In this section:
This section provides an overview of the DSC 8000 hardware.
The illustrations in this section are not to scale.
You can configure all system functions, such as Ethernet connectivity and Routing IP traffic, using the Web UI, running on one of the Management CPU cards [(slot 2 or slot 13, see Control Shelf (font view)]. The initial or base system configuration is executed using the Menu-based or Text UI. Please refer to Performing a Base Configuration for details.
DSC 8000 System Components
The DSC 8000 system consists of the following major system components:
- 19” Rack Cabinet
- Control and Expansion Shelves
- System Cards
19” Rack Cabinet
The DSC 8000 is built into an industrial 19” rack cabinet (see the following figure). Certified to NEBS-GR-63-CORE standards for Zone 4, the rack is built around a heavy duty and fully welded steel frame. Each shelf is mounted to a pair of universally compatible square hole, EIA 310 Standard, mounting rails that are pre-installed before delivery. The left and right sides of the cabinet are open. The rear and the front of the cabinet are equipped with perforated doors with locks. It is recommended that you keep these doors locked. Refer for to Opening and Closing the Cabinet Door for more details.
For further information about installing this cabinet, refer to Verifying Cabinet Requirements and Securing the Cabinet to the Floor.
DSC 8000 19" Rack Cabinet with PDU and Shelf Locations (indicated by red-dashed line)
Control and Expansion Shelves
The DSC 8000 is equipped with one mandatory control shelf (shelf 1) and as many as three (3) optional expansion shelves.
Each shelf (see the following figures for front and rear views) is an 8U General Purpose Packet-Switched platform that provides a carrier-grade, standards-based, high-availability solution built on the uTCA and AMC specifications (see PICMG-compliance for the DSC 8000). Each shelf features 12 node slots and a redundant infrastructure for fabric, management, power, and cooling. Beyond its high-availability features, each DSC 8000 shelf is highly modular, scalable, and serviceable.
The DSC 8000 is an 8U Enhanced MicroTCA.4-based system with redundant DC input power. This chassis has been designed for Network-Equipment Building System (NEBS) compliance. Each shelf supports 160W/slot power capability and a backplane designed for 40GbE per slot.
The DSC 8000 chassis meets Advanced Mezzanine Card (AMC) cooling and pressure drop requirements at all AMC slots and provides cooling for up to 160W maximum power dissipation at each of these slots (120W per front card and 40W per μRTM).
The DCS 8000 chassis backplane connections support the components shown in the following figures.
DSC 8000 Control Shelf (front view)
DSC 8000 Control Shelf (rear view)
System Cards
The DSC 8000 system cards are hot-swap compliant. However, you must remove and install the front cards and their respective micro Rear Transition Modules (µRTMs) in a specific sequence. This sequence requires that the front board be fully seated first and its retention screws tightened. Then, the µRTM can be fully seated and its retention screws tightened. If the front board is ever loosened and/or extracted, the µRTM must first be loosened. The µRTM must always be loosened prior to seating and tightening the front board.
For more information about removing and installing system cards, refer to DSC 8000 Servicing Field Replaceable Units (FRUs).
The DSC 8000 system cards must be seated in the slots as described in Shelf Slot Assignments. Otherwise, you can damage these cards.
If a system card shipped with a DSC 8000 Shelf does not power up immediately after the shelf was installed, it must be reseated in its slot. The forces encountered by the shelf during shipping can be much greater than those found under operating conditions and may leave some cards not fully seated in their slots.
The DSC 8000 system cards provide built-in redundancy to simplify card replacement and minimize service time. The platform is delivered with all system cards seated in the backplane. All empty slots are covered with Air Management Blades (AMB’s). Some additional details for these blades are provided in the following table.
Supported Air Management Blades (AMBs)
Model Number | Description | Target Slots |
---|---|---|
PT-MTC5134-12536 | double-wide, mid-size, front Air Management Blade (AMB) | All unpopulated AMC124 (front card) or AMC348 (front card) slots |
PT-MTC5135-12537 | double-wide, mid-size, rear Air Management Blade (AMB) | All unpopulated RMC110 (front card) and RMC348 µRTM (rear card) slots |
160Q074210 | double-wide, full-size, front Air Management Blade (AMB) | All unpopulated AMC671 MCH (front card) and Power Module (PM, front) slots |
160Q075210 | double-wide, full-size, rear Air Management Blade (AMB) | All unpopulated RMC670 µRTM (rear card) slots |
Air management blades (AMB's) are installed in empty slots at the time of system deployment. If, for any reason, you remove a system card, the empty slot must be covered with an AMB to maintain proper system cooling. Failure to do so can lead to system overheating.
The following table provides a description of the supported CPU types and their Rear Transition Module (RTM). For a detailed description about these cards, refer to DSC 8000 System Cards. For the location of the cards in the DSC 8000, see the following illustration.
Summary of the Supported CPU Types
System Card | Description |
---|---|
Management CPU (MGMT_CPU) | For system redundancy, two Management CPUs are required in the Control Shelf; the Management CPUs are equipped with hard drives for long term storage. |
Routing CPU (RTNG_CPU) | Routing CPUs are used for IP network routing; two Routing CPUs are required for the Control Shelf in slots 3 and 12 (Default Routing CPUs). Depending on system capacity and performance, additional Routing CPUs can be installed in the remaining slots or any available slot in an Expansion Shelf. |
Applications CPU (APPL_CPU) | Application CPUs are used for Ribbon applications such as CNAM. |
RMC110 (µRTM) | The RMC110 MicroTCA.4 Rear Transition Module (μRTM) provides I/O connectivity to the CPUs listed |
DSC 8000 Control and Expansion Shelves with System Cards (front view)
SS7 Connectivity
The DSC 8000 supports any-to-any connectivity (SS7, IP, and QSAAL), which makes it well suited for deployment in both TDM and IP-based networks. This multi-protocol, multi-standard platform provides a complete connectivity solution.
To allow simpler migration from one transport technology to another, while preserving connectivity during the migration, this platform may combine link types on one SS7 linkset. These link types are supported through the AMC348 I/O card and its associated RMC348 µRTM.
The DSC 8000 base hardware configuration supports up to eight optional slots in the control shelf, and up to 12 optional slots in each expansion shelf. For information about the AMC348 card, and its µRTM, refer to T1/E1/J1 Communications Controller.
Connectivity for Payload Traffic
The DSC 8000 is shipped with Ribbon software installed.
For information about configuring connectivity for payload traffic, refer to the appropriate section in the SS7 Application Guide 1.
Backplane Connectivity
The system management, Ethernet, and diameter payload signals are routed across the DSC 8000 chassis backplane without the use of cables, saving time in setup, maintenance and repair. This will minimize the challenges of using traditional cabling methods.
The DSC 8000 chassis backplane features 14 PICMG-compliant slots that support the following components:
- (up to 12) double-wide, mid-size AMCs with their respective μRTMs
- (2) double-wide, full-size MCHs with their respective μRTMs
- (up to 4) N + 1 redundant DC Power Modules (PMs)
- (2) fan tray cooling modules
PICMG-compliance for the DSC 8000
The DSC 8000 complies with MicroTCA.0, MicroTCA.1, MicroTCA.4, AMC.0, and AMC.2 PICMG specifications.
A PICMG-compliant system has fabric cards (for example, MCH) and node cards (for example, Routing and Management CPUs).
The fabric cards link to each node card in the DSC 8000 chassis. In this configuration, every node card can communicate with every other node card, forming a switching fabric. The two AMC671 MCH fabric cards are linked to each other in a redundant configuration. Fabric cards can only be used in a fabric slots (MCH1 in slot 1 and MCH2 in slot14).
The node cards link to the fabric cards in the DSC 8000. In a redundant configuration, each node card is linked to both fabric cards. Node cards can only be used in node slots (slots 2 to 13).
Refer to the PICMG specification and the supporting documentation for your chassis for more information about configuring a packet switching backplane.
The DSC 8000 base 10 Gbps Ethernet fabric (based on the AMC.2 specification), is named Fabric A on the MCH cards supporting dual star topology Ethernet configuration. This topology is fully redundant utilizing two MCH cards, each with a base fabric switch. MCH1 connects to port 0 on each Routing and Management CPU, while MCH 2 connects to port 1 on each Routing and Management CPU. Additionally, there is an external update channel routed between the two MCHs (refer to Installing RMC670 (µRTM) 10/100Base-T Cable Links).
Storage
The Ribbon DSC 8000 is designed to provide the following storage:
- Management CPUs (RMC110 μRTMs)
- one solid state 240 Gb drive for logs and data measurements
- one solid state 64 Gb drive for applications and the root file system
- one solid state 240 Gb drive for logs and data measurements
- Routing CPUs (RMC110 μRTMs)
- one solid state 64 Gb for applications and the root file system
Alarm Panel
The DSC 8000 is delivered with the alarm panel installed in the cabinet and the -48VDC power connected to the system Power Distribution Unit (PDU) before deployment. As described in the Power Management, the system is equipped with redundant power feeds, and, therefore, the alarm lights function if one of the power feeds is down.
The alarm panel is connected to the MCH µRTM [refer to RMC670 (µRTM)] on each shelf and the alarm lights are activated by this card’s alarm relays. The lights are yellow (for a minor alarm), orange for (major a alarm), or red (for a critical alarm), and a fourth indicator is lit when a power fault to the alarm panel is detected.
The cables between the MCH (µRTM) and the alarm panel are supplied with DB-15 connectors (refer to Interface Connectors and Pin Assignments).
For information about installing and extracting these fuses, refer to Replacing TPA and GMT Fuses in the PDU.
GMT 0.75A Alarm Panel Fuse (Part Number1650Q003210)
DSC 8000 Alarm Panel Connections
Cooling Architecture
The DSC 8000 meets AMC cooling and pressure drop requirements at all AMC slots. This platform provides cooling for up to 160W maximum power dissipation at each AMC slot (120W per front card and 40W per µRTM).
The DSC 8000 is cooled by a redundant, front-to-back, push-pull fan configuration (see the following figure). An intake fan tray that is serviceable from the bottom front of the chassis draws air in through the front grill and NEBS-rated air filter, and then blows that air up through the payload cards, µRTMs, and Power Modules (PMs). An exhaust fan tray that is serviceable from the top rear of the chassis draws air from the payload cards, µRTMs, and PMs and blows it out through the rear grill. This fan configuration offers an N+1 redundancy, so that if one fan fails, the other fans continue to cool the system until the fan tray can be replaced.
Airflow in the DSC 8000 Shelf
Each fan tray (see the following illustrations) supports N+1 redundancy within that fan tray only. Operation with a single fan tray is not supported for more than a few minutes (for example, while changing the tray for repair).
Air Intake with Filter Cooling Unit 1 (CU1)
Air Exhaust with Filter Cooling Unit 2 (CU2)
A NEBS-rated air filter (PT-MTC5155-12549) is located in the front intake fan tray. This air filter can be removed without disassembling the chassis or removing the chassis from the rack. The air filter is fire retardant and fungi resistant, and meets the following specifications:
- UL 94 HF-1
- UL 900 Class 2
- CE
- NEBS GR-63-CORE issue 3
The DSC 8000 chassis should never be operated without an air filter in place. Ribbon recommends that one or more spare filters be kept on hand at all times. These spare air filters can be used as replacements, or as temporary filters when an air filter has to be removed and cleaned. To order additional air filters, contact Sales.
The air filters in the DSC 8000 chassis should typically be checked at least every 90 days for cleaning or replacement. More frequent filter inspection may be required if the site where the chassis is installed experiences high dust/particulate matter in the air. If the chassis is installed in a clean room that has additional air filtration, the filter may require less frequent inspections.
For information about how to replace the filter, refer to Replacing the Air Filter.
Shelf Slot Assignments
The DSC 8000 is delivered with the system cards seated in the appropriate shelves (see the following figure and the following table).
The following cards should not be relocated in the control shelf:
- MCH (slots 1 and 14)
- Management CPUs (slots 2 and 13)
- Routing CPUs (slots 3 and 12)
DSC 8000 Control Shelf Slot Numbering (Front)
The following table provides information about the slot numbers in the control and expansion shelves.
Slot Number Mapping as they Appear on the Hardware and in the Web UI (Front)
Slot Number on the Hardware | Slot Number in the Web UI | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Control Shelf | Expansion 1 | Expansion 2 | Expansion 3 | |
Slot 1 | Slot 1 | 15 | 29 | 43 |
Slot 2 | Slot 2 | 16 | 30 | 44 |
Slot 3 | Slot 3 | 17 | 31 | 45 |
Slot 4 | Slot 4 | 18 | 32 | 46 |
Slot 5 | Slot 5 | 19 | 33 | 47 |
Slot 6 | Slot 6 | 20 | 34 | 48 |
Slot 7 | Slot 7 | 21 | 35 | 49 |
Slot 8 | Slot 8 | 22 | 36 | 50 |
Slot 9 | Slot 9 | 23 | 37 | 51 |
Slot 10 | Slot 10 | 24 | 38 | 52 |
Slot 11 | Slot 11 | 25 | 39 | 53 |
Slot 12 | Slot 12 | 26 | 40 | 54 |
Slot 13 | Slot 13 | 27 | 41 | 55 |
Slot 14 | Slot 14 | 28 | 42 | 56 |
DSC 8000 Control Shelf Slot Numbering (Rear)
Slot Number Mapping as they Appear on the Hardware and in the Web UI (Rear)
Slot Number on the Hardware | Slot Number in the Web UI |
---|---|
RMC1 | Slot 1 |
μRTM2 | Slot 2 |
μRTM3 | Slot 3 |
μRTM4 | Slot 4 |
μRTM5 | Slot 5 |
μRTM6 | Slot 6 |
μRTM7 | Slot 7 |
μRTM8 | Slot 8 |
μRTM9 | Slot 9 |
μRTM10 | Slot 10 |
μRTM11 | Slot 11 |
μRTM12 | Slot 12 |
μRTM13 | Slot 13 |
RMC14 | Slot 14 |
The exact slot numbers are extrapolated by the system and are presented in the Web UI using the IP addresses allocated to each shelf. For example, the card inserted in slot 2 has the primary IP address of 192.168.240.2, where the last digit indicates the slot number (see the following figure).
Slot 2 Details for DSC 8000 (Example)
Cable Management
The following cable management solution is provided for the DSC 8000:
- The DSC 8000 is deployed with front and rear cable management brackets on each shelf. It is recommended that you use hook and loop tie wraps to secure cables to this bracket to ensure that there is no unnecessary pressure on any of the cables.
For information about installing the cable management brackets, refer to Installing Communication Cables. - Covered cable management channels run vertically on both the left and right sides on the rear of the cabinet (see the following figure). These channels are installed in the cabinet before deployment.
Remove the cover by squeezing it to detach it from the hooks that run along the sides of the cable management channel. To re-attach the cover, line up the side hooks with the groove on the under side of the cover and press the cover on.
Cable Management Assembly in Rear of the Cabinet