Juniper Debuts Enterprise Ethernet Switches Running JUNOS

Juniper Networks unveiled a new family of Ethernet switches running on its JUNOS software and designed to meet the technical, business and economic requirements of a service-enabling network infrastructure. The new EX-series, which includes three Ethernet switching families, the EX 3200, 4200 and 8200, are based on three key tenets -- operational simplicity, carrier-class reliability, and integration and consolidation.


Operational simplicity -- Legacy enterprise switch infrastructures are often inundated by multiple, inconsistent versions of network operating systems, resulting in unpredictable performance as new features are enabled on the network. Juniper said that deploying its JUNOS software across the enterprise would help to automate network operations while minimizing the complexity, cost and risk associated with implementing network features and upgrades. JUNOS is the same operating system used in its carrier-grade routers.


Carrier-Class Reliability: To mitigate the impact of security risks on network operations, Juniper Networks has integrated its Unified Access Control (UAC) solution with the new EX-series switches to provide businesses with the ability to control user access to mission critical applications and company assets through the enforcement of end-to-end policies.


Integration and Consolidation: Traditional enterprise networks are often built upon multiple layers of switches deployed in three general areas: access, aggregation and core. The new EX-series switches will offer scalable port densities and carrier-proven high availability features that consolidate legacy switch layers.


All of the Juniper EX-series switches will include ASIC-based flow capabilities that permit the hardware-based collection of network statistics combined with the integrated ability to identify applications.


The Juniper EX 3200


The EX 3200 series switches are fixed-configuration Ethernet platforms offering a simple, cost-effective, standalone solution for low-density regional and corporate office deployments. Installed in wiring closets to provide network access, the 24- and 48-port EX 3200 switches offer plug-and-play 10/100/1000BASE-T connectivity. Full and partial Power over Ethernet (PoE) options are available for supporting IP-enabled devices such as telephones, security cameras and WLAN access points. Optional four-port GbE and two-port 10GbE uplink modules with pluggable optics are also available for supporting high-speed connections to other switches or upstream devices such as routers.


The Juniper EX 4200 series


The EX 4200 series Ethernet switches with Virtual-Chassis technology combine modular systems capablities with the economics and flexibility of stackable platforms. Target applications include data center, corporate and regional office environments.


Like the EX 3200 switches, EX 4200 series switches offer 24- and 48-port 10/100/1000BASE-T configurations with full and partial PoE and optional GbE and 10GbE uplink modules, plus a 24-port fiber switch offering 100/1000BASE-X support.


The Virtual Chassis technology allows up to 10 EX 4200 series switches to be interconnected over a 128 Gbps backplane, creating a single virtual switch supporting up to 480 10/100/1000BASE-T ports and up to 40 GbE or 20 10GbE uplink ports. All EX 4200 series switches include HA features such as redundant, hot-swappable internal power supplies and field-replaceable, multi-blower fan trays to help deliver maximum uptime.


The Juniper EX 8200 series


The modular EX 8200 series Terabit Ethernet switches are aimed at high-density 10GbE enterprise core and aggregation deployments. Juniper will offer two EX 8200 series switches -- an eight-slot 1.6 Terabit Chassis and a 16-slot 3.2 terabit Chassis.


The EX 8200 switches will feature enterprise-class routing tables and deep, hardware-based packet buffers. Wire-speed 10GbE port densities will scale to 64 ports in the eight-slot chassis and 128 ports in the 16-slot chassis. Two fully-equipped 16-slot EX 8200 switches will fit in a single 42-unit rack, delivering 256 wire-speed 10GbE ports per rack.http://www.juniper.net/training/fasttrack/