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A LARK kit comprises the appliance and a set of supporting components. Certain components are part of every kit because the appliance requires them to operate. Others are optional and are included only when purchased with the kit. This page describes each component.
The exact contents of a specific unit are listed on the delivery record that accompanies that kit. Resource capacities and the hardware differences between models are covered on the models and capacity page.

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Core components

The following components are part of every kit. The appliance cannot operate without them.
The server provides all of the compute, storage, and acceleration used to run the platform and its analysis workloads. On SWIFT and PEREGRINE this is a single server; on APEX the workload is distributed across three nodes.
A removable front component that combines the baseboard management controller (BMC) with a network interface card (NIC). The BMC provides out-of-band, hardware-level access to the appliance through its management port and the IPMI, independent of the operating system. The NIC provides the interfaces used for connectivity and for data offloading. This component is removed for transport and reinstalled before startup, and the server will not boot without it installed.
A removable power supply and power cable. As with the BMC/NIC component, these are removed for transport and reinstalled before startup. Power requirements are covered on the power page.

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Optional components

The following components are included only when purchased with the kit. Equivalent customer-supplied equipment may be used in their place. The connection methods page describes how the appliance is connected in each case.
A network switch provides local connectivity between a laptop and the appliance and is the recommended method for connecting to and setting up the system. A switch purchased with the kit arrives pre-configured for use with the appliance. A customer-supplied switch may also be used.
A laptop is used to connect to the appliance to reach its tools and perform configuration. Any suitable laptop may be used. Kits may ship with one or more laptops; where they do not, a customer-supplied laptop may be used. Connecting a laptop is covered on the connection methods page.
A network TAP produces a copy of live traffic for the appliance to monitor, without interrupting the traffic it observes. TAPs may be purchased with the kit or supplied by the operating organization. A TAP is one of several methods for feeding traffic to the appliance; traffic sources are covered on the network capture setup page.
A TAP aggregator consolidates monitored traffic from one or more sources into a single feed before it reaches the appliance’s TAP Ingress Port, which is useful when traffic is collected from multiple points simultaneously. As with the TAP, an aggregator may be included with the kit or supplied by the operating organization.
The presence or absence of a switch, laptop, TAP, or aggregator has no bearing on the operation of the appliance itself. These items affect only how the appliance is connected and how traffic reaches it.