A9K-9912-FAN

Description

The Cisco A9K-9912-FAN is the official ASR 9912 Fan Tray designed specifically for the Cisco ASR 9912 Router chassis. It plays a critical role in maintaining optimal operating temperatures, ensuring reliable performance in high-density aggregation services for wireline, data center interconnect (DCI), and Radio Access Network (RAN) applications.

Chassis and System Architecture Overview

The Cisco ASR 9912 Router chassis leverages advanced system architecture, including the Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor, which is the first generation of system processors available for the ASR 9912 and ASR 9922 Routers. This architecture accommodates convergence of Layer 2 and Layer 3 services required by service providers. The fan tray supports the robust carrier-class capabilities of Cisco IOS XR Software, featuring true software process modularity where each process runs in separate protected memory, including each routing protocol along with multiple instances of control, data, and management planes. The software also supports distributed route processing.

The system is designed to deliver high scalability, performance, and fast convergence for demanding video, cloud, and mobile services, providing unprecedented scale, service flexibility, and high availability.

Switch Fabric and Performance Features

• Switch fabric architecture along with Cisco ASR 9900 Fabric Cards: Distributed switch fabric architecture, control of up to seven Cisco ASR 9900 Switch Fabric Cards to provide scalability and high availability on Cisco ASR 9922 Router and ASR 9912 Router chassis, multistage low-latency non-blocking architecture, service intelligence and traffic prioritization.
• Superior network timing capabilities with support for centralized Building Integrated Timing Supply (BITS) and DOCSIS Timing Interface (DTI) timing reference systems, Precision Time Protocol (PTP) or IEEE 1588-2008 through dedicated 10/100-Mbps Ethernet port, bidirectional time of day (ToD) with 10MHz and 1-pps interfaces.

Route Processor Integration

The Cisco ASR 9900 Route Processor is available in service-edge-optimized (ASR-9900-RP-SE) and packet-transport-optimized (ASR-9900-RP-TR) models. The service-edge-optimized version offers higher memory for large-scale service deployment. Both support service-optimized and transport-optimized line cards, with mixing allowed on the same chassis for maximum flexibility. The fan tray ensures thermal stability for these components during intensive operations.

Key Features and Benefits

• Highly scalable fabric: Designed to support high 1/10/100-Gbps port densities, provides built-in scalability for investment protection.
• Control of up to seven switch fabric cards: Offers traffic load balancing simultaneously across up to seven fabrics.
• Distributed forwarding plane architecture: Allows line cards to support independent forwarding for enhanced performance and scale.
• Control plane extension ports: Combining the redundant pair of chassis into a single logical entity provides advantages in management, scalability, and high availability.
• Memoryless switch fabric: Provides transparent nonblocking low-latency packet forwarding.
• Virtual output queuing and arbitration: Offers service intelligence with prioritization of traffic (unicast and multicast), provides efficient congestion management mechanism and avoids problems related to head-of-line blocking.
• Centralized arbiter: Uses an efficient credit mechanism to help ensure transparent switchover with zero packet loss.
• IEEE 1588 support: Delivers timing services over the packet network efficiently and reliably.
• Two independent clock source connections: BITS and Synchronization Supply Unit (SSU) DTI: Offers redundant, centralized network synchronization support.
• Two 16-GB solid state drives (SSDs): Allows storing of core dumps and helps reduce the system mean time to repair (MTTR).
• Embedded Universal Series Bus (eUSB) memory port: Provides access to on board USB flash memory devices for software image storing and upgrades.
• Front-panel external Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 port: Provides access to USB flash memory devices for quick software image loading and recovery.
• Front-panel LEDs: Provides visual indication of route processor status (active or standby), power management, and activity on compact flash and hard disk drive (HDD).
• Management ports: Provides easy access to system console.

Software and Service Support

Cisco IOS XR Software powers the Cisco ASR 9000 Series, including SMU capability for bug fixing without service interruption, and FPD upgrades for FPGAs, ROMmon, etc., while systems are running. Supported applications include Ethernet Services, L2VPN, L3VPN, IPTV, CDNs, mobile backhaul, IPoDWDM, SyncE, EOAM, MPLS OAM, ACLs, H-QoS, MPLS TE-FRR, MC-LAG, IRB, NSF, NSR, P2MP-TE, Lawful Intercept, SCH, MGSCP. Multiservice Edge (MSE) and Ethernet MSE (E-MSE) capabilities enable powerful business VPN services with SLA enforcement, supporting scale in VRFs, IPv4/IPv6 routes, BFD, BGP NSR.

Timing synchronization includes PTPv2, GPS, DTI, BITS on route processor, SyncE on line cards, with centralized clocking distribution.

System Reliability and Redundancy

The ASR 9912 chassis features no single point of failure, route processor redundancy (same kind required), software redundancy. The fan tray contributes to high availability by ensuring consistent cooling under load.