that they need. Any enterprise looking to seriously embrace AI will need to invest in the IT infrastructure to develop and implement its own bespoke strategy.

HPE has a portfolio of products to support any organization’s AI aspirations, with the flexibility and scalability to adapt as needs change and grow. From AI-optimized server hardware to cutting edge security and management platforms, along with class-leading cloud solutions – whatever an enterprise needs to leverage the full potential of AI.

A flexible foundation for Enterprise AI

The HPE ProLiant Compute DL380a Gen12 provides an ideal foundation for enterprises to build out their AI infrastructure in the data center. As an ultra-scalable platform it features the latest Nvidia Blackwell and Hopper GPUs alongside Intel Xeon processors. This means the DL380a Gen12 delivers security, performance and efficiency for any type of AI workload:

  • Up to 10 double-wide Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 or H200 NVL PCIe GPUs
  • Dual socket Intel Xeon 6 processors with up to 144 cores
  • Industry leading security with HPE iLO 7 Silicon Root of Trust
  • AI driven insights and automation with HPE Compute Ops Management   

Two GPU options are available, allowing the DL380a Gen12 to be tailored to specific AI workloads. The Nvidia RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server Edition GPU option provides exceptional performance for a wide range of enterprise workloads such as agentic AI, physical AI, and scientific computing to rendering, 3D graphics, and video.

Switch to generative AI, where large language models (LLMs) and advanced HPC workloads are required, the Nvidia H200 NVL GPU option can be deployed. Coupled with lightning fast, high-bandwidth memory, the H200 Tensor Core GPUs supercharges generative AI and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads with game-changing performance and memory capabilities.

When it comes to enterprise computing, it’s not just about raw performance (although achieving 23 world records always helps): reliability and security are equally, if not more important. With six power supplies and advanced power management, the DL380a Gen12 provides both efficient and reliable performance. And HPE brings an unparallelled amount of root-level hardware security in the shape of HPE iLO 7 and secure enclave, an independent security processor. These protect against firmware attacks, unauthorized access and even tampering, ensuring robust resilience and data integrity.

Download “AI: Powering Smart Solutions In An Ever-Changing World” from HPE

With AI, you can do more, solve more, discover more. Yet, AI is extremely complex. This article explains how several organizations worldwide are conquering AI complexity to achieve their goals. It’s now possible to confidently use AI to open opportunities, enhance productivity, accelerate innovation, and create new revenue models.

Next level performance for GenAI

For enterprises with a heavy focus on GenAI development and implementation, as well as LLM fine tuning, the HPE ProLiant Compute DL384 Gen12 delivers next-level AI performance. Powered by Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper architecture, which combines the Grace CPU with Hopper GPU accelerators via a high-bandwidth NVLink-C2C interconnect, the DL384 Gen12 is built for the most demanding AI workloads.

It’s worth dedicated one paragraph at least to numbers. When describing the NVLink-C2C interconnect as high bandwidth, we’re talking a frankly ridiculous 900GB/sec. Memory performance is equally impressive, with the 72-core Grace CPU supported by 480GB of on-die ECC LPDDR5 with memory bandwidth of 500GB/sec. The Hopper H100 GPU sports almost 15,000 CUDA cores and over 600 Tensor cores, paired with 144GB of HBM3e memory with an incredibly fast bandwidth of 4,900GB/sec.

Additionally, the NVLink-C2C interconnect provides memory coherency, essentially allowing CPU and GPU threads to concurrently access CPU and GPU resident memory.

Put simply, the Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper architecture is designed to deliver a next-level AI and HPC performance. HPE isn’t just leveraging that performance, it’s doubling down on it. If an Nvidia GH200 Grace Hopper superchip isn’t enough for your needs, the HPE ProLiant Compute DL384 Gen12 can be specified with two!

But unlike multi-processor servers of old, this isn’t two discrete chips mounted on the same board: the two-processor DL384 Gen12 employs Nvidia GH200 NVL2 architecture, which connects two GH200 superchips via the same 900GB/sec NVLink-C2C interconnect. Not only does this double the number of CPU and GPU cores it also results in 1.2TB of combined, coherent fast memory that can be shared across all CPU and GPU threads.

AI in the cloud

Whatever your organization’s AI aspirations, HPE has server solutions that will fulfil those needs both today and tomorrow, but deploying hardware is only the foundation – configuring and building out that infrastructure into a private cloud solution is a complex and resource-intensive task. However, HPE Private Cloud AI is a turnkey platform built on HPE and Nvidia hardware and software, providing fast and simple deployment and activation.

HPE Private Cloud AI is delivered via AI-optimized compute, storage and networking platforms from HPE and Nvidia, while also providing tools and applications to enable enterprises to experiment with AI workloads of all types.

With HPE Private Cloud AI any enterprise can provide the ease of use and scalability that make public cloud attractive, while protecting its data.

Regardless of industry sector or vertical, AI has become an imperative aspect of every organization’s strategy, and for good reason. The potential benefits of effective development, adoption and implementation are as significant as the potential damage of being left behind.

Tapping into HPE’s wealth of experience with AI-optimized high performance computing and cloud infrastructure, along with security and management solutions, is the smart move for any enterprise looking to make the most of AI.

Avatar photo
Riyad Emeran

Riyad is a highly experienced writer and editor who has spent over 30 years writing about the technology industry. He co-founded and edited the website Trusted Reviews in 2003, having previously been Editor-in-Chief of Personal Computer World magazine, affectionately known as PCW.