Delta is a well-known network switch manufacturer that has been trying to increase its exposure in the OCP community. At Computex 2019, we covered Delta Open Networking Switches at 100GbE and 400GbE. During the recent OCP Regional Summit 2019 in Amsterdam, the company brought new Pink switches. These were not just for show. Instead, they are 100GbE + either 25GbE or 400GbE switches meant for data centers and carrier networks.
Delta AGCVA48S 48x 25GbE + 10x 100GbE Switch
The Delta AGCVA48S is designed to support up to 48x 25GbE connections via SFP28 ports. As a result, it is designed to connect lower-speed servers and network gear.
Uplinks are provided via 10x 100GbE QSFP28 ports. In these types of networks, we usually see 100GbE uplinks to 400GbE switches to aggregate. For that, the Delta team has a different yet related model.
Delta AGCX422S 22x 100GbE + 4x 400GbE Switch
For 100GbE aggregation duties, the Delta AGCX422S has 22x 100GbE ports that utilize QSFP28. This may be the type of spine switch that the AGCVA48S would uplink to.
For this switch’s uplinks, there are 4x 400GbE ports using QSFP-DD. We are seeing QSFP-DD become more popular in the 400GbE generation.
Final Words
These switches have been released along with support from Deutsche Telekom’s Access 4.0 team so it seems as though they have at least one service provider customer. Both the Delta AGCX422S and AGCVA48S platforms utilize the new Broadcom Qumran 2C platform with a 4GB on-chip buffer. The CPU onboard can be either the Intel Xeon D-1548 or the new and higher clock Xeon D-1649. The CPU for each switch is on a module that can be replaced or installed based on deployment needs.
It is great to see the competition that OCP is bringing to the infrastructure community.
Pepto bismal looking switch? No thanks. That’s one hell of an eye sore. Why would they make an industrial grade hardware device look like that. Not in my shop, ever.
I’d personally have gone with flourescent blinding bright orange or bright lime green had I been in their marketing department…; time will tell if flaming bright pink was a good choice!
I’d assume the color is just applied to devices produced for Deutsche Telekom, after all it’s their signature color. Plus you can see their tiny “T☐☐” logo on the switch’s top left corner. This might indicate that the devices are available in any color – at least as long as you purchase enough of them to warrent a custom paint job.
Fabian – I agree on the Deutsche Telekom color.