Advantech announced two Intel-based entry level network appliances with built in Intel QuickAssist hardware acceleration for equipment manufacturers supplying mainstream solutions to small and medium business.
The FWA-3250 table top ODM Reference Platform utilizes processors starting with the single core Intel Celeron Processor 725C and ranging up to the latest Intel Xeon Processor E3-1105C to address a range of performance and price points. The FWA-3220 1U Network Appliance is a 19" rack mount network application platform that offers a greater range of scalable I/O capabilities than the FWA-3250 with one Advantech Network Mezzanine Card (NMC) slot and additional PCIe expansion capabilities. Both platforms are targeted at the entry level and mid-range appliance market, providing greater performance-per-watt and performance-per-$ efficiencies to equipment providers in areas such as Network Security, QoS and Network Optimization.
"To save significant design time and cost, equipment providers are moving to a single common platform which scales from table top appliances all the way up to multi-100G ATCA systems architectures," said Peter Marek, Senior Director x86 Solutions, Advantech Networks and Communications Group. "With these new platforms, our customers can target small and medium-sized businesses with more cost-effective solutions configured to meet the growing need for more consolidated workloads - using the same software frame work as on their high end and very high end platforms."
The FWA-3250 is a reference platform that offers a range of processor choices starting from the single core Intel Celeron 725C, the dual-core Intel Pentium B915 and Intel Core i3-2115C and at the high-end, the Intel Xeon Processor E3-1105C. The Intel Communications Chipset DH8903 brings additional crypto acceleration and compression/decompression capabilities which offload the processor for control and data plane processing. Configurable up to 32GB of memory, the FWA-3250 also supports two 2.5" SATA drives and 1 USB flash disk. Networking capabilities include six 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet ports including 4 x 10/100/1000 Base-T Ethernet ports with LAN-bypass. Two Gigabit Ethernet management ports, 2 USB ports, and RS232 console port and optional IPMI Lights Out Managementare supported as well.
The FWA-3220 platform is a 19" rack mount network application platform featuring the same processor and memory options and with the same number of gigabit Ethernet ports as the entry level FWA-3250 but targeted at applications requiring more scalable network connectivity. The platform comes with one Advantech Network Mezzanine Card (NMC) slot with Quad GbE SFP, Octal GbE RJ-45 and Dual 10 GbE SFP+ NMC options to choose from. Additional I/O flexibility comes from the full-height, half-length PCIe x4 expansion slot in the rear. Optimized for high reliability and serviceability, the platform includes hot swappable, field replaceable units (FRUs) such as redundant power supplies, fan modules and hard disks. Hard disks can be operated in a RAID 1 configuration using software raid or PCI Express card-based hardware raid. A graphic LCM module supports parameter entry as well as configuration and statistics display.
"Network Equipment Providers can now fully exploit the scalable performance benefits which IntelR architecture (IA) offers." continued Marek. "Advantech's platforms built on IA now cover the broadest range of performance, cost and power levels, providing developers with both a scalable product range and a dependable upgrade path. High-performance processors offer extra features, and platforms scale up from dual processor servers to bladed ATCA systems, while lower-performance parts allow greater cost-optimization in entry level appliances like those launched today. What's more, customers can tap into IA with the guarantee of proven software compatibility spanning multiple processor generations allowing them to commit to any of the platforms today with the assurance their software investment is securely future-proofed."
Both platforms are part of Advantech's Customized COTS frameworkwhich combines the benefits of standard products with the advantages of custom design. Customized COTS is based on standard products that have been designed with later customizationinmind to enable distinct features and custom IP integration without the risk of expensive, time consuming full-custom ODM designs. It helps Network Equipment Providers accelerate the introduction of solutions where flexibility, scalability and performance per watt are equally important to delivering differentiation, protecting investments and lowering total cost of ownership.
The new platforms will be demonstrated at the upcoming RSA Conference, February 25 - Feb 28 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA USA on booth #751. Full information about the new products is available here and at www.advantech.com/nc.
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