For those seeking a 5ESS...
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-407362A1.pdf Verizon intends to retire and remove the Bedminster NJ 5ESS switch (BDMNNJ01DS5) from the network after all traffic served by this switch is migrated to the Verizon New Brunswick NJ C20 switch (NBWKNJNBPS2).
ooo! Very cool! Will reach out! I was trying to find a VCDX which is the Very Compact Digital Exchange. It uses a Sun server running a DMERT emulator to (probably) squash the full compute side down to 1u (Netra T1) to maybe 4u-5u (Larger Sun Netra boxes which is what was actually provided.) This is my idea to squash a whole rig into 2 racks (some say 3 are needed but...) I had reached out to two groups at Verizon, and didn't get anything back. Hit up people I know, one things they're all still in use other doesn't work near the telco stuff. Will dig! - Ethan On Wed, 13 Nov 2024, Martin A. Flynn via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-407362A1.pdf
Verizon intends to retire and remove the Bedminster NJ 5ESS switch (BDMNNJ01DS5) from the network after all traffic served by this switch is migrated to the Verizon New Brunswick NJ C20 switch (NBWKNJNBPS2).
On 11/14/24 20:58, Ethan O'Toole via vcf-midatlantic wrote:
I was trying to find a VCDX which is the Very Compact Digital Exchange. It uses a Sun server running a DMERT emulator to (probably) squash the full compute side down to 1u (Netra T1) to maybe 4u-5u (Larger Sun Netra boxes which is what was actually provided.) This is my idea to squash a whole rig into 2 racks (some say 3 are needed but...)
If you're looking for something like that, look for a Summa Four VCO/4K switch, later sold as Cisco. (Cisco acquired Summa Four) A complete switch, with Sun management systems, is two rack footprints. These have been around awhile, and while not iconic like a 5ESS, they are manageable, they speak SS7, and they are serious, grown-up CO switches. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
If you're looking for something like that, look for a Summa Four VCO/4K switch, later sold as Cisco. (Cisco acquired Summa Four) A complete switch, with Sun management systems, is two rack footprints. These have been around awhile, and while not iconic like a 5ESS, they are manageable, they speak SS7, and they are serious, grown-up CO switches. -Dave
Wild, never heard of it. Only care about it being a 5ESS. It was the iconic thing that all the hackers wanted access to back in the day. I remember reading about COSMOS and stuff in Phrack magazine. I remember someone from Canada having access to a bunch of telcos in the USA, and the stuff of movies happening. And telenet and tymnet and all that. Also the first con I went to in Atlanta, someone turned the payphone across the street into a free phone and there was a line of randos at it once word got out in the hood. It's just a random trophy that might be cool to tote to some cons. Has to be a 5ESS, and compact model. - Ethan
On 11/15/24 10:23, Ethan O'Toole wrote:
If you're looking for something like that, look for a Summa Four VCO/4K switch, later sold as Cisco. (Cisco acquired Summa Four) A complete switch, with Sun management systems, is two rack footprints. These have been around awhile, and while not iconic like a 5ESS, they are manageable, they speak SS7, and they are serious, grown-up CO switches.
Wild, never heard of it. Only care about it being a 5ESS.
Certainly understandable.
It was the iconic thing that all the hackers wanted access to back in the day. I remember reading about COSMOS and stuff in Phrack magazine. I remember someone from Canada having access to a bunch of telcos in the USA, and the stuff of movies happening. And telenet and tymnet and all that.
Also the first con I went to in Atlanta, someone turned the payphone across the street into a free phone and there was a line of randos at it once word got out in the hood.
Ah ok. I guess I grew up early; never got into the "messing with other peoples' stuff is cool" vibe. I was always on the other side of that particular fence, trying to keep big networks running (to keep us all fed) with kids pecking at them relentlessly from every angle.
It's just a random trophy that might be cool to tote to some cons. Has to be a 5ESS, and compact model.
I don't know if that's a realistic expectation. I've never seen nor heard of a 5ESS that didn't weigh several tons. The processor is a minimum of four earthquake-rated 23" racks that, I believe, are not separable, or may only be separable in pairs. (3B20D vs. 2x 3B20S) There's the VCDX variant, in one rack, which is also technically a 5ESS but it's actually an emulator that runs on Suns. (i.e. "inflatable doll", it'll get the job done but it's not what you really want) -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
Ah ok. I guess I grew up early; never got into the "messing with other peoples' stuff is cool" vibe. I was always on the other side of that particular fence, trying to keep big networks running (to keep us all fed) with kids pecking at them relentlessly from every angle.
I am talking years before joining the workforce. Tech is way more accessible now, back then geeks were starved.
I don't know if that's a realistic expectation. I've never seen nor heard of a 5ESS that didn't weigh several tons. The processor is a minimum of four earthquake-rated 23" racks that, I believe, are not separable, or may only be separable in pairs. (3B20D vs. 2x 3B20S) There's the VCDX variant, in one rack, which is also technically a 5ESS but it's actually an emulator that runs on Suns. (i.e. "inflatable doll", it'll get the job done but it's not what you really want)
Every, and I mean every mention of the system I have made included VCDX in it. Right on down to mentioning the Sun system that runs the DMERT emulator. - Ethan
On 11/15/24 13:50, Ethan O'Toole wrote:
Ah ok. I guess I grew up early; never got into the "messing with other peoples' stuff is cool" vibe. I was always on the other side of that particular fence, trying to keep big networks running (to keep us all fed) with kids pecking at them relentlessly from every angle.
I am talking years before joining the workforce. Tech is way more accessible now, back then geeks were starved.
That was learning, learning, and more learning time for me. Way more rewarding than wrecking other peoples' stuff. :) At least for me. But I'm betting it was a different time; I entered the workforce in the late 1980s. But that's not to say that I didn't have a good bit of fun. FMC Corporation had a large facility near where I lived in NJ, and their VAX-11/780 had a captive "games" account that was pretty easy to break out of. I downloaded boxes of 8" floppies' worth of help files for offline reading, and taught myself a few languages on that machine. I didn't bust up stuff or make any messes, though. Just tied up their dial-in line. :) So while all of my friends were getting jobs at Burger King and 7-Eleven, I went straight from high school to being a VMS sysadmin for the DoD.
I don't know if that's a realistic expectation. I've never seen nor heard of a 5ESS that didn't weigh several tons. The processor is a minimum of four earthquake-rated 23" racks that, I believe, are not separable, or may only be separable in pairs. (3B20D vs. 2x 3B20S) There's the VCDX variant, in one rack, which is also technically a 5ESS but it's actually an emulator that runs on Suns. (i.e. "inflatable doll", it'll get the job done but it's not what you really want)
Every, and I mean every mention of the system I have made included VCDX in it. Right on down to mentioning the Sun system that runs the DMERT emulator.
Apparently I hadn't pattern-matched on that. Yeah those aren't "real" 5ESS's, the legendary kind anyway. The real ones are built around a 3B20D. The Suns in the VCDX systems run software that emulates the two processors in the 3B20D and talk to the switchframes. -Dave -- Dave McGuire, AK4HZ New Kensington, PA
participants (3)
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Dave McGuire -
Ethan O'Toole -
Martin A. Flynn