Cisco UCS B420 M3 vs UCSX-210C-M7
The UCS B420 M3 is an end-of-life full-width 4-socket blade on Xeon E5-4600 v2 and DDR3; its modern Cisco replacement is the half-width 2-socket UCS X210c M7, whose 4th/5th Gen Xeon Scalable CPUs, DDR5, and 8 TB memory ceiling exceed the old 4-socket node in far less space. Migrate B420 M3 workloads to the X210c M7.
Cisco UCS B420 M3
End-of-life full-width 4-socket blade for memory-heavy and scale-up workloads on the 5108 chassis.
- Up to 4x Intel Xeon E5-4600 / E5-4600 v2
- 48 DDR3 DIMM slots, up to 1.5 TB memory
- 4 internal drive bays
- Full-width blade; consumes two slots in the UCS 5108
Cisco UCS X210c M7
Current half-width X-Series node with 4th/5th Gen Xeon Scalable, DDR5, and NVMe.
- Up to 2x 4th/5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable (up to 64 cores per CPU)
- 32 DDR5 DIMM slots, up to 8 TB memory (exceeds the 4-socket B420 M3)
- Up to 6 hot-swap SAS/SATA/NVMe drives plus 2x M.2
- Half-width: higher density in the UCS X9508 chassis
Cisco UCS B420 M3 vs Cisco UCS X210c M7: spec comparison
| Spec | Cisco UCS B420 M3 | Cisco UCS X210c M7 |
|---|---|---|
| Form factor | Full-width 4-socket blade | Half-width 2-socket node |
| Sockets | 4 | 2 |
| CPU family | Xeon E5-4600 / v2 | 4th/5th Gen Xeon Scalable |
| Max cores per CPU | 12 (E5-4600 v2) | Up to 64 |
| Memory type | DDR3 | DDR5 (4800/5600) |
| DIMM slots | 48 | 32 |
| Max memory | 1.5 TB | 8 TB |
| Internal drives | 4 (SAS/SATA/SSD) | Up to 6 SAS/SATA/NVMe + 2x M.2 |
| NVMe support | No | Yes (all-NVMe option) |
| Slots consumed | 2 of 8 (5108) | 1 of 8 (X9508) |
| Lifecycle status | End of Life | Current, actively sold |
Choose Cisco UCS B420 M3 if
There is no new-purchase case for the B420 M3; keep it only to maintain an existing 4-socket scale-up workload until it is migrated, since a 2-socket X210c M7 now exceeds its memory and core capacity.
Choose Cisco UCS X210c M7 if
Choose the X210c M7 to replace 4-socket B420 M3 nodes one-for-one or denser, gaining far more memory and cores in a half-width footprint with NVMe and Intersight management.
Verdict
The B420 M3 was a 4-socket scale-up blade, but a modern 2-socket X210c M7 now surpasses it on cores and memory (8 TB vs 1.5 TB) while taking half the chassis space. With the B420 M3 end of life and stuck on DDR3, migrate those workloads to the X210c M7 in the X9508 chassis for better density, NVMe storage, and a long support runway.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need a 4-socket server to replace a B420 M3?
Usually no. A 2-socket X210c M7 with modern Xeon Scalable CPUs and up to 8 TB of DDR5 exceeds the 4-socket B420 M3's memory and core capacity, so most scale-up workloads can move to a 2-socket node.
Is the UCS B420 M3 still supported by Cisco?
No. The B420 M3 has reached end-of-life milestones and runs Xeon E5-4600 v2 with DDR3. It is not a supported platform for current OS and hypervisor releases and should be migrated.
What is the migration path from B420 M3?
Move to the UCS X-Series. The X210c M7 compute node in the UCS X9508 chassis is the recommended successor and is managed through Cisco Intersight.
Will I save rack and chassis space migrating to X210c M7?
Yes. The B420 M3 is full-width and uses two of eight slots in a 5108. The X210c M7 is half-width in the X9508, so you typically recover slots and consolidate, lowering power and cooling per workload.
More UCS B-Series M comparisons
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