Appliance Hardware
OpenCache Embedded hardware is designed to be as accessible as possible — commodity 2U servers, used-market CPUs, no exotic interconnect.
We started with inf3, built from what was already in inventory from earlier deployments: a dual-40 G node still in the field. We are now publishing the inf5 specs on this page, for midsize ISPs whose GI traffic is 500 Gbps – 1 Tbps. inf4, for networks below 40 Gbps GI, will follow.
By design we prefer Intel Skylake-SP (1st-generation Xeon Scalable) or AMD EPYC 7001 (Zen 1) and newer. That generation is where AES-NI and PCLMULQDQ make software kTLS practical at cache-node rates — nginx + sendfile encrypt AES-GCM in the kernel without burning the socket — and where the used market still prices a dual-socket 2U under the cost of a new single-socket box. Older ones without AES-NI do not.
A cache node needs at least 128 GB of RAM, 2–4 NVMe for the hot store, and 8–12 HDDs as cold-store shards. On average we see an ~85 % cache hit on served traffic — RAM + flash carry the rating; the spindles cover the tail.
inf5
inf5 is the designed for midsize-ISP (with GI ranging between 500 Gbps – 1 Tbps).The two 2U builds on the same chassis (Supermicro X11DPH-T 12-bay, dual Xeon 8160, SAS3 IT-mode, dual PSU). They differ in RAM, flash, disk, and NIC.
At a glance
| inf5e40 | inf5e100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Rated egress | 40 Gbps | 100 Gbps |
| Capable ceiling | ~76 Gbps | ~130 Gbps |
| Cold store (independent UFS shards) | ≈ 120 TB (10 shards) | ≈ 216 TB (12 shards) |
| Hot store (working set, not capacity) | 12.8 TB (4× 3.2 TB U.2) | 15.4 TB (8× 1.92 TB M.2) |
| Warm store | — | 7.68 TB (2× 3.84 TB SATA SSD) |
| Spindles / footprint | 10× 12 TB | 12× 18 TB |
| RAM | 256 GB DDR4-2666 | 384 GB DDR4-2666 |
| Max sustained origin-miss (fill) | ~8–13 Gbps | ~10–16 Gbps |
| RAM + flash share needed at rating | ≥ ~80–90 % | ≥ ~81–87 % |
inf5e40
Mid-size-ISP node. Dual Xeon 8160 (48 cores, 256 GB DDR4) in a 2U 12-bay chassis: 10× 12 TB HDD as independent UFS shards ≈ 120 TB cold store, a 12.8 TB hot store on 4× 3.2 TB U.2 (two in hot-swap front bays, two on PCIe cards), mirrored zroot on the two onboard M.2, mlx5 NIC at 40 G — the same card re-uplinks to 100 G with a cable swap.
Capability: rated 40 Gbps · ceiling ~76 Gbps (2× 40 G LACP) · origin-miss fill ~8–13 Gbps sustained. RAM + flash must serve ≥ ~80–90 % of bytes at rating (the HDD tier's serve ceiling is 4–8 Gbps); sustained miss can run to ~20–33 % before fill binds — so a cold node is day-one usable, ingesting at fill rate while serving what it has.
Indicative parts cost: around $7,500 per node.
| Item | Part № | Qty / node |
|---|---|---|
| Supermicro 2U X11DPH-T, 12-bay LFF — 2× Xeon 8160, 256 GB DDR4-2666, SAS3 IT-mode, dual PSU | 721103-2U-X11DPH-T-12BLS3-N4-2x2.5RB-2PS | 1 |
| Seagate Exos X12 12 TB SATA 7.2K 3.5" — one UFS shard each | ST12000NM0007 | 10 |
| Samsung PM1725b 3.2 TB NVMe U.2 — hot store | MZ-WLL3T2B | 4 |
| NVMe front-bay kit — AOC-SLG3-2E4R + cables + caddies; two hot-store U.2 go hot-swap | — | 1 |
| PCIe single-U.2 cards — mounts for the other two hot-store U.2 | — | 2 |
| Mellanox ConnectX-5 CX516A dual QSFP28 | 9FTMY (Dell) | 1 |
| 40 G QSFP+ DAC, 3 m | Generic QSFP+ 3M DAC | 2 |
| SK hynix Gold P31 2 TB NVMe M.2 — mirrored zroot on the onboard M.2 slots | UXD-M.2-NVME-2TB | 2 |
inf5e100
Same chassis as inf5e40, with every tier widened: 384 GB RAM (12× 32 GB, every DDR4 channel populated), 12× 18 TB HDD shards ≈ 216 TB cold store, a 15.4 TB hot store on 8× 1.92 TB M.2 (two LP quad carriers), a 7.68 TB warm store on 2× 3.84 TB SATA SSDs in the rear bays (hot → warm → cold → origin), and a 100 G inline-kTLS ConnectX-6 Dx that takes TLS crypto off the CPU — sendfile hands plaintext to the card and it encrypts on the wire.
Capability: rated 100 Gbps · ~97 Gbps flash-hot serving at ~50 % CPU with inline kTLS · origin-miss fill ~10–16 Gbps. RAM + NVMe must serve ≥ ~81–87 % of bytes at rating — the warm + HDD tiers cover 13–19 % of the port together.
The NIC must be the -AC crypto-enabled SKU (MCX623106AC-CDAT); -AN / -AE are the same card with crypto fused off.
Indicative parts cost: $9,000–$12,000 per node, depending on RAM and NIC sourcing.
| Item | Part № | Qty / node |
|---|---|---|
| Supermicro 2U X11DPH-T, 12-bay LFF — 2× Xeon 8160, SAS3 IT-mode, dual PSU | 721103-2U-X11DPH-T-12BLS3-N4-2x2.5RB-2PS | 1 |
| Seagate Exos X18 18 TB SATA 7.2K 3.5" (recert; WD DC HC550 also works) — one UFS shard each | ST18000NM000J | 12 |
| Samsung 983 DCT 1.92 TB NVMe M.2 22110 — hot store | MZ-1LB1T9N | 8 |
| Low-profile quad-M.2 carriers — two ×16 slots (×4×4×4×4 bifurcation), full Gen3 ×4 per module | — | 2 |
| Samsung PM863a 3.84 TB SATA SSD — warm store, rear 2.5" bays | — | 2 |
| NVIDIA ConnectX-6 Dx dual QSFP28 100 GbE, crypto SKU — inline kTLS | MCX623106AC-CDAT | 1 |
| 100 G QSFP28 DAC, 2 m | UXC-CBL-QSFP28-QSFP28-2M | 2 |
| SK hynix Gold P31 2 TB NVMe M.2 — mirrored zroot on the onboard M.2 slots | UXD-M.2-NVME-2TB | 2 |
| DDR4-2666 32 GB RDIMM — 12 channels, 384 GB total | — | 12 |
Notes
HDD scaling (both builds). The HDDs can be replaced with disks up to 30 TB each — up to ≈ 300 TB of cold store on inf5e40, ≈ 360 TB on inf5e100 — to keep more of the library on-node. Fill cannot grow with the NIC; hit rate is still what holds rating.
Dislaimer: P Foundation never sells, leases, or rent or charge a fee for the hardware — the node is provided to eligble ISPs free of charge. The cost figures above are parts-cost estimates, published for transparency; they are not an offer.