# ThunderX spotted on ebay



## Phishfry (Jul 31, 2019)

How aboud a quad blade rack mounted Arm server from Cray.








						Cray Envoy-Compute-Server 2U | 2x Cavium ThunderX CN8890 48-Core | 128GB DDR4  | eBay
					

Notes: Shows signs of normal usage. Manufacturer: Cray. We would also allow local pick up for this order. All manufacturers' warranties are void unless otherwise stated. Model Number: Envoy-Compute-Server.



					www.ebay.com


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## Phishfry (Aug 1, 2019)

Front half looks empty. Wonder if it's drive bays up there......

Might have to drive to Florida for this one!!! Freight shipping is so expensive.
I can't afford this but I would like to take it for a test drive.


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## ralphbsz (Aug 1, 2019)

It is unlikely to be legitimate. The only XCs I know of were sold to government agencies and strictly controlled large private companies. And they only started getting sold in 2017, about 2 years ago. It is very unlikely that any of those have been retired yet; and if they have, they would not show up in the open market. Most likely, this item has been "stolen" in some fashion, or it is a sting operation.

I wonder whether it contains the hardware for the proprietary Cray interconnect. If yes, it would probably be somewhat interesting for competitors (in particular those in other countries) to look at. It's quite possible that whoever buys this will get a visit from the FBI soon.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Aug 1, 2019)

ralphbsz said:


> It's quite possible that whoever buys this will get a visit from the FBI soon.


Well it does say "Will ship to  Canada."


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## Phishfry (Aug 2, 2019)

ralphbsz said:


> I wonder whether it contains the hardware for the proprietary Cray interconnect.


I notice it has QSFP+ and two SFP+. So maybe they are using the QSFP+ for the interconnect.
With a blade chassis I wonder how they handle storage, assuming there are 24 empty bays behind the grill.

Rather than any FBI interaction I would be more worried about getting it to boot up.
With these cluster nodes they might require a controller machine that they boot from.
Seller mentions boots to BIOS so that is interesting for Arm.


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## Kraust (Aug 4, 2019)

I have used the 24-core CN8370 before, what's the big deal here besides having sizably more cores?


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## Phishfry (Aug 4, 2019)

Like Ralph said these are only 2 years old.
That is not very old in server years.
Maybe the vendor was trying them and it did not work out.
Who knows how this Cray snuck out. It surely was an unconventional disposal if legit.
It was probably part of a larger farm. This could be node 4/100 perhaps.... Who knows.
I bet it needs a Cluster Controller Node. Maybe not PXE boot but something custom.


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