Hardware Requirements

A CORD POD is built using the following hardware components.

Generic Hardware Guidelines

  • Compute Machines: CORD canin principle be deployed on any x86 machine, either physical or virtual. For development, demos or lab trials you may want to use only one machine (even your laptop could be fine, as long as it has enough resources). For more realistic deployments, we suggest using at least three machines (preferably all the same). The characteristics of these machines depends several factors. At the very minimum, each machine should have a 4 cores CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 100G of disk capacity. More sophisticated use-cases, for example M-CORD, require more resources (see below).

  • Network Cards: For whatever server use, it should have at the very minimum a 1G network interface for management.

  • Fabric Switches: Fabric switches should be compatible with the ONOS Trellis application that controls them. We strongly recommend using one of the tested models suggested. 10G switches are usually preferred for initial functional tests and lab deployments since they are less expensive. Moreover, 10G ports can be usually downgraded to 1G speed, and it's possible to connect them using copper SFPs. The number of switches largely depends by your needs. For basic scenarios one may be enough. For more complete fabric tests, we recommend at least four switches. Developers sometimes emulate the fabric in software (e.g., using Mininet), but this applies only to specific use-cases.

  • Access Devices: At the moment, both R-CORD and M-CORD work with very specific access devices, as described below. We strongly recommend using these tested devices.

  • Optics and Cabling: Some hardware may be picky about the optics. Both optics and cable models tested by the community are provided below.

  • Other: In addition to the above, you will need a development/management machine and an L2 management swich to connect things together. Usually a laptop is enough for the former, and a legacy L2 switch is enough for the latter.

Recommended Hardware

Following is a list of hardware that people from the ONF community have tested over time in lab trials.

  • Compute Machines

    • OCP Inspired™ QuantaGrid D51B-1U server. Each server is configured with 2x Intel E5-2630 v4 10C 2.2GHz 85W, 64GB of RAM 2133MHz DDR4, 2x 500GB HDD, and a 40 Gig adapter.

  • Fabric Switches

    • 1G/10G models (with 40G uplinks)
      • OCP Accepted™ EdgeCore AS5712-54X
      • OCP Accepted™ EdgeCore AS5812-54X
      • QuantaMesh T3048-LY8
    • 25G models (with 100G uplinks)
      • QuantaMesh BMS T7032-IX1/IX1B (with 25G breakout cable)
    • 40G models
      • OCP Accepted™ EdgeCore AS6712-32X
    • 100G models
      • OCP Accepted™ EdgeCore AS7712-32X
      • QuantaMesh BMS T7032-IX1/IX1B

  • Fabric Optics and DACs

    • 10G DACs
      • Robofiber QSFP-10G-03C SFP+ 10G direct attach passive copper cable, 3m length - S/N: SFP-10G-03C
    • 40G DACs
      • Robofiber QSFP-40G-03C QSFP+ 40G direct attach passive copper cable, 3m length - S/N: QSFP-40G-03C

  • R-CORD Access Devices and Optics

    • GPON
      • OLT: Celestica CLS Ruby S1010 (experimental, only top-down provisioning is supported - through manual customizations)
        • Compatible OLT optics
          • OptoWiz LSP4343-CKSA-R GPON SFP OLT Transceiver
      • ONUs:
    • XGS-PON
      • OLT: EdgeCore ASFVOLT16 (for more info bartek_raszczyk@edge-core.com)
        • Compatible OLT optics
          • Hisense/Ligent: LTH7226-PC, LTH7226-PC+
          • Source Photonics: XPP-XG2-N1-CDFA
      • ONUs:
        • AlphaNetworks PON-34000B (for more info ed-y_chen@alphanetworks.com)
          • Compatible ONU optics
            • Hisense/Ligent: LTF7225-BC, LTF7225-BH+
        • Iskratel Innbox G108 (for more info info@innbox.net)
          • Compatible ONU optics
            • SUNSTAR D22799-STCC, EZconn ETP69966-7TB4-I2

  • M-CORD Specific Requirements

    • Servers: Some components of CORD require at least a Intel XEON CPU with Haswell microarchitecture or better.
    • eNodeBs:

BOM Examples

The following are some BOM examples you might wish to adopt.

Basic Lab Tests

Sufficient to modify/develop basic software components, and deploy locally in a lab.

  • 1x x86 server (maybe with a 10G interface if need to support VNFs)
  • 1x fabric switch (10G)
  • 1 DAC cables (if need to support VNFs)
  • Ethernet copper cables as needed
  • Access equipment as needed
  • 1x or more developers' workstations (i.e. laptop) to develop and deploy
  • 1x L2 legacy management switch

Complex Lab Tests

For a more realistic deployment, you can build a POD with the following elements:

  • 3x x86 server (maybe 10G/25G/40G/100G interfaces if need to support VNFs)
  • 4x fabric switches (10G/25G/40G/100G)
  • 7 DAC cables + 3 to connect servers (if need to support VNFs)
  • Ethernet copper cables as needed
  • Access equipment as needed
  • 1 or more developers' workstations (i.e. laptop) to develop and deploy
  • Alternatively a management/development server
  • 1x L2 legacy management switch