Get started with DataScale SN40L rack administration

This SambaNova DataScale® hardware administration document targets the SN40L version of the SambaNova DataScale rack.

This page gets you started:

  • Learn about SambaNova support, SambaNova documentation, and other resources.

  • Get an overview of the DataScale hardware and software stacks.

See the DataScale hardware installation documentation for details on hardware installation requirements and tasks.

1. SambaNova support

SambaNova customers that have valid support contracts can contact support and obtain product support documentation through the SambaNova support portal at https://support.sambanova.ai.

2. SambaNova documentation

As part of hardware installation, you might need SambaNova documentation, SambaNova KBs, and third-party documentation.

3. Third-party documentation

For operational issues with the third-party components in the DataScale SN40L rack, see the following vendor-specific product documentation. If you need additional support or have troubleshooting questions related to troubleshooting, open a support case through SambaNova Support. See KB article #1017, "SambaNova Systems Support Best Practices," at https://support.sambanova.ai.

Do not open a support case with the product vendor.

4. Overview of DataScale SN40L rack hardware

The DataScale SN40L is self-contained in a standard 42 rack unit (RU) datacenter rack. Different configurations are available for purchase, depending on customer requirements (including data center requirements). System population begins at the bottom of the rack with node 1 and increments up the rack. Network switches and other equipment are installed at the top of the rack.

A DataScale SN40L rack system consists of:

  • SN40L-2 modules. Four DataScale SN40L-2 RDU modules. Each DataScale SN40L-2 module contains two Reconfigurable Data Units™ (RDUs), for a total of eight RDUs per DataScale SN40L rack system. The RDUs are managed by the SambaFlow software stack running on the host.

  • SN40L-H host module. An x86-based DataScale SN40L-H host module running either Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® or Ubuntu® Linux.

Both the DataScale SN40L-2 RDU module and the DataScale SN40L-H module are 2RU chassis.

Switch equipment at the top of the rack provides a data network and an access network by default. The following image and table identify the main components in the DataScale SN40L rack.

DataScale SN40L rack Components (front view)
Figure 1. DataScale SN40L rack components (front view)
Table 1. DataScale SN40L rack components
No. Component

1

System 1 SN40L-8 (SN40L-H)

2

System 1 SN40L-8 (four SN40L-2)

3

System 2 SN40L-8 (SN40L-H)

4

System 2 SN40L-8 (four SN40L-2)

5

Juniper® QFX5130 Ethernet (fan-side)

6

Lantronix® serial console server (Juniper EX series switch behind)

7

Juniper EX-series Ethernet switch (fan-side)

8

Lantronix® serial console server

5. SambaNova DataScale software stack

The software stack consists of the following components:

  • Host module OS. At the bottom of the stack is the host module OS, either RHEL or Ubuntu.

  • SambaFlow SambaFlow™ is a software stack that is running on SambaNova systems. This stack includes

    • SambaFlow Runtime. Responsible for communication with the DataScale hardware including hardware initialization, error handling, resource management, and interfacing with userspace processes requesting hardware resources.

    • Compilers. Proprietary compilers make your models available to the DataScale hardware.

    • SambaFlow Python SDK which developers use to create and run models.

The SambaFlow software is installed and executed on the SN40L-H host modules.

The following documentation describe the software stack, model development, and deployment:

5.1. DataScale SN40L host module OS

The DataScale SN40L rack includes two preinstalled OS (operating system) flavors that run on the DataScale SN40L-H host module on each system:

The SN40L-H host module supports the following OS versions:

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.5

  • Ubuntu Server 20.04.2 Long-Term Support (LTS)

Both images are preinstalled on each SN40L-H host module.

SambaNova provides updates for the OS images and updates for the software components through a repository. DataScale SN40L-H host module connectivity to the SambaNova repository is set up as part of the DataScale SN40L rack installation and relies on the site survey that your company completed. As part of the initial installation, SambaNova provides a sambanova.repo file that contains credentials and paths to your specific repository.

See KB article #1057 for details.

5.2. How to identify the SambaFlow software version (RHEL)

The command you run to identify the version of the SambaFlow software packages that are installed on the DataScale SN40L-H host modules depends on the OS that is running on the module.

To identify the software version on RHEL, run this command:

# dnf list installed | grep samba[nf]

The command results in output that starts like the following (the exact output depends on the SambaFlow version you are using):

sambaflow.x86_64                            1.12.7-15.el8
sambaflow-apps-datascale-image-unet.x86_64  1.12.7-15.el8
sambaflow-apps-starters-logreg.x86_64		1.12.7-15.el8
sambaflow-cpp.x86_64						1.12.7-15.el8
sambaflow-deps-capnproto.x86_64				0.8.0-1.el8
sambaflow-deps-isl.x86_64					0.22-1.el8
sambaflow-deps-pillow-simd.x86_64			7.2.0.post1-1.el8
sambaflow-deps-venv.x86_64					1.12.4-2.el8
sambaflow-exec.x86_64						1.12.7-15.el8
sambaflow-tools-llvm11.x86_64				11.0.0-3.rc1.el8
...

5.3. How to identify the SambaFlow software version (RHEL)

To identify the software version on Ubuntu Linux, run this command:

# apt list --installed | grep samba[nf]

The command results in output that starts like the following:

sambaflow-apps-datascale-language-transformers/focal,focal,now 1.13.0-2207251206 amd64
sambaflow-apps-starters-logreg/focal,focal,now 1.13.0-2207251206 amd64
sambaflow-cpp/focal,now 1.12.4-2203291247 amd64
sambaflow-deps-capnproto/focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,now 0.8.0-1 amd64
sambaflow-deps-pillow-simd/focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,focal,now 7.2.0.post1-1 amd64
sambaflow-exec/focal,focal,now 1.13.0-2207251206 amd64
...

6. Default username and passwords for components

The following table shows several components in the DataScale SN40L rack that have default passwords for users with administrative/root credentials. See Network administration for information on changing passwords for switches.

SambaNova highly recommends that you change these default passwords as soon as possible.
Do not use a slash character in a password for an XRDU. Both forward slash (/) and backward slash (\) can cause problems.
Table 2. Default usernames and passwords
Component Username Default password

Lantronix serial console server

sysadmin

Changeme

Juniper QFX5130 high-bandwidth Ethernet data switch

root

Changeme

Juniper EX series ccess switch

root

Changeme

DataScale SN40L-2/XRDU BMC

root

1Changeme

DataScale SN40L-H BMC

admin

Changeme
NOTE: Password must not exceed 14 characters.

DataScale SN40L-H OS

root

Changeme

DataScale SN40L-H OS

snuser1

Changeme

VertivTM PDU

admin

Changeme
By default, the operating system on SN40L-H is configured with a user snuser1 which has superuser privileges (i.e. can run sudo commands). The post-install test of the system uses this user to run example applications. For security reasons SambaNova recommends that you delete this user after the test is completed. You can then create your own users or configure the system to use a company-wide LDAP server.