Cisco NC55P-BDL-36HT High-Density Interface Bundle: Technical Breakdown and Deployment Guidelines

Hardware Architecture & Functional Overview

The ​​NC55P-BDL-36HT​​ is a specialized interface bundle for Cisco’s NCS 5500 series routers, designed to address three critical service provider challenges:

• ​​High-Density 100G/400G Aggregation​​ – ​​36x QSFP-DD ports​​ with 14.4 Tbps bidirectional throughput
• ​​Modular Service Flexibility​​ – Mix of 4x100G, 8x25G, and 2x400G breakout configurations per port
• ​​Energy-Efficient Design​​ – 0.38W per Gbps at full load, 40% improvement over previous generations

Technical Specifications & Performance Validation

Port Configuration Capabilities

Performance Metrics (IOS XR 7.11.2)

• ​​MACsec-256GCM Throughput​​: 8.2 Tbps @ 64B packets
• ​​BGP Update Rate​​: 440k routes/sec with 32M RIB capacity
• ​​Latency​​: 750ns (min) to 1.2μs (max) port-to-port

Deployment Scenarios & Use Cases

5G Mobile Transport Networks

• ​​eCPRI Fronthaul​​: 200μs end-to-end latency with 10ns timestamp accuracy
• ​​FlexE Grouping​​: 5G slice isolation with 99.999% availability SLA

Hyperscale DCI (Data Center Interconnect)

• ​​VXLAN-EVPN Overlay​​: 6.4M MAC/IP entries per system
• ​​RoCEv2 Optimization​​: <0.0001% packet loss at 400G line rate

Tier-1 ISP Core Routing

• ​​SRv6 Micro-Segmentation​​: 1.2M SIDs with 128-bit algorithmic addressing
• ​​DDoS Mitigation​​: 480 Gbps scrubbing capacity per chassis

Compatibility & System Requirements

Supported Platforms

• ​​NCS 5508​​: Requires dual NCS-55A1-36H-SE line cards
• ​​NCS 5516​​: Full mesh connectivity with Gen3 fabric modules

Software Dependencies

• ​​Mandatory​​: IOS XR 7.11.1+ with ASR9K parity package
• ​​Recommended​​:
  • Segment Routing Toolkit 6.3.2
  • NetFlow v9 Export with 1:1M sampling ratio

Power & Thermal Specifications

Power Consumption Profiles

Cooling Requirements

• ​​Airflow​​: 3.5 m/s front-to-back (NEBS Level 3 compliant)
• ​​Thermal Thresholds​​:
  • Inlet: -5°C to 55°C (operational)
  • Exhaust: ≤70°C (non-recirculating environments)

Field Installation Best Practices

Cabling Guidelines

• ​​400G QSFP-DD​​: ≤2dB insertion loss (OM4/OM5 fibers)
• ​​25G Breakouts​​: Use polarization-maintaining MPO-12 connectors

Diagnostic Commands

bash复制
show controllers fia diags 0/0/CPU0  // Monitor ASIC buffer stats  
debug hw-module location 0/0/cpu0 fpga  // Trace microburst events  

Total Cost of Ownership Analysis



Metric
NC55P-BDL-36HT
Alternative Solutions




5-Year Energy Cost
$182,000
$310,000


Port Density/RU
36x400G
24x400G


MTTR
18 minutes
55 minutes



Data sourced from Cisco’s 2024 SP Routing Total Economics Report.

Procurement & Authenticity Verification
For genuine hardware with Cisco TAC support:

[“NC55P-BDL-36HT” link to (https://itmall.sale/product-category/cisco/).

Operational Reliability Insights
Field Performance Data

​​MTBF​​: 147,000 hours (16.8 years) in 24/7 operation
​​Common Configuration Errors​​:

Mismatched FIB/RIB scaling limits causing BGP session flaps
Oversubscribed QoS policies triggering buffer starvation




Final Operational Assessment
The NC55P-BDL-36HT redefines core routing economics – its ​​hardware-assisted telemetry pipeline​​ enables real-time jitter measurement at nanosecond granularity, critical for 5G timing-sensitive applications. While the 412,000listpricerequiresjustification,thebundle’s​∗∗​field−upgradablePHYfirmware​∗∗​extendsservicelifethroughthreehardwarerefreshcycles.ForSPsmanaging>100Tbpsdailytraffic,thisplatformreducesoperationalcomplexityby60412,000 list price requires justification, the bundle’s ​**​field-upgradable PHY firmware​**​ extends service life through three hardware refresh cycles. For SPs managing >100Tbps daily traffic, this platform reduces operational complexity by 60% compared to disaggregated solutions (Cisco-verified metric). In earthquake-prone regions, its ​**​vibration-resistant connectors​**​ prevent service interruptions that cost 412,000listpricerequiresjustification,thebundle’s​∗∗​field−upgradablePHYfirmware​∗∗​extendsservicelifethroughthreehardwarerefreshcycles.ForSPsmanaging>100Tbpsdailytraffic,thisplatformreducesoperationalcomplexityby609,000/minute in SLA penalties – making it not just a product, but revenue protection.