Cisco VXC-2112: Hardware 

• Hardware
• Disassembly
• Firmware
• Linux

The Cisco VXC 2100 and 2200 series are not marketed as 'thin clients' per se, but are part of Cisco's VXI offering. To start with a bit of Cisco Marketing speak:

Cisco Virtualization Experience Infrastructure (VXI) is the first solution to combine Cisco Collaboration, Cisco Borderless Networks, and Cisco Data Center architectures, creating an outstanding offering that eliminates the feature gaps of existing virtualization solutions.

Cisco Virtualization Experience Client (VXC) 2100 and 2200 Series endpoints are critical elements of this new solution. Workers demand access to data, applications, and services anywhere, at any time, and across a diversity of operating systems, device form factors, networking environments, and work preferences. At the same time, workers expect an uncompromised and unencumbered user experience, with comprehensive media and collaboration services.

Cisco meets these requirements with the Cisco VXC endpoints. These endpoints provide workers with secure, real-time access to business applications and content, anytime and anywhere, without compromise of the rich collaborative user experience for which Cisco is known

Previously I wrote up the VXC-2212 which was a stand-alone unit with the oddity of being powered from 48V. Where this comes from is that, back in the dark ages when I was a youth, the local Telecom infrastructure was powered by massive 48V batteries in every exchange (or 'Central Office' if you're US based). As a result a lot of telecom kit (still does?) run off 48V. The CVXC-2112 essentially is the same unit as the VXC-2212 but packaged in a way so that it physically integrates with the Cisco 9971 IP phone. In this write up I have checked it out connected up to such a phone.

There is no date of manufacture on the unit I have. Cisco stopped selling the VXC-2000 line in July 2013.

Integration

The IP phone.

Here is the standard IP-Phone. The VXC-2112 clips onto the phone in place of the footstand (back support). The IP-Phone admin guide has the rather understated comment:

Note Connecting and disconnecting the footstand may require a little more force than you expect.

Personally I'd replace 'little' by 'lot'.

The footstand replaced by the VXC-2112.

The back view with the VXC-2112 in place.

Specifications

Processor
Type    Speed	VIA Eden 1GHz
Memory
Flash    RAM	128MB 512MB
Video
Chip     VGA     DVI-D     Dual display	Chrome 9 HDA 1920 x 1200 @60Hz 8/15/16/24 bpp 1920 x 1200 @60Hz 8/15/16/24 bpp Two independent frame buffers
Ports
Network    USB    Serial    Parallel    PS/2	10/100/1000 5 x USB2.0 0 0 0
Power
Supply    Plug    Off    Idle    Running	48V 0.917A (Label) ? 2W 6W 10W
Dimensions
H x W x D (mm)	205 x 75 x 105 (Inc Stand)

Power measurements taken include the IP Phone.

The embedded operating system is Cisco's Virtualization Experience Client(?).

CPU

Some details from /proc/cpuinfo.

vendor_id	: CentaurHauls
cpu family	: 6
model		: 13
model name	: VIA Eden Processor 1000MHz
stepping	: 0
cpu MHz		: 1000.000
cpu cores	: 1
flags		: fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge cmov pat
     		  clflush acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 tm nx pni est tm2 xtpr rng rng_en
     		  ace ace_en ace2 ace2_en phe phe_en pmm pmm_en

PCI

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Host Bridge: Host Control (rev 03)
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Error Reporting
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Host Bus Control
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 DRAM Bus Control
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Power Management Control
00:00.5 PIC: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 APIC and Central Traffic Control
00:00.6 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Scratch Registers
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 North-South Module Interface Control
00:01.0 VGA compatible controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Chrome 9 HCM Integrated Graphics
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 EIDE Controller
00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev a0)
00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 90)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875 Bus Control and Power Management
00:11.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX8xx South-North Module Interface Control
00:13.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VX855/VX875/VX900 PCI to PCI Bridge
00:14.0 Audio device: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237A/VT8251 HDA Controller (rev 20)
01:03.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6120/VT6121/VT6122 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (rev 11)

Power Supply

The VXC-2112 requires a 48V supply which it gets from the IP-Phone. The connector that plugs into the phone is shown left. From a quick glance I'd hazard a guess that the four traces on the right are a USB connection and the main power is to the left. I haven't attempted to verify this.

As with the VXC-2212 the label on the bottom of the VXC-2112 says 48V 0.917A, however in the datasheet it does say, under power consumption, "12W - 20W depending on connected peripherals".

Under 'Power Sources' the datasheet goes on to say:

External AC to DC supply: AC source full range from 100 to 240 V AC (47 TO 63 Hz), DC Output +48V, 0.9A (Cisco Power Cube 4, 48V power plug)

PoE: PoE-802.3AT (25.5W) and PoE-802.3AF (12.95W)

Cisco VXC 2111 and 2112 power through Cisco Unified IP Phone 8961, 9951, and 9971 spine connector interface, which requires the IP phone to be connected to IEEE 802.3AT PoE standard source or Power Cube 4

Cisco VXC 2211 and 2212 power through IEEE 802.3AF or IEEE 802.3AT PoE standard source through RJ-45 network port or Power Cube 4 DC port

Initially I misread this thinking that the second paragraph implied it supported PoE, but then realised that paragraph 3 was the operative one - it is only powered via the IP-phone. I did dig out the VXC-2212 and the PoE PSU that I tested it with. When I replaced the (powered up) VXC-2212 by the VXC-2112 it did not power up.

Expansion

For a view of the top and bottom main board in the Cisco VXC-2112 please see the Cisco VXC-2212 entry.

Flash: The Flash memory is easily replaceable. It's a DOM plugged into a standard 44-pin IDE interface. It's just a little bit of a hassle taking the unit apart to get at it. (See the disassembly tab).

RAM: The RAM is a standard DDR2 SO-DIMM. The one fitted is manufactured by Apacer and is a 512MB part labelled 512MB SOD PC2-6400 CL6. I haven't experimented here so I don't know the maximum size of RAM supported. As with the DOM, whilst it's easy to replace, It's just a little bit of a hassle taking the unit apart to get at it. (See the disassembly tab).

USB: There are four USB 2.0 ports. The additional port on the power connector looks to be associated with the phone rather than the VXC-2112.

The circuit boards in the VXC-2112 are the same as those fitted to VXC-2212, they're just in a different housing to integrate with the Cisco IP-Phone. In this instance the unit was being powered from a Cisco PSU and I didn't have the USB issues that I had with the VXC-2212 powered from a lower power PoE supply.