Klas Telecom’s Voyager TDC Deployed Combat Data Distribution Network

Klas Telecom, Inc., a designer of modular and scalable IP networking communications systems for environments where low size, weight and power (SWaP) are required, announced that in an exercise for the US Department of Defense (DoD), the 63-pound Voyager Tactical Data Center (Voyager TDC) enabled operational forces to deploy everything required for an enterprise-grade combat data distribution network in one small form factor, carry-on-size rollaway case.

The data-center-in-a-box Voyager TDC system is certified to the commonly required MIL-STD-810G test methods for environmental protection and comes complete with the following components: four server nodes totaling 32 cores, 512GB RAM and 125TB of storage (enough storage and compute to allocate an entire node for built-in redundancy); validated HCI and SDS architecture; a tactical switch that provides 10Gb/s networking connectivity between the system’s nodes; 110mm NVMe; an uninterruptible power supply; integrated battery backup and AC/DC power input.

“Nothing else like it currently exists in the market,” Klas Telecom government president and CEO David Huisenga said. “Having enterprise-grade networking speeds and everything else you need to access, store and distribute large volumes of data in theater, including the critical HCI, in a single carry-on-size case is unique and pretty incredible. During the exercise, our customers appreciated having the ability to deploy such high capability in a streamlined, low SWaP package that could be carried on a commercial airline if ever military transport proved unavailable. Ultimately, this ability to rapidly deploy will save them the headache and cost of deploying larger, more complicated systems and will simplify operations on the ground so they can focus on the mission.“

During the exercise for the US DoD, the Voyager TDC allowed expeditionary teams to deploy a tactical compute and storage network that served as an extension of their enterprise architecture, allowing local access to email file servers, critical applications and data. The customer submitted the Voyager TDC for an ATO due to the fact that other market solutions require additional cases of equipment to meet the performance level and compute and storage redundancy required to achieve enterprise-grade operations in tactical deployments of HCI infrastructure, VMware vSAN being this particular customer’s software of choice.

“At the enterprise, software-defined storage solutions require built-in redundancy and 10Gb connectivity to meet validation requirements and as a best-practice protection,” Klas Telecom Government DoD business development director Marty Buckley said. “If something fails, redundancy protects critical information and operations and 10Gb switching prevents bottlenecks. Why should expeditionary teams in the field be equipped with anything less? The Voyager TDC is the only tactical solution in a travel size carry-on form factor that provides enough storage and performance within its four walls to do that. Other systems require additional blades and external, non-rugged switches for that amount of capability, which means more transit cases, batteries, cables, etc. Then, all of a sudden, you’re not looking at a small form factor package anymore.“

Last year, Voyager TDC received VMware Ready status for vSphere, and this past May the company announced that VMware supports vSAN, which includes support for NVMe, on the Voyager TDC. This means that VMware will support vSAN, vSphere and vCenter in production deployments and will work with customers to approve their configurations.