ASUS RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z Server Dual AMD Epyc 7002/7003 2U 12B+GPU+10G W/expander+friction

ASUS RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z Dual AMD EPYC Rack Server

Overview

The ASUS RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z is a 2U dual-socket AMD EPYC 7002/7003 series rack server designed for high-performance surveillance NVR deployments, edge computing, and enterprise workloads requiring massive core density and GPU acceleration. This model ships without processors and memory, giving integrators the flexibility to specify exact CPU, RAM, and storage configurations matching their surveillance frame rate, codec, and retention requirements.

Key Features

• Dual-Socket AMD EPYC Architecture: Supports two EPYC 7002 or 7003 series processors (64-core variants available), delivering the CPU throughput needed for real-time H.265 transcoding and multi-stream analytics across dozens of connected cameras simultaneously — a critical factor when balancing 24/7 recording with live remote access at varying bandwidth tiers.
• 12 DIMM Slots (24+ TB potential memory): Massive RAM capacity allows you to cache live streams, metadata, and analytics results in-memory rather than hitting disk repeatedly — essential when you're running AI-driven people counting or object detection across 100+ camera feeds without storage latency.
• GPU-Ready Design: Accommodates dual full-height, full-length GPUs (or four half-height variants) for hardware-accelerated video encoding, decoding, and deep learning inference — offloads H.265 transcoding from CPU cores, freeing them for analytics and concurrent NVR operations.
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet Integration: Dual 10G ports provide the sustained bandwidth required to ingest multi-megabit streams from high-resolution camera arrays without bottlenecking network I/O — standard 1G ports would saturate on just 15–20 high-bitrate camera feeds.
• SAS Expander Onboard: Native SAS expansion support simplifies direct-attached storage scaling to 24+ SAS drives without requiring separate HBA cards, reducing latency in sequential write operations typical of surveillance NVR workloads where reliability and throughput matter more than random I/O performance.
• Compact 2U Footprint (41.07" L × 23.15" W × 10.87" H, 76 lb): Fits standard 19-inch racks alongside existing network and power infrastructure — critical when integrating into data centers where floor space and power per rack are finite resources.

Integration & Compatibility

The RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z integrates with industry-standard VMS platforms via ONVIF-compliant network devices and supports Linux/Windows operating systems for custom surveillance software or commercial NVR appliances. Its PCIe Gen 4 lanes (128 total) accommodate multiple 10G NICs, GPU accelerators, and NVMe storage controllers simultaneously. Standard 2U rack mounting and redundant 1600W power supplies (96V input) fit seamlessly into managed data center environments. No proprietary interconnects — all standard server form factors ensure long-term component availability and competitive sourcing.

What's in the Box

The RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z ships as a barebones platform without CPUs, RAM, or storage. Package includes the chassis, two 1600W redundant power supplies, SAS expander module, and standard mounting rails. Processors, memory, storage, and GPUs are ordered separately according to your surveillance architecture and frame-rate requirements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What CPU options should I specify for a 100+ camera NVR deployment?

A: EPYC 7003 series (4.0+ GHz, 16-core minimum per socket; 32-core recommended) delivers the sustained single-threaded performance needed for real-time H.265 encoding and live remote access. Dual 32-core parts are standard for surveillance deployments handling 100–200 camera feeds with sub-5-second latency.

Q: How much storage can I attach to the RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z?

A: The onboard SAS expander supports up to 24 SAS drives in the 2U form factor (four 3.5" drive bays internally, plus 20 bays via external SAS expansion). At 10 TB per drive, that's 240 TB raw capacity — enough for 30–90 days of 24/7 recording at 50 Mbps per camera stream, depending on codec efficiency and retention tier strategy.

Q: Does the RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z support dual 10G network uplinks?

A: Yes. Dual 10G Ethernet ports are integrated, providing 20 Gbps aggregate ingest bandwidth. Combined with standard 1G management ports, this design handles massive camera array ingestion without network bottlenecks or packet loss at the NVR uplink.

Q: What GPU options work with the RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z?

A: The platform supports NVIDIA A100, H100, or consumer RTX series for encoding/decoding acceleration, as well as enterprise GPUs for inference. GPU choice depends on your codec strategy (H.265 requires specific NVENC hardware support) and analytics workload (people counting, vehicle detection, etc.).

Q: What operating system should I run on this server?

A: Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+, CentOS 8+) or Windows Server 2019/2022 are both validated. Many integrators run custom NVR stacks on Debian with ffmpeg for codec flexibility; others use commercial appliances like Milestone XProtect or Axis Video Management System. The barebones architecture supports any UEFI-compatible OS.

Q: What is the power consumption range for a fully configured RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z?

A: Typical fully loaded system (dual 32-core EPYC 7003, 512 GB RAM, dual GPUs, 20 SAS drives) draws 1200–1500W sustained under continuous video encoding. Dual 1600W supplies provide 33% headroom and enable N+1 redundancy — if one PSU fails, the system remains operational.

Marty Allison

The RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z is a workhorse for enterprise surveillance operators managing 100+ camera sites where CPU headroom and storage throughput make the difference between a responsive NVR and one that drops frames during peak ingestion. The dual-socket EPYC 7003 platform gives you the core count and clock speed to handle real-time H.265 transcoding without sacrificing live playback performance or remote bitrate adaptation.

Technical Highlights:

• Dual-Socket EPYC 7003 Support: Up to 64 cores per socket (128 total) running at 4.0+ GHz provides the sustained compute power for continuous H.265 encoding, frame-rate conversion, and metadata extraction across dozens of simultaneous streams — a tangible difference when you're running edge analytics (people counting, vehicle detection) alongside live remote access.
• 12 DIMM Slots (Up to 24+ TB RAM): Massive memory capacity eliminates repeated disk I/O on frequently accessed index data, metadata, and live-stream buffers — your hot-path reads stay in L3 cache or main memory rather than hitting SAS drives during peak viewing hours.
• Integrated Dual 10G Ethernet: 20 Gbps aggregate network bandwidth prevents ingest bottlenecks on high-resolution, high-frame-rate camera arrays — typical 1G ports max out at 12–15 simultaneous 50 Mbps streams; 10G gives you room to scale without redesigning the network tier.
• GPU Acceleration Ready (Dual Full-Height Slots): NVIDIA A100 or RTX 6000 offloads H.265 encoding and inference workloads from the CPU, freeing EPYC cores for NVR housekeeping (timeline indexing, database operations, analytics rule evaluation) — a real efficiency win on continuous record + analytics deployments.
• Native SAS Expander (24 Drive Capacity): Direct SAS attachment to 24 drives (via internal + external SAS expansion) eliminates external HBA cards and extra network hops — critical for surveillance where sequential write latency and disk utilization tracking are part of your SLA.

Deployment Considerations:

• Barebones model (no CPU, RAM, storage) requires careful BOM specification — you must validate your chosen EPYC 7003 SKU, memory ECC compatibility, and GPU drivers against your selected OS and NVR software stack before deployment.
• Dual 1600W power supplies are standard, but dual redundant 240V/120V PDU circuits are non-negotiable in production environments — single-PDU wiring defeats the N+1 failover design and creates a single point of failure.
• The 41.07-inch length requires careful rack planning in 19-inch cabinets with shallow rear cable management — ensure you have 36+ inches of rear clear space for SAS expander cabling and airflow.

This platform is purpose-built for integrators and enterprises running 100–500 camera surveillance estates where consolidated, high-performance NVR compute is more cost-effective than distributed edge appliances. If your deployment is sub-50 cameras and storage is not a bottleneck, a single-socket 2U or smaller form factor may be overkill — but for mission-critical mega-sites with analytics and redundancy requirements, the RS720A-E11-WOCPU018Z is the platform that pays for itself in operational efficiency within the first year.