6WIND, Advantech Unveil White Box Border Router for ISPs

6WIND, a high-performance networking software company, and Advantech, a global provider of intelligent systems, has  announced a white box Border Router bundle for Internet Service Providers (ISPs).

The new bundle gives ISPs the choice of 1 to 100G virtual routers (vRouters) combined with a right-sized x86 server to fulfill Border Router requirements through white box networking. Advantech is offering demonstrations and appointments with 6WIND at Mobile World Congress Barcelona.

The White Box Border Router for ISPs

The 6WIND and Advantech Border Router bundle fulfills the promise of white box networking by integrating 6WIND’s vRouter software appliances with Advantech’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) servers, giving ISPs an alternative to expensive, proprietary hardware routers.

6WIND’s vRouter offers ISPs a complete Border Router software suite for bare metal and virtual machine (VM) deployments. It delivers high performance BGP links to upstream traffic and OSPF links to downstream traffic, IPv4/IPv6 IP Forwarding, Dynamic Routing, NAT, Firewall and High Availability. Management options include a CLI and NETCONF/YANG-based APIs for integration with third-party network management solutions.

Advantech’s x86 server family offers ISPs pre-configured and configurable options to meet all-size network requirements. The following servers are available today to provide a Border Router bundle range as follows:

Entry-Level: Advantech FWA-2012

The FWA-2012 offers up to 20 Gbps of throughput based on an 8 or 16-core Intel® Atom™ Processor C3000. Six integrated GbE copper ports and two 10GbE ports available on a plug-in Network Mezzanine Card (NMC) provide sufficient wireline connectivity and throughput for entry-level border router deployments.

Mid-range: Advantech FWA-3050

The FWA-3050 offers up to 60 Gbps of throughput. It brings Intel® Xeon® class processing to the product range with the latest Intel® Xeon® Processor D-2100 system on chip series. Already verified as an Intel Select Solution for uCPE, the FWA-3050 enables eight GbE copper ports and two or four 10GbE ports out of the box. An additional Network Mezzanine Card (NMC) slot adds 10, 25 and 40GbE connectivity for scalable performance.

High-end: Advantech FWA-5070

At the high end where throughputs of up to 120 Gbps and beyond are required, Advantech’s FWA-5070 single socket design is equipped with the latest generation of Intel® Xeon® Scalable processors and offers four NMC slots, which can be configured from a wide choice of NMCs supporting 1, 10, 25, 40 and 100 GbE interfaces. The single socket approach with up to 28 cores offers customers economies of scale over dual socket designs at lower power budgets while meeting the workload demand for high-end routing throughputs.

Special Telecom Requirements: SKY-8211

The SKY-8211 is designed to fit in short-depth server racks used in some telecom applications. It can operate in environments with limited space and high ambient temperature constraints. Hot swappable powers supplies and power connectors are positioned at the front of the server, allowing installation in transmission equipment racks where no service access is available from the rear. Architected around a single-socket Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor, the SKY-8211 covers throughputs starting at 80 Gbps in two variants: SKY-8211B: 8x 10 GbE, 24x 1 GbE ports and SKY-8211F: 16x 10 GbE, 8x 1 GbE ports.

“White box networking is taking center stage as ISPs consolidate physical network functions onto more open, off-the-shelf universal platforms based on Intel® Architecture,” said James Yang, Vice President Advantech Networks and Communications Group. “These fully validated, pre-configured Border Router solutions supported by 6WIND will help streamline service provider deployment and simplify the white box supply chain”.

“6WIND and Advantech have worked together for over a decade to give the industry white box networking solutions for a range of Service Provider requirements,” said Eric Carmès, Founder and CEO of 6WIND. “Our new Border Router bundle responds to ISP requests to combine 6WIND’s software pedigree with Advantech’s server expertise for a ready-to-run alternative to proprietary hardware routers.”