Radisys introduced its T-100 platform featuring new “FlowEngine” data plane software and optimized for high performance SDN and data plane Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) processing requirements.
Significantly, the new T-100 Platforms, which are based on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) silicon, can support multiple 100G ingress ports, while classifying, switching and load-balancing traffic to the latest Intel Xeon-based processing blades for performing virtual network functions.
Key capabilities of Radisys’ new FlowEngine include:
- Wirespeed flow classification within the platform switch mechanics to rapidly identify traffic, reducing DPI loads on CPU blades and increasing overall chassis capacity and performance
- Integrated load balancing to intelligently share loads across VNFs
Radisys’ T-100 Platform family consists of the T-100 Ultra, a 14 slot chassis that delivers 2+ Tbps aggregate throughput, and the T-100 Pro, a 6 slot chassis that delivers 640 Gbps aggregate throughput. The T-100 Ultra and T-100 Pro can be populated with Radisys’ new SDN and data plane NFV optimized blades:
- A2470 (NPX) Intelligent Switch Blade with FlowEngine supports integrated packet classification, SDN routing and load balancing. Its supports up to 4 x 100GbE network ports. OpenFlow and Neutron plug-ins can be used for orchestration. Service chaining can be implemented across single and clustered chassis/frames
- A4700, based on the latest Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 series processors, delivers optimized performance for processor-intensive virtualized applications
Radisys said the new T-100 Platform with A2470 switches, populated with A4700 resource blades running Intel Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK), is an ideal NFV data plane processing platform for Layer 5-7 DPI applications, Policy Control Enforcement Functions (PCRF), or Gi-LAN application processing requirements.
For NFV, the Radisys T-100 is designed to maximize use of open source and standards such as RedHat and Ubuntu KVM. It can be managed from an orchestration layer via NF-Vi interfaces. It supports OpenStack Nova (Compute) and OpenStack Neutron (Network).
“We’ve harnessed our 25 years of telecom platform engineering expertise with the introduction of our T-100 Series Platforms with FlowEngine technology, to overcome the tough challenges around realizing SDN and NFV for the data plane,” said Keate Despain, vice president, Business Development, Radisys. “In addition, Radisys support and integration services are available to help our customers rapidly adopt these unique NFV platform capabilities. The bottom line is that the T-100 with FlowEngine can help telecom application developers accelerate their NFV product programs with a platform architecture backed by Radisys that delivers CapEx and ongoing OpEx savings for mobile operators.”
Earlier this month, Radisys announced support for the new Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 series processors with performance upgrades across its broad x86 product portfolio. A new, standards-based ATCA-4700 blade for the Radisys T-Series Ultra and Pro and the latest Radisys T-Series Compact Rackmount Server are based on the new Intel Xeon E5 2600 v3 series processor.
Radisys said the performance boost makes these solutions well suited for SDN and NFV applications. Carrier-scale deployment of SDN and NFV will require platforms that can process hundreds of millions of data plane flows simultaneously, across thousands of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs).
Radisys also noted Intel Data Plane Developer Kit (Intel DPDK) optimizations and support across its x86 product line to ensure customers get the best performance possible. In addition, Radisys brings solutions and expertise in LTE, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) and security to its broad range of applications. The combination of telecom-grade performance and a broad product portfolio optimized with Intel DPDK allows TEMs to focus resources on rapid innovation in the virtualized application arena.
