Codensity TM T408 & T432 Quickstart Guide
NETINT Overview
NETINT provides high density and efficient video transcoding solutions using the powerful video processing engines inside our Codensity G4 Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). We can provide multiple stream transcoding functions and services directly to video content providers and Transcoding as a Service (TaaS) providers for integration into their video streaming systems and services. Our functions and services can be used for highly efficient Video-on-Demand file transcoding, as well as real-time live video streaming applications.
This quick start guide provides an overview of NETINT video transcoding. It describes some of the most important transcoding parameters and the ways they are used and configured when integrating with different levels and parts of solutions that NETINT provides.
The Codensity T408/T432 Video Transcoders
Video content is the number one source of traffic on the Internet. Video is often generated using the ubiquitous H.264 AVC video encoding standard. Newer H.265 HEVC video delivers equivalent quality with up to a 50% reduction in file size and bandwidth requirements, making it the codec of choice for newer video end points and devices. Codensity T408/T432 Video Transcoders (henceforth referred to as T4XX) deliver scalable video transcoding between H.264 AVC and H.265 HEVC formats with up to 8K UHD video resolution.
Installation and Compatibility
The installation of HW, FW, and SW must follow the details provided in this section. The T4XX Video Transcoders have been tested with the configuration detail in this section. All component parts must conform to the details given here. This includes the versions of open source software and the hardware detailed in this section.
Compatibility
The following hardware and software compatibility pertain to this quick start guide.
- Software
- This guide is for NETINT T4XX Video Transcoder software release 3.x.
- Hardware
- Release 3.x supports NETINT T4XX Video Transcoder hardware.
Hardware Installation
The T4XX Video Transcoders require minimal CPU resources when running video transcoding tasks. Typical CPU usage for 6x1080p30 streams on an i5 CPU is about 40%-50% per CPU thread. The minimum hardware requirement is:
- Intel i5 CPU or equivalent
- 4GB DDR3 or DDR4
- T408 – Available U.2 interface or PCIe slot for add in card (AIC) versions
- T432 – Available PCIe 3.0 x16 PCIe slot with BIOS support for x4x4x4x4 bifurcation, and 300 LFM air flow
- T432 – GPU optimized servers are recommended (for better air flow cooling), e.g. Dell PowerEdge C4140
Some video transcoding applications may require deinterlacing, scaling or other processing done by FFmpeg which requires extra CPU resources. Also audio processing may require extra CPU resources. In these cases, or for a multiple T4XX transcoding system, the T4XX Video Transcoders can be installed in a host server with the following recommend requirements:
- 2x Intel Xeon Silver 4208 or equivalent
- 64GB DDR4
The T408 leverages NVMe server technology and is designed to directly plug into host servers equipped with NVMe U.2 bays. NVMe (non-volatile memory express) is a host controller interface and storage protocol for high speed data transfer over a server’s high-speed Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) bus. U.2 is a computer interface standard that encompasses the physical connector, electrical characteristics, and communication protocols. It uses up to four PCI Express lanes.
T408 modules are available in both U.2 and add-in-card (AIC) formats. T432 modules are only available in an add-in-card (AIC) format.
Host server U.2 interface
Host servers not equipped with U.2 interfaces can utilize the AIC (add in card) variant of the T408 or the T432.
T408 Add in card
Operating Systems and Software
The following software, including operating systems, is required for the operation of the T4XX Video Transcoders.
Operating Systems
A host server with one of the following operating systems installed is recommended:
- Ubuntu
- OS: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS; kernel: 4.10.0-28-generic
- OS: Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS; kernel: 4.15.0-64-generic
- OS: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS; kernel: 4.15.0-45-generic
- CentOS
- OS: CentOS 7.2.1511; kernel: 3.10.0-327.el7.x86_64
- OS: CentOS 7.5.1804; kernel: 3.10.0-862.11.6.el7.x86_64
- OS: CentOS 7.6.1810; kernel: 3.10.0-957.el7.x86_64
If host server is utilizing Ubuntu operating system, run the following command to install prerequisite packages:
- $ sudo apt-get install -y yasm pkg-config git gcc make
If host server is utilizing CentOS operating system, use the following steps to configure environment variables and install prerequisite packages:
- Install prerequisite packages by running the commands:
- $ sudo yum –enablerepo=extras install -y epel-release
- $ sudo yum install -y make gcc redhat-lsb-core yasm git pkgconfig wget pciutils
- Add the following lines in the file, /etc/bashrc:
- export PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/
- export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib/
- Then run the command:
- $ source /etc/bashrc
- Add the following line in the file, /etc/ld.so.conf:
- /usr/local/lib
- Then run the command:
- $ sudo ldconfig
For any Linux operation system, check that the /etc/sudoers file is configured to run the programs to be installed:
- In the file /etc/sudoers find the line:
- Defaults secure_path =
- Note its entries are separated by ‘:’. If /usr/local/sbin and /usr/local/bin are not in the secure_path add it by appending the following to the secure_path line:
- :usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin
- Add the following line in the file, /etc/sudoers:
- Defaults env_keep += “PKG_CONFIG_PATH”
NVME CLI Download and Install
The following material defines the NVMe CLI application download and install.
- Download the NVMe CLI application from Git repository and untar it:
- $ wget https://github.com/linux-nvme/nvme-cli/archive/v1.6.tar.gz
- $ tar -xzf v1.6
- $ cd nvme-cli-1.6/
- Install the NVMe CLI with the following command:
- $ sudo make && sudo make install
