AI transformation · Infrastructure
AI Infrastructure and Data Center Builds
GPU environments need decisions on power, cooling, fabric, and platform software before the hardware arrives. Silex designs, supplies, builds, and commissions them, with a documented decision at every step.
How a build runs
Seven phases, each with a gate.
Each phase ends with a decision you approve. Hardware is ordered against a reviewed design, and the environment is accepted against tests you agreed to in advance.
- Requirements register
- Tenancy and service model
- Success criteria
- Options compared on lead time, cost, and operability
- Written vendor confirmations
- A fallback for each choice
- Numbered decision records
- Facility requirements
- Rack elevations, power and cabling schedules
- Frozen bill of materials
- Quotes checked against the design
- Network and security configuration as code
- Tested in a virtual lab first
- Burn-in and GPU diagnostics
- Collective communication and inference benchmarks
- Thermal soak and failover tests
- As-built documentation
- Runbooks
- Knowledge transfer
After acceptance, Forward Deployed Engineers can operate the environment with your team and move operational ownership to you on your schedule.
Managed ServicesCommissioning evidence
Every test produces a signed record.
Silex agrees the acceptance test plan with you during design. At commissioning, every node, fabric, and platform component is tested against it, and you receive the results for sign-off.
| Acceptance test | What it shows | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Burn-in | Every node runs under sustained load, which exposes early component failures before acceptance. | Per node |
| GPU diagnostics | GPU health, memory, and interconnect checks pass on every node. | Per node |
| Collective communication benchmarks | GPU-to-GPU bandwidth across the fabric is measured against the design. | Per fabric |
| Inference benchmarks | Model throughput and latency are measured against your targets. | Per platform |
| Thermal soak | Sustained full load confirms that power and cooling hold. | Per rack |
| Failover tests | Power feeds, links, switches, and firewalls fail over as designed. | Per component |
| Signed acceptance records | You receive the results for every node, fabric, and platform component, with your sign-off. | Per environment |
Design principles
Designed to grow without a rebuild.
- 01Scale without a rebuildPhase one is designed so that later phases add capacity without replacing the fabric, addressing, or control plane.
- 02Lead time, cost, and operabilityFabric and vendor choices weigh lead time and cost against how your team will operate the result.
- 03A position and a fallbackEvery open question has a documented position and a fallback, so a late answer does not stop the build.
- 04One point of coordinationSilex acts as the single point of technical coordination across the manufacturers and your colocation provider.
Multi-tenant security
Isolation between tenants, from the network to the drives.
- Tenant network isolation
- GPU memory clearing between tenants
- Cryptographic erase of drives
- TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot
- Hardened out-of-band management
Size the models before you size the cluster.
For inference workloads, an Inference Sizing Assessment sets the GPU type and count from your models, context lengths, and concurrency before design starts.
Technologies
The components we design with.
Silex is vendor-neutral. Each choice is compared on lead time, cost, and how your team will operate it.
Compute
Fabric
Storage
Power and cooling
Platform software
Platforms
Manufacturers we work with.
We recommend the platform that fits your requirements and lead times, and we validate each choice with the manufacturer before the design is final.
Platinum Partner
GPU servers
Servers and storage
Ethernet fabrics
Networking and compute
Data platform
Questions buyers ask
Questions
Can Silex supply the hardware?
Yes. Silex supplies servers, networking, and storage from the manufacturers on our line card and quotes them against the frozen bill of materials. If you buy through your own channel, Silex still leads the design, build, and commissioning.
Should the GPU fabric use Ethernet with RoCEv2 or InfiniBand?
Both are viable. Silex compares them for your workload on bandwidth, lead time, cost, and the skills of the team that will operate the fabric, and records the decision with a fallback. Silex designs Ethernet fabrics with RoCEv2 on Arista and Cisco switches, and InfiniBand fabrics where the workload calls for them.
Do we need liquid cooling?
It depends on rack density and what your facility supports. Silex sizes power and cooling for each rack during design and chooses among air cooling, rear-door heat exchangers, and liquid cooling with you and your facility provider.
Can one environment serve several tenants?
Yes. The design isolates tenant networks, clears GPU memory between tenants, cryptographically erases drives, enables TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot, and hardens out-of-band management.
Do you work with our colocation provider?
Yes. Silex acts as the single point of technical coordination across the manufacturers and your colocation provider. Facility requirements, rack elevations, and power and cabling schedules go to the provider during design, before the hardware arrives.
Next step
Book an AI Infrastructure Design Workshop.
Requirements, platform options, and a phased build plan for a GPU environment.