Cisco UCS C220 M7 Upgrade Guide
Maximize the performance and lifespan of your UCS C220 M7 (M7). Every upgrade option below is verified compatible.
Verified Specifications
| Processor Options | 2 sockets (1 or 2): 5th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable up to 60 cores per CPU (DDR5-5600), or 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable up to 52 cores per CPU (DDR5-4800) |
| Memory Configuration | 32 DIMM slots (16 per CPU), DDR5-5600 (5th Gen) or DDR5-4800 (4th Gen), DIMM capacity points up to 128GB; up to 4TB (32x128GB) in 2-socket config |
| Drive Configurations | 1U SFF, 10 front bays: UCSC-C220-M7S 10x SAS/SATA or NVMe SSD with HW RAID (up to 4 direct-attach NVMe); UCSC-C220-M7N 10x NVMe only; 2x M.2 SATA SSD (boot RAID) or M.2 NVMe options |
| Power Supply Options | Up to 2 hot-swap PSUs, 1+1 redundant: 770W AC, 1200W AC, 1600W AC, 2300W AC |
| RAID Controllers | Internal slot for one of: SATA interposer (AHCI); Cisco 24G Tri-mode RAID controller w/cache backup (SAS/SATA/NVMe); Cisco 12G RAID controller w/cache backup (SAS/SATA); Cisco 24G Tri-mode pass-through HBA (SAS/SATA/NVMe); Cisco 12G SAS pass-through HBA |
| Networking Options | 1GbE mgmt port; mLOM/OCP 3.0 slot up to 2x100GbE: VIC 15428 4x10/25/50G, VIC 15427 4x10/25/50G, VIC 15238 2x40/100/200G, VIC 15237 2x40/100/200G; PCIe: VIC 15425 (UCSC-P-V5Q50G), VIC 15235 (UCSC-P-V5D200G); OCP 3.0 NICs incl. Intel X710 2x10Gbase-T (UCSC-O-ID10GC), 25G/100G OCP options |
| Specification Source | Cisco official documentation (verified 2026-07-02) |
Upgrade Storage
Moving from spinning disk to SSD or NVMe storage provides the largest single performance improvement — often 10-50x faster I/O. Consider NVMe for boot drives and high-IOPS workloads.
Cisco 1.2-TB 12G 10K 2.5 SAS HDD
Cisco 1.6TB 2.5" SFF Enterprise Performance 12Gb/s SAS SSD (3X DWPD)
Cisco 1.6TB 2.5" U.2 NVMe Intel P5600 High Perf Medium Endurance SSD
Cisco 1.6TB 2.5" U.2 NVMe Intel P5620 High Perf High Endurance (3X) SSD
Cisco 1.6TB NVMe High Perf SSD 2.5"
Cisco 1.6TB NVMe SFF 2.5" Intel 3 DWPD High Endurance
Upgrade Power & Cooling
This category provides verified compatible upgrade paths. ICD engineers validate every part for compatibility with your specific server model and workload requirements.
Cisco 2811 Fan Kit CISCO2811 Fan Kit
Cisco 36076 04 Cooling Fan for UCS C240 M3
Cisco Air Duct for Intel 5TH Gen Xeon Processors (C220 M7)
Cisco C5020 Fan Fan Module for Nexus 5020 Series
Cisco Catalyst 3850 Type 1 Replacement Fan Module
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Fan Tray
Upgrade Controllers
Upgrading your RAID controller enables faster disk I/O, larger cache, and support for newer drive technologies. Essential when adding NVMe or SAS-4 drives.
Cisco 12G Modular SAS 6-PORT HBA Controller Card (UCSC-SAS-M5HD)
Cisco 12G Modular SAS HBA Max 26 Drives for UCS C-series M5
Cisco 24G SAS HBA (Tri-Mode pass-through) for UCS C-Series M7
Cisco M6 12G SAS HBA 32 Drives for UCS C-series M6
Upgrade Processors
CPU upgrades deliver more cores and higher clock speeds. If your workload is CPU-bound (compilation, analytics, HPC), upgrading from 8-core to 16+ core processors provides significant throughput improvement.
Cisco Intel Xeon Bronze 3508U (5TH Gen, 8C) for X-series Processor
Cisco Intel Xeon Gold 5415+ 2.9GHz 8C/16T 150W Processor
Cisco Intel Xeon Gold 5418Y 2.0GHz 24C/48T 185W Processor
Cisco Intel Xeon Gold 5512U (5TH Gen) for X-series Processor
Cisco Intel Xeon Gold 5515+ (5TH Gen) for C-series Processor
Cisco Intel Xeon Gold 5515+ (5TH Gen) for X-series Processor
Upgrade Memory
Memory is the most impactful upgrade for virtualization and database workloads. Upgrading from 64GB to 128GB or 256GB can dramatically improve VM density and application response times.
Cisco 128GB DDR4 LRDIMM 3200MHz 4DRx4 3DS Memory
Cisco 128GB DDR4 LRDIMM 3200MHz 4Rx4 Memory
Cisco 128GB DDR5 RDIMM 4800MHz 4Rx4 3DS ECC Memory
Cisco 128GB DDR5 RDIMM 4800MHz 4Rx4 Memory
Cisco 128GB DDR5 RDIMM 4800MHz 4Rx4 Memory (UCS X-Series)
Cisco 128GB DDR5 RDIMM 5600MHz 4Rx4 3DS ECC Memory
More UCS C220 M7 Resources
Ready to upgrade your UCS C220 M7?
Tell us your current configuration and workload. Our engineers will recommend the most impactful upgrades with guaranteed compatibility.
Get Upgrade Quote