GPU Infrastructure Glossary_
Definitions and explanations of key GPU infrastructure terms.
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Cable Management
Practices and systems for organizing, routing, and maintaining data center cables.
Cable Tray
Overhead or underfloor support system for organized cable pathway routing.
Cold Aisle Containment
Cooling strategy that encloses the cold supply side of server racks.
Cold Plate
Metal heat exchanger mounted directly on GPU/CPU dies for liquid cooling.
Coolant Distribution Unit (CDU)
Heat exchanger between rack-level cooling loops and facility water systems.
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Fat-Tree Topology
Network topology providing full bisection bandwidth for GPU cluster switch fabrics.
Fiber Certification
Formal testing and documentation verifying fiber installations meet performance standards.
Fiber Patch Panel
Rack-mounted enclosure providing organized termination for fiber optic cables.
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NCCL
NVIDIA's library for multi-GPU collective communications in distributed AI training.
NVL72
NVIDIA's rack-scale GPU system containing 72 GPUs and 36 Grace CPUs in a single liquid-cooled rack.
NVLink
NVIDIA's proprietary high-bandwidth GPU-to-GPU interconnect technology.
NVLink-C2C
High-bandwidth chip-to-chip interconnect between NVIDIA Grace CPUs and GPUs.
NVSwitch
NVIDIA silicon providing all-to-all GPU connectivity via NVLink within a node or rack.
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OM4 Fiber
Laser-optimized multimode fiber supporting 400 Gb/s for intra-data-center connections.
OM5 Fiber
Wideband multimode fiber supporting SWDM for higher bandwidth density.
OS2 Fiber
Single-mode fiber for long-distance backbone connections in data centers.
OSFP
Transceiver form factor with better thermal management for 400G/800G+ connections.
OTDR Testing
Fiber optic testing that maps cable characteristics using reflected light pulses.
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POST Verification
Power-On Self-Test confirming correct hardware initialization after deployment.
Power Distribution Unit (PDU)
Device that distributes electrical power from facility circuits to rack equipment.
Power Whip
Pre-assembled electrical cable connecting rack PDUs to facility power sources.
PUE
Power Usage Effectiveness: ratio measuring data center energy efficiency.
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Rack Unit (U)
Standard unit of measure for vertical space in a server rack (1.75 inches).
Raised Floor
Elevated floor system creating a plenum for air distribution and cable routing.
RDMA
Remote Direct Memory Access for GPU-to-GPU communication without CPU involvement.
Return Loss
Measurement of light reflected back at a fiber connection, in decibels.