109 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
109 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# Offline Workstation Hardware and Starter-Model Baseline
|
|
|
|
**Status**: Evidence-backed approval draft; no implementation authority.
|
|
**Evidence date**: 2026-07-14.
|
|
|
|
The first release explicitly excludes AMD GPU acceleration, ROCm, and Strix Halo acceleration. An
|
|
AMD64 host may still use the truthful CPU-only profile, but no AMD GPU capability is promised.
|
|
|
|
## Hardware Architecture Decision Required
|
|
|
|
| Hardware family | CPU architecture | Memory / VRAM | Storage | Current conclusion |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| NVIDIA DGX Spark | ARM64 Grace Blackwell, 20-core CPU | 128 GB unified LPDDR5x | 1 TB or 4 TB NVMe | Not compatible with an AMD64-only Ubuntu ISO; 1 TB variant also contradicts the current 2 TB baseline |
|
|
| GeForce RTX 5090 Workstation | Host CPU remains an approved AMD64 system decision; GPU is Blackwell | 32 GB GDDR7 GPU memory | Repo baseline says 2 TB NVMe; official GPU page does not define host storage | Candidate for the first AMD64 validation profile |
|
|
| RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation Edition | Host CPU remains an approved AMD64 system decision; GPU is Blackwell | 96 GB GDDR7 ECC | Repo baseline says 2 TB NVMe; GPU documentation does not define host storage | Candidate for the second AMD64 validation profile |
|
|
|
|
NVIDIA documents DGX Spark as a 20-core ARM64 Grace Blackwell system with 128 GB unified memory and
|
|
1 TB or 4 TB NVMe. NVIDIA documents RTX 5090 with 32 GB GDDR7 and RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Workstation
|
|
Edition with 96 GB GDDR7 ECC. GPU specifications do not establish the surrounding workstation CPU,
|
|
RAM, storage, firmware, or motherboard support contract.
|
|
|
|
### Recommended release decision
|
|
|
|
Keep one customer-facing **Offline Workstation** product with a universal, hardware-adaptive payload
|
|
inside each CPU architecture:
|
|
|
|
- `Offline Workstation amd64 ISO` first, supporting compatible AMD64 systems from CPU-only or
|
|
low-VRAM NVIDIA GPUs through RTX 3050/4090/5090 and RTX PRO-class GPUs. GPU marketing names do not
|
|
select media; detected VRAM, driver/runtime compatibility, RAM, disk, and capabilities select the
|
|
safe runtime profile.
|
|
- `Offline Workstation arm64 ISO` later for DGX Spark, using its supported OS/runtime/container/model
|
|
stack and independent evidence gate. It is the same Workstation product, not a new commercial tier.
|
|
|
|
An alternative single multi-architecture boot image is not recommended until a reproducible Ubuntu
|
|
boot/build design proves it can boot and install both architectures without duplicating most payloads.
|
|
Removing DGX Spark from the supported hardware list is the other coherent option. Merely relabelling
|
|
the existing AMD64 artifact as DGX Spark-compatible is prohibited.
|
|
|
|
## Universal AMD64 Capability Profiles
|
|
|
|
The ISO MUST boot and install the same core platform across profiles. Hardware discovery chooses which
|
|
local inference services and starter-model backends are enabled. Unsupported capabilities remain
|
|
installed-but-disabled or omitted with a truthful reason; the installer does not fail merely because
|
|
a high-end GPU is absent.
|
|
|
|
| Profile | Detected evidence | Required behavior |
|
|
|---|---|---|
|
|
| `core` | Less than 32 GB RAM or no supported local inference capacity, including AMD GPU hosts in the first release | Portal, administration, document/workflow surfaces supported within their own RAM/disk prerequisites; local GPU model serving not promised |
|
|
| `cpu-ai` | At least 32 GB RAM and 8 CPU cores, no usable NVIDIA VRAM | Small quantized Ollama inference may use CPU; vLLM and GPU-only functions disabled with explanation |
|
|
| `gpu-lite` | NVIDIA GPU with at least 8 GB detected VRAM | Small quantized Ollama chat/embedding enabled; vLLM/fine-tuning disabled; this covers qualifying RTX 3050 variants based on measured VRAM, not name |
|
|
| `gpu-starter` | At least 24 GB detected VRAM | Ollama plus approved vLLM/fine-tuning starter capabilities; representative RTX 4090/5090-class validation |
|
|
| `gpu-standard` | At least 48 GB detected VRAM | Higher-capacity single-GPU capabilities; representative RTX PRO-class validation |
|
|
|
|
These thresholds reflect the current feasibility checker and are planning baselines, not final
|
|
support guarantees. The Workstation category remains fixed; these are capability profiles, not Server
|
|
S/M/L/Max tiers and not commercial entitlements.
|
|
|
|
System RAM and disk minimums MUST be expressed per capability. A universal ISO may install the core
|
|
platform on smaller hardware while blocking local models when RAM, VRAM, or free disk is insufficient.
|
|
The media itself still needs enough target disk for its embedded payload and recovery headroom.
|
|
|
|
## Universal Payload Behavior
|
|
|
|
- Embed the common platform and smallest approved starter models once for AMD64.
|
|
- Prefer Ollama small-model inference for `gpu-lite` and supported CPU fallback.
|
|
- Enable the embedded vLLM Phi-3 snapshot only when the validated VRAM/runtime profile permits it.
|
|
- Do not download a different payload during offline installation.
|
|
- Do not expose different Workstation license tiers based on GPU size.
|
|
- Do not install ROCm or claim AMD GPU acceleration in the first release.
|
|
- Allow separately signed optional model packs after installation, subject to hardware, storage,
|
|
runtime, license, and compatibility checks.
|
|
- Record the chosen profile and every disabled capability in readiness/support evidence.
|
|
|
|
## Immutable Starter-Model Candidates
|
|
|
|
| Runtime use | Current mutable input | Approval pin | License evidence | Status |
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
| Ollama chat | `phi3:mini` | Ollama manifest `sha256:4f222292793889a9a40a020799cfd28d53f3e01af25d48e06c5e708610fc47e9`; model layer `sha256:633fc5be925f9a484b61d6f9b9a78021eeb462100bd557309f01ba84cac26adf` | MIT | Approved under `CT-G1-2026-008`; packaged file/notice evidence pending |
|
|
| Ollama embeddings | `nomic-embed-text` | Ollama v1.5 manifest `sha256:0a109f422b47e3a30ba2b10eca18548e944e8a23073ee3f3e947efcf3c45e59f` | Apache-2.0 upstream | Approved under `CT-G1-2026-008`; packaged license blob/attribution evidence pending |
|
|
| vLLM chat | `microsoft/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct` | Hugging Face commit `f39ac1d28e925b323eae81227eaba4464caced4e` | MIT | Approved under `CT-G1-2026-008` for validated 24 GB-or-higher profiles; exact downloaded-file inventory/digests and redistribution notice pending |
|
|
|
|
Pins are approval candidates, not permission to modify `payload.env` or build media. The release
|
|
manifest MUST record every actual file/layer digest. Tag and commit identity alone does not replace
|
|
post-download object verification.
|
|
|
|
## Acceptance Still Required
|
|
|
|
1. Product owner confirms universal hardware-adaptive behavior per CPU architecture and chooses a
|
|
later ARM64 DGX Spark artifact, a proven multi-architecture artifact, or removal of DGX Spark.
|
|
2. Delivery owner approves AMD64 low/mid/high validation machines, including at least CPU-only or
|
|
sub-8 GB behavior, an 8 GB-class GPU, a 24 GB-class GPU, and a 48 GB-or-higher GPU.
|
|
3. Platform owner approves `workstation-runtime-compatibility-baseline.md`, resolves its branch-level
|
|
baseline to exact immutable package/image/object locks, and validates it separately for AMD64 and
|
|
any future ARM64 artifact.
|
|
4. AI/platform and legal owners approve model revisions, redistribution, attribution, safety/use
|
|
boundaries, and local inference acceptance prompts.
|
|
5. Firmware/UEFI/Secure Boot, no-GPU, driver-missing, 6 GB, 8 GB, 24 GB, 32 GB, 48 GB-or-higher,
|
|
insufficient RAM/storage, multi-GPU, and driver rollback cases are added to the disconnected matrix.
|
|
|
|
## Official Evidence
|
|
|
|
- NVIDIA DGX Spark hardware overview: https://docs.nvidia.com/dgx/dgx-spark/hardware.html
|
|
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 specifications: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/50-series/rtx-5090/
|
|
- NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell architecture/specifications: https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/design-visualization/quadro-product-literature/pdf/NVIDIA-RTX-Blackwell-PRO-GPU-Architecture-v1_1.pdf
|
|
- Ollama Phi-3 tags and license: https://ollama.com/library/phi3/tags
|
|
- Ollama Nomic Embed Text tags: https://ollama.com/library/nomic-embed-text/tags
|
|
- Hugging Face Phi-3 Mini model and MIT license: https://huggingface.co/microsoft/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct
|
|
- Nomic Embed Text v1.5 upstream license: https://huggingface.co/nomic-ai/nomic-embed-text-v1.5
|