AWS has contributed a new edge gateway base specification to the Open Compute Project
The spec is targeted for deployments supporting cloud-delivered managed edge services in various market segments, including retail. The edge gateway will also support OCP’s Switch Abstraction Layer (SAI) and thus end users will have a choice of Network OS including SONiC or DENT from the Linux Foundation.
The specification allows for gateways configured with 48 ports (32x1Gb ports and 16×2.5Gb ports) or 24 ports (24×2.5 Gb ports), both configurations include 4x25Gb SFP28 Uplink Ports. The gateway can support PoE (15.4 to 100 Watts) and optionally Cellular LTE and/or 5G and/or Wi-Fi. The gateway CPU can be a pluggable module with extended computational performance to allow for demanding workloads of SD-WAN and SASE. Software support includes the ONIE loader and SAI providing choice of SONiC or DENT as Network OS. Hardware management leverages OCP Hardware Baseline Management Profile. For security, TPM 2.0 Module, Secure Boot, and MACSec are supported.
OCP envisions tat this gateway specification will be a catalyst for development of a new and resilient open enterprise edge computing supply chain, with participation from ODM and OEM network equipment vendors including Edgecore, Celestica, Delta Networks, Extreme Networks, Ragile Networks, Delta Electronics and Wistron. The expectation is that production prototypes will be available for display at the OCP Global Summit in October 2023, and that volume shipments will begin in 1Q 2024.
“Collaboration across open ecosystems is key to digital transformation,” said Arpit Joshipura, general manager, Networking, Edge, and IoT, the Linux Foundation. “Integrating with other thought leaders like OCP has helped the development of our open source NOSes, DENT and SONiC, especially in scaling and securing enterprise edge deployments across use cases. We are especially eager for new developments and specifications harmonizing SwitchDev and SAI for more intuitive deployment.”
