VLonHA-tinyLogo.jpg

Site Map


Flanagan Consulting
 


Archive    18 Nov 2008     #70


Achieving Hardware High Availability
The Old-Fashioned Way:  Cast Iron KISS

By William Flanagan, Publisher and Principle Consultant

Big Iron computers have become little chips, but Keep It Simple Stupid is still great advice. 
A company taking aim at the carrier market decided to follow these old fashioned principles when designing an optical transport platform with huge capacity.  Putting tons of eggs in one basket, the basket had to be "big iron" reliable, better than the proverbial five 9's.

As explained by Rob Adams, VP of Marketing at Ekinops, they started with a simple basket--the multi-slot chassis carries no customer traffic on the back plane, only control signals--backplane failure won't interrupt data flows.  The control module configures the processing modules, but stays out of the data path.  You can pull the control card without disturbing any existing connections (of course changes aren't possible until you put it back).

So all the work of muxing, demuxing, regenerating, and switching is done in the same cards that hold the I/O ports.  Lots going on there:
--up to 80 channels (wavelengths) today, heading for 160 in early 2009 and a target of 320 later (very Dense Wave Division Multiplexing as well as Coarse);
--any mix of 10 and 40 GHz on adjacent channels, which are on 100 GHz spacing (going to 50 GHz when the channels double);
--multiple protocols on the same wavelength (SONET, SDH, IP) using TDM techniques;
--Forward Error Correction on all the streams, which is the equivalent of at least 10 dB of gain in signal strength, stretches the reach for repeaterless runs of fiber (recent fiber, with low loss and dispersion, is good for 1,800 to 2,000 km).  Think submarine cable.

Taking advantage of the rapidly declining prices 10 GHz technology, the I/O is largely 10 G Small Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) module used by most hardware vendors in routers and switches to terminate fiber.  They help keep down the physical size and let users adopt the least expensive SFP version for the reach needed.

The greatest contribution to size reduction is the highly integrated "T-chip" that Ekinops developed--and is keeping for itself.  On a programmable gate array (PGA), they combine the multiplexer, multiple protocol stacks, data format conversion, regeneration, FEC, dispersion correction, and I/O drivers.  There's very little else that requires additional chips.  Result:  lower power and fewer components as well as smaller size.

And that is where they attain high availability.  A simple product, that is also flexible and adaptable.  Without going into detail, Adams also claimed lower cost to manufacture which is passed through in lower pricing.  Lower, that is, compared to other NEBS-3 qualified, carrier-grade equipment.  To fit that mold, the box offers all the usual suspects in control interfaces:  SNMP with MIB extensions, ASN.1, command line interface, a Java craft interface, and (coming) TL1. 

While most of the five 9's design achieves its goal through KISS, Ekinops does apply redundancy to the most popular spares:  power supplies and fans.  And that, to me, is basic HA.  More details at http://www.ekinops.net/products-01.html.

Let's Take a Vote
Nothing to do with politics, but a question about the content of this ViewsLetter.
Interest in high availability appears to have dropped off, across the industry in general and certainly among our clients.  Currently the largest work area is VoIP.   How about you? 

QUESTION:
Would you prefer to see ViewsLetter shift its focus to Voice over IP (VoIP)?
Please let me know:   email  Bill@Flanagan-Consulting.com

__
Flanagan Consulting Supports Litigation Professionals
Several associates are experienced in analysis of patents, trademarks,
contracts, and other intellectual property related to IT and communications.
We have assisted attorneys preparing claims, depositions, and testimony.
How can we help you?  Queries to +1.703.242.8381.

__
Advertise Here
To reach over two thousand interesting people in Telecom and IT.
For details, call the Publisher at +1.703.855.0191
__
New Books
FC Associate Ray Horak recently authored two books on networking.
William Flanagan was the technical editor for both. They offer extensive
coverage, and are as accurate as two old pros can make them.

The new titles are:
Telecommunications and Data Communications Handbook, 791 pages.
Webster's New World Telecom Dictionary, 568 pages.

Wiley is the publisher. Available in bookstores and on the web from multiple
merchants--do a web search for "Ray Horak" or start with Ray's profile page at
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/AL7TPWAFURLDA.
__
How Can Flanagan Consulting Help You?
      We understand not only the technology of networks, but also
  the surrounding business processes:  procurement, bid
  preparation/analysis, statements of work, financial analysis,
  consensus building around a solution, and more.
  Find out now:  call +1.703.242.8381  or email Bill@Flanagan-Consulting.com
__
Responses to ViewsLetter and Subscriptions
Mailman, the Linux application, keeps the mailing list.  You
can unsubscribe or subscribe at:
http://lists.viewsletter.com/mailman/listinfo/vl2006
    You will need a password to unsubscribe, but Mailman
    will send you one on request.
   
Mail is welcome when addressed to publisher@viewsletter.com.
Because of the number of 'out of office' autoreplies, replies to
this message are discarded.
__
Special thanks for supporting ViewsLetter to www.webtorials.com,
your best source for communications tutorials and white papers.

"Flanagan Consulting" and "ViewsLetter" are Service Marks of W. A. Flanagan, Inc.

Flanagan Consulting
W. A. Flanagan, Inc.
45472 Holiday Drive, #3
Sterling, VA 20166
Ph:  +1.703.242.8381
Fx:  +1.703.242.8391
In Converged Networking,
We have the Experience


Editor@ViewsLetter.com
www.flanagan-consulting.com
[directions]