Advantech's Network and Telecom Group today announced the launch of a powerful new platform for wire-speed packet processing featuring their unique Packetarium™ design.The NCP-5260 comes hot on the heels of the ground-breaking NCP-756096-core rack mount network server. It is Advantech's first hybrid network platform providing a topology with x86 server-class processing on the control plane and Packetarium network processing boards (NPB) on the data plane.

“Similar performance is usually reserved for proprietary designs or more expensive ATCA systems. In addition to targeting Tier-1 equipment manufacturers, the NCP-5260 democratizes high-bandwidth packet processing and opens new markets for software developers andvalue added resellers,” said Eddie Lai, Director of Business Development for Advantech's Network and Telecom Group.

This new hybrid system design takes the original Packetarium concept one step further by including high-performance x86 server class computing as a part of the motherboard's switch and management complex. It allows OEMs to run legacy application code along with standard commercial x86 software.In addition, the NCP-5260 integrates one or two powerful, multi-core Packetarium NPBs for accelerated packet processing on up to 16 x 10 GbE external interfaces. Customers will be able to independently upgrade the server board and NPB's to adapt to their needs.

The release of the NCP-5260 is combined with the introduction of a new Packetarium NPB based on the NetLogic Microsystems' 8-core XLR732 Processor®. Each XLR732 is linked by dual or quad XAUI ports to a Broadcom 10 GbE switch on the carrier board. The 10 GbE switch provides sixteen front panel 10 GbE SFP+ ports. A SATA controller on the server board connects to two 2.5" SATA HDD slots and an optional SAS RAID card can be installed when more robust storage is required.

Byron Lin, Director of Advantech's NPU product line., “The x86 server board allows designers to run legacy or off-the-shelf application software as well as control storage, system management and remote managementwith familiar x86 code. The network processor boards essentially provide an impressive wire-speed offloadfeature to a state-of-the-art server and that means a lot to performance-hungry OEMs today.”

The sheer performance and scalability of the NCP-5260 positions it ideally for OEMs designing very high bandwidth systems in service provider networks, enterprise, and wireless infrastructure applications requiring accelerated packet processing and advanced security.

The NCP-5260 is available for sampling now. Software support is available for Debian GNU/Linux.