Licensed to be used in conjunction with basebox, only.
// installation
Hardware options
Applies to
Product: Server · Audience: Platform Operator · Procurement
Where server hardware comes from: FAST LTA / basebox-supplied systems or hardware procured by the customer. FAST LTA is a hardware partner, not a product of its own and not a deployment model of its own – a FAST LTA system is a basebox Server like any other.
Two sourcing paths
| Source through FAST LTA | Procure yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A pre-configured system that basebox lists as a reference configuration | Your own or existing hardware |
| Status | Supported or Validated per configuration | Validated if it matches a listed configuration; otherwise Custom – review with basebox |
| RAM options | 128 GB or 512 GB per system | As you need |
| Advantage | Known setup, documented GPU allocation, short coordination | Use of existing investments, free choice |
| Effort | Low | Check against requirements; individual coordination for Custom |
Both paths lead to the same software and the same installation procedure.
Current FAST LTA configurations
| Configuration | GPUs | Typical split | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 × NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 | 3 workstation class | Dedicated service GPU, the rest for inference | Supported |
| 2 × NVIDIA H200 141 GB | 2 data center class | 1 inference, 1 as 4 × MIG for services; measured reference workload | Validated |
| 2 × NVIDIA H200 + 1 × RTX PRO 6000 | 2 + 1 | 2 inference, RTX PRO 6000 dedicated to services | Supported |
Each with 128 GB or 512 GB RAM; RAM is a property of the configuration, not a configuration of its own. Meaning of the statuses: Status terms.
Self-procured hardware
If it matches a reference configuration, that configuration's status applies – for example 4 × NVIDIA H100 SXM 80 GB (Validated; applies explicitly to SXM, not PCIe or NVL).
If it matches none, it is Custom: possibly functional, but supported only after individual review with basebox. Document the agreed setup with the template Custom hardware.
At minimum, the hardware must meet what the Server Preparation Guide and the chart require:
| Component | Minimum | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA, compute capability 7.0+ (V100, T4, RTX 20xx, A100, L4, H100 …); driver compatible with CUDA 13.0 (12.9 as fallback) | Data center GPUs with enough VRAM for model and service models; MIG-capable if services are to run via MIG |
| CPU | 8 cores | 16+ cores |
| RAM | 16 GB | 32 GB+, 64 GB+ for large models |
| Storage | 500 GB | 1 TB+ SSD/NVMe for models, documents, databases |
| Network | Access to the image registry during installation or offline transfer | Separate networks for user access and inference when hosts are separate |
| Power and cooling | For the GPUs at their configured power limit | Approved by the server manufacturer |
What really decides the GPU question
Not basebox – but inference and service models:
- Inference: model, quantisation, context length, concurrency and latency target determine VRAM. Orientation: LLM recommendations – e.g. GPT-OSS 120B MXFP4 on 4 × H100 or GPT-OSS 20B on a 24 GB GPU.
- Service models: RAG, OCR, STT benefit from dedicated GPU capacity (typically useful around 48 GB, better about 96 GB) – as a GPU of their own or MIG slices; functional in CPU mode but slower.
- Platform: CPU, RAM, storage – no GPU.
A sentence like "basebox needs two H200s" describes an inference decision. Background: Understand the architecture.
Separate hosts
The hardware does not have to be in one machine: a CPU-only application server for the platform (and service models in CPU mode) plus a separate GPU host for inference is a supported layout – see Deployment topologies. That is the path when a GPU system already exists or inference is to sit in a different security zone.
Procurement checklist
- Target model(s) and expected concurrency known → VRAM need of inference
- Service models on GPU (which?) or CPU mode decided
- Configuration checked against the reference configurations; for Custom, review with basebox initiated
- RAM (128/512 GB or your own value), storage, network sized
- Power, cooling, rack space approved
- Location (Hosting options) and operation (Operating models) decided
Next step: Hosting options