Download Leading the 10T era TextStart Dialogue with Chen Junhua, VP of

Leading the 10T era
TextStart
Dialogue with Chen Junhua, VP of Huawei Global Technical Sales Dept.
Internet technology develops with lightening speed and new bandwidth intensive
services are constantly being launched. Such trends have imposed higher requirements
on the capacity and scalability of core routers in backbone networks.
In order to meet current and future demands, cluster technology is becoming a prime
development direction for core routers. In the following interview with Chen Junhua,
Huawei presents some innovative solutions and outlines its future plans.
A quantum leap for routers
Reporter (R): What was the industrial background that spurred the development of
cluster router technology?
Chen Junhua (C): Internet traffic statistics show that the traffic on the Internet
backbone doubles every 12 months. According to Moore's Law, processor performance
is doubling every 18 months. However, Moore's Law has failed to factor in the high
power consumption and heat dissipation problems caused by high integration. This
means that the processing capability of single routers cannot cater to the exploding
growth of the Internet, and cluster routers have become an inevitable choice.
Before the cluster function was introduced, two modes were often used in the industry
to expand capacity. The first mode was to add slots in a single frame of routers or
increase the capacity of each single interface. The second mode was to expand multiple
routers through route interconnections.
The first mode is not practical enough in applications, due to the aforementioned power
consumption and heat dissipation caused by the high integration of single equipment.
To expand the capacity of core-layer equipment, measures should be taken to break
through technical restrictions, in addition to increasing the capacity of single
equipment.
The second mode is to deploy multiple core routers on the core layer, which are
completely interconnected to share the traffic, easing the pressure from traffic growth.
However, this results in many new and different problems.
For example, it requires additional high-speed interfaces and interconnection links,
more IP addresses, and complicated data transfer addressing. It also causes longer fault
recovery time and more complicated network architecture. Given such disadvantages,
this is not an ideal mode for expanding capacity.
Cluster technology concatenates, or links together, two or more core routers with an
independent switching network through high-speed optical fibers, forming a
multi-layer and multi-plane switching matrix system. The technology breaks through
the limitation of single equipment in switching capacity, power consumption and heat
dissipation and enables cooperation and parallel processing by core routers. System
capacity is smoothly expanded, even though the system is still a one logic router system
in appearance.
R: What is the significance and value of cluster router technology? Will it be the future
development trend for high-end routers?
C: Cluster routers are a necessary trend for the development of future high-end routers.
Many telecom operators have clearly demanded that core routers must offer the cluster
capability, so the cluster technology has become a basic requirement for core routers. In
comparison with the traditional multi-host backup mode, cluster technology features
three advantages in expanding the switching capacity of core routers:
First, it reduces costs. In the cluster system, routers are concatenated with the switching
network through high-speed optical fibers, and there isn' t any need for interconnection
interfaces. The costs for concatenation are far less than the costs for ordinary port
interconnection.
Second, it avoids bandwidth bottleneck. If the switching capacity of core routers is
expanded through route interconnections, the capacity of interconnected ports might
become a new bottleneck. Cluster technology can enable the concatenation between
switching networks and avoid bottlenecks.
Third, it results in a clear network structure. A cluster system has a unified management
route control engine and a non-blocking switching platform. Being one router in logic,
the cluster system does not change the existing network structure, nor does it increase
the addressing difficulty in data transfer. Network maintenance can be simply and
conveniently implemented.
To sum up, cluster technology can effectively solve problems concerning capacity
expansion. Without increasing the network complexity, it can meet the requirements
resulting from high-speed traffic growth and the corresponding required increase of
network performance and capacity, while further decreasing the network capital
expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX).
The development of cluster technology provides better equipment processing
capability, scalability and the reliability required by rapid Internet development.
Recently, China Telecom has clearly specified that core routers must offer the cluster
capability.
NE5000E : A trailblazer in the 10T Era
R: Only a few vendors have launched cluster routers. What are the technical hurdles to
overcome in developing cluster routers?
C: A cluster router is indeed a complicated system. A lot of human and financial
resources have to be invested on product development, from chips and components, to
hardware/software architecture and integrated equipment processes. Plus, the vendor
must have rich technical experience in product development and design. This is why
only a few vendors can implement cluster products.
As we know, the human nervous system is complex and highly important to our bodily
functions. Our organs and physical functions are all directly or indirectly under the
control of the nervous system. Think of the cluster system as a giant person with three
heads and six arms. How does this giant coordinate three heads? Which head shall
direct the six arms? The nervous system of ordinary people is ill equipped for such an
arduous task.
The biggest difficulty in developing the cluster router is building the "nerve system" in
order to enable information synchronization and cooperation on the data switching and
system control platforms between different equipment.
Huawei owns the core patents for both the switching and the control platforms of the
cluster system, and has successfully constructed a nerve system specifically designed
for enabling critical information synchronization and equipment cooperation.
R: Huawei's cluster router product, the NE5000E, was formally commercialized in
2004. What are its special features?
C: According to our customer survey, operators have three major concerns: large
capacity, scalability, and capacity expansion with uninterrupted service. The NE5000E
satisfies all the three concerns with unique performance and also saves energy.
The NE5000E is now the only 10T cluster router in the industry. To improve the
average revenue per user (ARPU) and increase enterprise revenues, many operators are
deploying high bandwidth services such as IPTV and video on demand (VOD) services.
Huawei is the only vendor that has launched 10T cluster routers, and its large-capacity
equipment can meet operators' requirements for high bandwidth services. Through
smooth capacity expansion and upgrades, the port capacity of the NE5000E cluster
system can reach 80T, to fulfill future business and user development requirements.
The NE5000E supports flexible capacity expansion and a complete collection of cluster
modes, from 2 frames, to 4 frames, up to 64 frames. The NE5000E has a unique
two-frame back-to-back cluster system with no central switching frame and saves up to
58% of total cost of ownership (TCO). The two-frame back-to-back cluster system
offers a 2.56T port capacity to meet the service requirements in the upcoming two to
three years. It can be smoothly upgraded to support cluster routers with more frames,
and is currently the best selection for the two-frame cluster system.
The NE5000E is now the only cluster router in the industry that enables smooth system
capacity expansion without service interruption. It used to be difficult to realize smooth
capacity expansion and upgrade of the cluster. The NE5000E adopts the innovative
in-service hardware expansion (ISHE) technology to enable smooth capacity expansion
of the system without interrupting services or replacing any existing hardware.
The NE5000E is a green cluster system. The green idea is taken into consideration
throughout the design process. Key chips are designed with 65nm technology and are
highly integrated with optimized hardware architecture so that the NE5000E uses 25%
less power. For heat dissipation, the NE5000E makes use of a patented cycling air
cooling system, which improves cooling efficiency and further decreases power
consumption by 50%. The photon cards, which are used to interconnect routers, can be
flexibly configured according to the number of frames supported by each cluster router.
Compared to the cluster systems with a fixed configuration, a 2-plus-4-cluster system
can save 500W power using photon cards. Huawei's two-frame cluster router can save
500,000kW each year. This is equivalent to the dissipation of 500 tons of carbon
dioxide, or the amount absorbed by two football field sized sections of forest in an
entire year.
The NE5000E is small in volume, weighs only 260kg, and can be placed in a standard
19-inch cabinet. Load bearing capability is negligible, facilitating network deployment
and saving equipment room reconstruction costs. The NE5000E cluster router is all
"green" in aspects of design, deployment and operation.
R: How do operators comment on NE5000E's performance in actual applications?
C:To date, the NE5000E has been running for more than six months in the network of
China Telecom Wuxi and has provided complete cluster modes, smooth capacity
expansion and outstanding performance. A spokesperson at China Telecom Wuxi said,
"Of all cluster routers in the industry, only Huawei's cluster routers support
back-to-back cluster technology, which saves investment in the central switching
frames. On the initial phase, when port capacity demand is not large, the investment is
comparatively small. As the network develops, the NE5000E can enable smooth
capacity expansion. By adopting the central switching frame, the NE5000E offers
4-frame, 8-frame, and up to 64-frame clusters."
Future prospects
R: According to Light Reading, Huawei's 10T cluster router is the most challenging
product in the industry. What new demands will the market place on cluster router
products in the future? What are Huawei's plans and ideas for meeting them?
C: Since the beginning of this year, the market has seen a fast growth in requirements
for cluster routers. With the explosive growth of bandwidth requirements, it is a
necessary trend that cluster routers will be used in metropolitan area networks (MANs).
Different from the core network, a MAN is user oriented and places different
requirements on equipment, as it has more service types and more complicated traffic
types. Huawei has invested heavily in research as to how cluster routers support
multiple services. We will add multi-service bearing capabilities on our cluster routers
to cater to network and service developments. Such capabilities include security
monitoring, multi-protocol label switch (MPLS) L3/L2 provider edge (PE), next
generation network (NGN)/3G gateway access, dedicated line access for key accounts,
and broadband user access.
The development of unified communications services has brought pressure to industrial
users from increased bandwidth requirements. Some industries with large traffic data
service requirements, such as information content providers (ICPs) and the media, are
now faced with more obvious bandwidth pressure. Later on, they may smoothly expand
the capacity of core routers through cluster routers.
Aiming to introduce even larger capacity cluster routers in the future and to meet the
different requirements of customers in a more flexible way, Huawei will continue to
lead in the development trend of core routers.
TextEnd