Cisco NCS 5500 Series Ethernet Ports Datasheet

The demand for high-capacity Wide Area Network (WAN) aggregation continues to grow as data centers, enterprises, and service providers look to interconnect their networks with unprecedented speed and efficiency. The Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS) 5500 Series Modular Chassis is engineered precisely for this challenge, providing industry-leading density of high-speed routed Ethernet ports. This series is designed to facilitate massive scaling, making it an ideal solution for the foundational infrastructure connecting vast data centers, large enterprises, web providers, and service provider aggregation layers. Its modular design offers flexibility and scalability, allowing organizations to build robust and future-proof networks capable of handling the ever-increasing volume of data traffic.

Product Overview

The Cisco NCS 5500 series offers a family of modular chassis designed for cloud-scale WAN aggregation. These chassis provide high-density ports for 10, 25, 40, 50, 100, and 400 Gigabit Ethernet connections, enabling significant scaling capabilities for diverse networking requirements. The modular architecture supports various components, including line cards, switch fabric cards, route processors, system controllers, fan trays, and power supplies, allowing for tailored configurations based on specific deployment needs. The series includes the NCS 5504, NCS 5508, and NCS 5516 models, each differing in the number of line card slots supported, offering scalability options for networks of varying sizes. The introduction of the second generation fabric cards and fan trays further enhances the forwarding capacity, preparing the chassis to support even higher-density line cards like the NCS 5700 series 400GE and 100GE options.

Product Model Comparison

The Cisco NCS 5500 modular chassis series comprises three distinct models, each offering varying levels of capacity and scalability to meet diverse network demands. The core architecture and components are largely shared across the models, with differences primarily in the number of line card slots and corresponding power and cooling requirements. All models utilize a Clos fabric design for efficient line card interconnection.

Chassis Components Explained

The modular nature of the Cisco NCS 5500 series allows for flexible configurations using a variety of components. Understanding these building blocks is key to appreciating the system’s capabilities and scalability.

Cisco NCS 5500 Series Line Cards

The line cards are the heart of the system’s connectivity, providing the various Ethernet port densities. The NCS 5500 chassis supports a range of QSFP-based line cards offering 10GE, 25GE, 40GE, 100GE, and 400GE ports. These line cards feature integrated ASICs for forwarding, extensive on-chip tables for routing, host routes, MAC addresses, and labels, as well as TCAM for access control lists and quality of service.

“The NCS 5500 chassis supports the Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) Cisco NCS 5500 Series line cards…”

Recent additions include the NCS 5700 series line cards, which significantly boost per-slot forwarding capacity and support higher port densities like 400GE. These newer line cards require the second-generation fabric cards and fan trays for optimal performance.

Cisco NCS 5500 Series Switch Fabric Cards

The switch fabric forms the high-speed interconnect between the line cards, ensuring efficient data flow within the chassis. The NCS 5500 series employs a Clos fabric design with rear-mounted fabric modules. Each chassis supports up to six switch fabric cards, offering N+1 redundancy. The fabric provides direct connectivity to all line card slots, enabling effective load balancing and optimal bandwidth distribution.

“The 3 variants of Cisco NCS5500 modular chassis… have a Clos fabric design that interconnects the line cards with rear-mounted fabric modules.”

The second generation fabric cards, introduced with IOS-XR release 6.6.25, are necessary to leverage the increased bandwidth capabilities of the newer NCS 5700 series line cards.

Cisco NCS 5500 Series Fan Trays

Effective cooling is crucial for maintaining the performance and reliability of high-density networking equipment. The NCS 5500 series utilizes hot-swappable fan trays with a front-to-back cooling scheme. Each chassis supports three fan trays, providing N+1 redundancy. These fan trays are located in front of the fabric modules, with each tray covering two fabric modules. This design allows for continued operation even if one fan tray is removed for maintenance, providing access to the underlying fabric cards.

Product Technical Specifications

Delving into the technical specifications of the Cisco NCS 5500 series reveals the robust engineering and performance capabilities designed for demanding network environments.

Hardware Architecture and Performance

The Cisco NCS 5500 series chassis, including the NCS 5504, NCS 5508, and NCS 5516, are built upon a modular hardware architecture centered around line cards, switch fabric cards, route processors, system controllers, fan trays, and power supplies. The system employs forwarding ASICs on the line cards to process network traffic at high speeds. The initial line cards offer forwarding capacities and table sizes suitable for various aggregation scenarios, supporting millions of IPv4 and IPv6 routes, host routes, MAC addresses, and MPLS labels. The integration of TCAMs on the line cards facilitates efficient hardware-based lookups for ACLs and QoS policies.

Software Architecture: Cisco IOS XR

The Cisco NCS 5500 modular chassis series operates on the robust and highly available Cisco IOS XR Software. This carrier-class operating system is known for its modularity, resilience, and extensive feature set, making it well-suited for mission-critical networking deployments. Cisco IOS XR provides advanced routing capabilities, including support for various routing protocols, MPLS, Segment Routing, and BGP. It also offers comprehensive features for network management, monitoring, and programmability, enabling operators to efficiently manage and optimize their large-scale networks.

The Cisco NCS 5508 supports Cisco IOS XR Software Release 6.0 and later, and the Cisco NCS 5516 supports Cisco IOS XR Software Release 6.1 and later, Cisco NCS 5504 supports Cisco IOS XR Software Release 6.3 and later.

The modular nature of IOS XR allows for in-service software upgrades and patching, minimizing downtime and disruption. The software also supports a wide array of timing synchronization protocols, including SyncE and IEEE1588 PTP, crucial for mobile backhaul and other time-sensitive applications, particularly when paired with the timing-capable route processors.

Environmental Specifications

Understanding the environmental requirements and characteristics is important for proper deployment of the Cisco NCS 5500 series chassis. These specifications outline the acceptable conditions for operation and provide insights into the physical attributes and power consumption of the different chassis and components.

The weight and power consumption vary depending on the specific chassis and the components installed. The power supplies are designed for high efficiency and support various redundancy modes to ensure reliable operation.

Ordering Information

Acquiring the right components for your Cisco NCS 5500 series deployment is straightforward with a comprehensive list of orderable part numbers. This section details the common hardware, chassis-specific hardware, line cards, and software licenses available.

A wide array of optics modules are supported, providing flexibility in network connections. For a comprehensive and current list of compatible optics, refer to the official Cisco optics compatibility matrix online. For purchasing inquiries and to explore global discount offers on Cisco NCS 5500 series products, please visit https://itmall.sale.