AXIS Recommended Equipment
This is a quick summary of the basic AXIS Hardware and Software requirements. This page is intended to provide a general guideline for provisioning the elements within your AXIS ecosystem (AXIS EnterpriseLink Solo, Server, and GridLink). For more specific guidance or additional details, we encourage you to contact client support so that we can address your specific case.
Supported Operating Systems
Supported OS
| EnterpriseLink Solo | EnterpriseLink Server | GridLink Server |
| Windows 10 | Windows Server 2019 | Windows Server 2019 |
| Windows 8.1 | Windows Server 2016 | Windows Server 2016 |
| Windows 7* | Windows Server 2012 R2 | Windows Server 2012 R2 |
* Windows 7 EOL: Jan 2020
Support for particular Windows OS versions is subject to official support lifecycle end from Microsoft.
Monitors
Recommended Monitor Specs
| Minimum Screen Resolution | Minimum Recommended Laptop Screen Size | Minimum Recommended Desktop Screen Size |
| 1024 x 768 | 14" | 19" |
Processors
AXIS makes strong demands on the floating-point capabilities of your processor, so we will always advise you to buy the best floating-point performance you can afford. The leading factors in determining the processors' performance, as it relates to establishing our recommendations, for AXIS computational workloads would be:
- Floating Point Calculation per Processor Cycle (FLOP/s)
- L2 / L3 Cache Configurations
- I/O Bus specification
Servers
Intel's Processors leveraging the Skylake architecture, marketed as the Intel Xeon "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", and "Platinum", are currently our top recommendations.
Recommended Models
| CPU Class | CPU Model | Base Clock Speed | Turbo Clock Speed | Cores | Cache Size | CPU Type |
| Server | Intel Xeon Platinum 8180 | 2.50 GHz | 3.80 GHz | 28 | 38.5 MB | Quad CPU |
| Server | Intel Xeon Gold 6152 | 2.10 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 22 | 30.25 MB | Quad CPU |
| Server | Intel Xeon Platinum 8168 | 2.70 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 24 | 33.00 MB | Dual CPU |
| Server | Intel Xeon Gold 6148 | 2.40 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 20 | 27.50 MB | Dual CPU |
| Server | Intel Xeon Gold 6154 | 3.00 GHz | 3.70 GHz | 20 | 24.75 MB | Dual CPU |
AXIS Role / Function Sizing Considerations
EnterpriseLink
The EnterpriseLink Server/AWS EC2/Azure Instance specifications would be dependent upon the number of concurrent users expected to be using the service; as a general rule of thumb, you should size it in accordance with any Terminal Service Server (Citrix or Microsoft Remote Desktop), based on having the limited Application Profile for EnterpriseLink exclusive use. In sizing the EnterpriseLink Server, the Primary Considerations would be: RAM, Network Latency, and GPU.
Our sizing considerations for RAM and Storage on the EnterpriseLink Host(s) follow this formula:
- RAM: 4GB per Core (eg. for 24 Cores, the minimum requirement would be 96GB)
- Hard Drive: SSD, Azure Premium SSD, AWS NVMe SSD Preferred
Formula for Core Capacity Estimates to Size AXIS EnterpriseLink Hosts:
- EnterpriseLink Server:
(Round (No. of User / No. of Cores per Host)) = No. of Hosts
For example: (Round (50 Users / 24 Core Server)) = 3 EnterpriseLink Hosts
GridLink
The GridLink Server/AWS EC2/Azure Instance specifications would be dependent on whether you planned to use AWS Auto Scale Groups / Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets or Permanent Grid Infrastructure; with regards to sizing for these instances, that would be determined by the types of batch jobs your Actuarial users run, baselining the current workload, etc.; in sizing the GridLink hosts, the Primary Considerations would be: Floating Point Calculation, L2 / L3 Cache, Disk Access Speed.
Our sizing considerations for RAM and Storage on the GridLink Compute Nodes follow this formula:
- RAM: 2GB per Core (eg. for 24 Cores, the minimum requirement would be 48GB)
- Hard Drive: SSD, Azure Premium SSD, AWS NVMe SSD Preferred
Formula for Minimum Storage Capacity Requirements for AXIS GridLink Hosts:
- GridLink Server Storage:
(No. of Cores * Max Dataset Size * 1.25) = Minimum Available Storage (excluding OS Volume)
For example: 24 Cores * 50GB * 1.25 = 1.5 TB of Storage
Due to the extreme workload placed on the drive systems in multi-processor servers and the availability of higher clock rates in smaller servers, we strongly recommend 2-processor servers over 4-processor or 8-processor servers slated for use as part of a GridLink farm. Racks of dual-processor servers are a popular choice for scaling AXIS under Distributed Processing and Grid Computing. Where space is at a premium, Blade servers are an excellent option.
Please see a matrix of sample recommended models from the major vendors (IBM, HP, Dell). This is by no means an exhaustive or a restricted listing, just a representative selection of models, leveraging one of our recommended processors.
Recommended Models
| AXIS Role | Physical Host Model | AWS EC2 Instance Type | Azure Instance Type |
| EnterpriseLink Server | Lenovo ThinkSystem SR850 | R5D.12XLarge (24 Cores) | D15S.V2 (20 Cores) |
| EnterpriseLink Server | HPE ProLiant DL580 Gen10 | R5.12XLarge (24 Cores) | F32S.V2 (16 Cores) |
| GridLink Server | Dell EMC PowerEdge R940 | C5N.18XLarge (36 Cores) | F32S.V2 (16 Cores) |
| GridLink Server | Lenovo ThinkSystem SR590 | C5D.18XLarge (36 Cores) | D14.V2 (14 Cores) |
| GridLink Server | HPE ProLiant DL560 Gen10 | Z1D.6XLarge (12 Cores) | E64.V3 (32 Cores) |
Desktops/Laptops
Intel recently announced their latest processors based on the "Kaby Lake" architecture, but these have not hit the mainstream yet. So our recommendations for Intel-based workstations, desktops, and notebooks are based on the "Skylake" architecture, branded as "Core i7" and "Core i9" processors.
AMD recently released second-generation Threadripper processors are based on the ZEN+ microarchitecture, featuring frequency and memory improvements, as compared to their previous family of processors. The biggest change second-generation brought is introduction of higher core count models. 2900-series doubled the core count to as much as 32 cores and introduced a new automatic overclocking feature called Precision Boost Overdrive. As of this writing, the 2900-series processor family has not been adopted by the major workstation, desktop, or notebook manufacturers (eg. HP, Dell, Lenovo); this is reflected in our sample workstation/desktop/laptop listing.
Recommended Models
| CPU Class | CPU Model | Base Clock Speed | Turbo Clock Speed | Cores | Cache Size |
| Desktop | Intel Core i9-9980XE | 3.00 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 18 | 24.75 MB |
| Desktop | AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2950X | 3.50 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 32 | 64.00 MB |
| Desktop | Intel Core i9-7920X | 2.90 GHz | 4.30 GHz | 12 | 16.50 MB |
| Desktop | Intel Xeon W-2195 | 2.30 GHz | 4.30 GHz | 18 | 27.50 MB |
| Desktop | Intel Xeon Silver 4110 | 2.40 GHz | 3.00 GHz | 8 | 11.00 MB |
| Laptop | Intel Xeon E-2186M | 2.90 GHz | 4.80 GHz | 6 | 12.00 MB |
| Laptop | Intel Core i7-8700B | 3.20 GHz | 4.60 GHz | 6 | 12.00 MB |
| Laptop | Intel Core i9-8950HK | 2.90 GHz | 4.80 GHz | 6 | 12.00 MB |
| Laptop | Intel Xeon E-2176M | 2.70 GHz | 4.40 GHz | 6 | 12.00 MB |
| Laptop | Intel Xeon E5-2648L | 1.80 GHz | 2.50 GHz | 14 | 35.00 MB |
Please see a matrix of sample recommended models from the major vendors (Lenovo, HP, Dell). This is by no means an exhaustive or a restricted listing, just a representative selection of models, leveraging one of our recommended processors.
AXIS Laptop and Desktop Tech Specs »
Recommended Models
| Type | Model |
| Laptop | Dell Precision 5530 (Intel Xeon E-2186M Edition) |
| Laptop | HP ZBook Studio G5 (Intel Xeon E-2186M Edition) |
| Laptop | Lenovo ThinkPad ThinkPad P72 (Xeon Edition (Intel Xeon E-2186M CPU)) |
| Desktop | Dell Precision 5820 (Xeon W-2195) |
| Desktop | HP Z4 G4 Workstation (i9-7940X) |
| Desktop | Lenovo ThinkStation P720 (Dual Xeon Silver 4110) |