The End of an Era in IT
After 16 remarkable years, Cisco is retiring a legend. In April, Cisco announced the End of Sale (EOS) date for the UCS 5108 Chassis and B200 M6 blade as December 31, 2025. It’s amazing to think that UCS 5108 Chassis have been able to continually support so many generations of UCS-B200 blades for over 16 years — from the oldest -M1 blades, up through -M6. With five more years beyond this until fully End of Life (EOL) in 2030, the UCS 5108 will have been in-life for 21 years total… wow! Learn how this change will affect your system and what steps you can take to plan for the future.
What’s Being Retired?
- UCS 5108 Chassis: a legacy of compatibility from B200 M1 to B200 M6.
- UCS B200 M6 blades: Cisco’s final generation for this chassis.
Why This Matters?
The retirement of both the Cisco UCS 5108 blade enclosures and the Cisco B200 M6 blades provide a great opportunity to assess your current environment and assess your options. While support for these devices through Cisco will not end immediately, there is now a countdown to an EOL date. Having a plan in place to transition after EOS and EOL dates is imperative to keep your business functioning efficiently.
Additionally, the UCS 5108 and B200 M6 devices will no longer be available through Cisco directly after the EOS date. Invest in alternative hardware resellers like Curvature to continue outfitting your environment with blades or enclosures that go EOS. Hardware will continue to perform at peak levels well beyond EOS dates, so sticking with legacy gear isn’t just viable, it’s the smart and recommended move, especially if you’re aiming to stretch your budget or fund more strategic priorities.
What Are Your Options?
Firstly, you can continue running your current UCS 5108 environment by using resellers and third-party maintenance solutions such as Curvature and Park Place Technologies. We can continue to keep your UCS systems up and running long after your Cisco support has expired. Through ongoing hardware monitoring and support services, or hardware upgrades and expansion to your environment, Curvature and Park Place can extend the life of your UCS systems.
Secondly, an upgrade to the Cisco UCSX 9508 blade enclosure will directly replace the UCS 5108 blade enclosure. If you want to continue upgrading your Cisco system beyond B200 M6 blades, an upgrade to a UCSX 9508 enclosure will be required. UCSM is no longer available with the 9508, and a transition to Cisco Intersight will be required to set up and manage your blade environment. Current Fabric Interconnects may not be compatible with the 9508. A 6400 series Fabric Interconnect or higher is needed to connect to your 9508 enclosure. UCSB series blades are not compatible with the X series 9508 enclosure. While there is some overlap with M6 blades between the 5108 and 9508 enclosures, they have different form factors. This means that new blades will also be required, even if you are sticking with the M6 generation.
Thirdly, you can convert to a hybrid environment for your hardware. Continuing to maintain your UCS 5108 generation infrastructure while adding a UCSX 9508 enclosure is possible, with some caveats:
- If you want to continue to use UCSM for your 5108 cluster, you will need to maintain the 9508 clusters separately, as your Fabric Interconnects have to run in UCSM mode or Cisco Intersight mode. They can’t do both simultaneously.
- If you are okay with running everything through Cisco Intersight, you may need to upgrade your Fabric Interconnects as well as acquire Cisco Intersight licenses for your UCSB generation blades. Curvature and Park Place have confirmed that these licenses can be added, even without an active SmartNet contract from Cisco.
Lastly, evaluating and upgrading to other OEM paths for your business is a viable solution. When a full infrastructure overhaul is too costly, complex, or time-consuming, transitioning to another OEM offers customers a practical upgrade path for aging UCS equipment. Other viable options for server clusters include HPE, Dell, or SuperMicro solutions that utilize rack or blade servers. It is essential to evaluate this equipment against your current environment to make sure it will meet your scalability needs. Many of these alternatives are available with OEM support, or support through Park Place, and can keep your environment reliable and secure for years to come.
Possible Hardware Alternatives
- Dell PE R660/R760 Rack Servers
- DL360/DL380 G11 Rack Servers
- SuperMicro X14 Rack Servers
- HPE Synergy 12000 Enclosure with Syn480 G11 Blades
- Dell MX7000 Enclosure with MX760 Blades
Customer Action Plan
- Assess: Audit existing UCS 5108/B200 M6 deployments.
- Plan: Determine whether to extend, hybridize, or migrate.
- Engage: Contact Curvature for a free consultation or lifecycle assessment.
- Execute: Implement with Curvature’s engineering and logistics support.
Honor the Legacy, Prepare for the Future
The UCS 5108 has had an impressive lifecycle since originally being released in 2009. It remained a popular chassis solution for businesses of all sizes. When a prominent figure in data center hardware is retired, it is imperative to have a mitigation plan in place to ensure a smooth transition for all your hardware. Curvature is here to support you — whether you’re extending the legacy or embracing what’s next.
Don’t wait! Contact us today to prepare your environment before the UCS 5108 hits EOL.
