PCIe HSM Server Compatibility Requirements

Hardware security modules

The nShield Solo XC and 5s hardware security modules are intended for installation into a certified personal computer, server, or similar equipment. If the intended installation environment can supply the required electric power, and sufficient cooling, multiple modules can be installed.

HSM hardware requirements

A brief overview of the minimum hardware requirements for the nShield Solo XC and 5s HSMs are highlighted below. For the full list of requirements to handle the card, see the Solo Install Guide and nShield 5s Install Guide respectively.

Category Requirement

Power

24W

Cooling

1.9 m/s airflow

Connection

PCIe x4 Interface

Notes

Charged Internal Battery

Minimum server installation requirements

Server hardware requirements

Category Requirement

Power

24W per available module

Memory Storage

16 GB

RAM

2 GB

Connection

PCIe x4 slot Gen2

PCIe Compatibility

The future PCIe specifications (Gens 3.x, 4.x, 5.x) have made no changes that affect the compatibility of nShield XC and 5s HSM with the PCIe standard. Units should be able to operate in a host that implements a newer standard than Gen2.

Information for Solo XC

OS compatibility

This compatibility list is provided for Solo XC units running with Security World version 12.50 or later appropriate versions. No guarantees of compatibility are provided for previous versions of the software. Refer to the Security World Release Notes to verify compatibility with the selected OS version.

Windows

Server Editions

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Windows Server 2008r2

x64

12.50

Windows Server 2012r2

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80

Windows Server 2016

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3

Windows Server 2016 Core

x64

12.50

Windows Server 2019

x64

12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2019 Core

x64

12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2022

x64

12.81, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2022 Core

x64

12.81, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Desktop Editions

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Windows 7

x64

12.50, 12.60

Windows 10

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Windows 11

x64

13.3, 13.5, 13.6
Linux

Red Hat Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

RHEL6

x64, x86

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80

RHEL7

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

RHEL8

x64

12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

RHEL9

x64

13.3, 13.5, 13.6

SUSE Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

SUSE 11

x64

12.50, 12.60

SUSE 12

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3

Oracle Enterprise Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Oracle Linux 6

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80

Oracle Linux 7

x64

12.50, 12.60, 12.70, 12.80, 13.3

Oracle Linux 8

x64

12.70, 12.80, 13.3, 13.5, 13.6

Oracle Linux 9

x64

13.5, 13.6
Unix

Solaris

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Solaris 11.3

SPARC, x64

12.60

Examples of known compatible servers

Dell servers

Model

CPU

PowerEdge R640

Intel® Xeon® Gold 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz

PowerEdge R630

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

PowerEdge R430

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2620 v4 @ 2.10GHz

PowerEdge R440

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4114 CPU @ 2.20GHz

PowerEdge R450

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4310 CPU @ 2.10GHz

PowerEdge R640

Intel® Xeon® Gold 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz

PowerEdge R730

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

PowerEdge R740

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4208 CPU @ 2.10GHz
HP servers

Model

CPU

ProLiant DL380 Gen9

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

ProLiant DL380 Gen10

Intel® Xeon® Gold 6130 CPU @ 2.10GHz

ProLiant DL385 Gen10

AMD EPYC™ 7262 @ 3.20GHz

ProLiant DL360 Gen9

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

ProLiant DL360 Gen10 Plus

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4314 CPU @ 2.40GHz

List of currently incompatible servers

Dell servers

Model

CPU

Notes

PowerEdge R930

Intel® Xeon® processor E7 v4 (Typical)*

Windows Server 2016

PowerEdge FC640

Intel® Xeon® Gen 2 (Typical)*

*Where marked typical, a known example of an incompatible processor is not provided.

HP servers

Model

CPU

Notes

ML110 Gen 9

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

RHEL 6.7

DL180 Gen 9

Intel® Xeon® Gold 6130 CPU @ 2.10GHz

Windows Server 2012 R2

DL360 Gen 10

Intel® Xeon® CPU E5-2650 v4 @ 2.20GHz

DL380 Gen 8

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4314 CPU @ 2.40GHz

Windows Server 2016

Known configuration issues

Incorrect status code

An HSM with a drained battery should be reporting an SOS-B1 alarm code. In a specific firmware iteration, the hardserver reports "unsupported hardware", instead of the expected message of "B1".

Affected version of firmware:

nShield Solo XC 12.80.2

Example of misleading message:

Module #n:
  enquiry reply flags   Failed
  enquiry reply level   Zero
  hardware status       unsupported firmware

Possible Resolution:

Replace the battery on-board the HSM. See the Solo Install Guide for installation details.

Battery drain

A battery drain issue has been observed on some released versions of the Solo XC firmware. For further details on this issue, see the separate Solo XC Battery Drain document.

Affected version of firmware:

nShield Solo XC 12.72.0, 12.80.2

The issue was fixed in:

nShield Solo XC 12.72.1, 12.80.5

Information for nShield 5s

OS compatibility

This compatibility list is provided for 5s units running with Security World version 13.2 or later appropriate versions. No guarantees of compatibility are provided for previous versions of the software. Refer to the Security World Release Notes to verify compatibility with the selected OS version.

Windows

Server Editions

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Windows Server 2016

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4

Windows Server 2019

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2019 Core

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2022

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Windows Server 2022 Core

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Desktop Editions

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Windows 10

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Windows 11

x64

13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6
Linux

Red Hat Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

RHEL7

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4

RHEL8

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

RHEL9

x64

13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

SUSE Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

SUSE 12

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

SUSE 15

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Oracle Enterprise Edition

Architecture

Compatible Firmware

Oracle Linux 7

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4

Oracle Linux 8

x64

13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6

Oracle Linux 9

x64

13.5, 13.6

Examples of known compatible servers

Dell servers

Model

CPU

PowerEdge R440

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4210R CPU @ 2.40GHz

PowerEdge R450

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4310 CPU @ 2.10GHz

PowerEdge R640

Intel® Xeon® Silver 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz

PowerEdge R650

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4310 CPU @ 2.10GHz

PowerEdge R750

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4310 CPU @ 2.10GHz
HP servers

Model

CPU

ProLiant DL325 Gen10 Plus v2

AMD EPYC™ 7443P 24-Core Processor

ProLiant DL360 Gen10 Plus

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4314 CPU @ 2.40GHz

ProLiant DL385 Gen10

AMD EPYC™ 7262 @ 3.20GHz

ProLiant DL380 Gen10

Intel® Xeon® Gold 6130 CPU @ 2.10GHz

ProLiant DL380 Gen10 Plus

Intel® Xeon® Silver 4310 CPU @ 2.10GHz

ProLiant DL380 Gen9

Intel® Xeon® E5-2650 v4 CPU @ 2.20GHz

List of currently incompatible servers

Dell servers

Model

CPU

Notes

*Where marked typical, a known example of an incompatible processor is not provided.

HP servers

Model

CPU

Notes

Known configuration issues

Driver issues with more than 10 devices

When 10 or more nShield 5s HSMs are installed in a server running a Linux-based operating system, the host driver fails. This issue is not observed on Windows-based servers.

No current solution exists for this issue.