Technical Documentation
QFX3500 Device Overview
The Juniper Networks QFX3500 device is a high-speed, multipurpose switch especially designed for next-generation data centers. It provides a total switching capacity and throughput of 640 Gbps. Forty-eight 10-Gbps access ports in the device use small form-factor pluggable plus (SFP+) transceivers and operate by default as 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. Optionally, you can choose to configure up to 12 of the ports as 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps, or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel (FC) interfaces, and up to 36 of the ports as 1-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. Four 40-Gbps uplink ports in the device use quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) to four SFP+ copper breakout cables to support an additional 15 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
QFX3500 devices can function as a Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)-FC gateway or as an FCoE transit switch. FCoE is a method of supporting converged FC and Ethernet traffic on a data center bridging (DCB) network by encapsulating unmodified FC frames in Ethernet to transport the FC frames over the physical Ethernet network.
In a QFX3000 QFabric system, a QFX3500 device functions as a Node device, connected to the QFabric system through 40-Gbps uplink ports to a Juniper Networks QFX3008-I Interconnect Device. Together, the QFX3500 devices and QFX3008-I Interconnect Devices form a multistage, nonblocking switch fabric that provides a high-performance, low-latency, unified interconnect solution for next-generation data centers.
In a QFX3000 QFabric system, the QFX3500 Node devices and QFX3008-I Interconnect Devices are connected to Juniper Networks QFX3100 Director devices in an out-of-band management network through Juniper Networks EX4200 Ethernet Switches configured as a Virtual Chassis. The QFX3100 Director devices present the QFX3000 QFabric devices as a single network entity, which enables simplified management of your data center using the Junos OS command-line interface (CLI).
Software
QFX3500 devices use the Junos operating system (OS), which provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching, routing, and security services. The same Junos OS code base that runs on QFX3500 devices also runs on all Juniper Networks EX Series switches, and J Series, M Series, MX Series, and T Series routers.
For more information about which features are supported on QFX3500 devices, see QFX Series Software Features Overview.
When the QFX3500 device is operating as a standalone switch, you manage the switch using the Junos OS command-line interface (CLI), accessible through the console and out-of-band management ports on the device.
When the QFX3500 device is operating as a Node device in a QFX3000 QFabric system, all the devices in the data center fabric are managed through the Administrator software installed on the QFX3100 Director devices.
Hardware
The compact QFX3500 device is 1 rack unit (1 U) in size and designed to fit in industry-standard 19-inch rack-mount enclosures. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 and Chassis Physical Specifications for a QFX3500 Chassis.
Figure 1: QFX3500 Device Front
Figure 2: QFX3500 Device Rear
The QFX3500 device has an LCD panel that displays the device hostname and the number of active alarms. See Front Panel of a QFX3500 Device. The rear panel has 48 10-Gbps access ports and 4 40-Gbps uplink ports. See Rear Panel of a QFX3500 Device.
SFP+ Access Ports
The QFX3500 device has 48 access ports (0 through 47) that support small form-factor pluggable plus (SFP+) and small form-factor pluggable (SFP) transceivers, as well as SFP+ direct attach copper cables, also known as Twinax cables. See Interface Specifications for SFP+ Transceivers for QFX3500 Device Access Ports and Interface Specifications for SFP+ DAC Cables for QFX3500 Device Access Ports.
- Up to 48 of the access ports can be used for SFP+ transceivers
or SFP+ direct attach copper cables. You can use 10-Gigabit Ethernet
SFP+ transceivers and SFP+ direct attach copper cables in any access
port. You can use 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps, or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel SFP+
transceivers in ports 0 through 5 and ports 42 through 47.
Note: If you use Fibre Channel SFP+ transceivers in ports 0 through 5 or ports 42 through 47, you must configure the entire block of ports as Fibre Channel ports. For example, if you use a Fibre Channel SFP+ transceiver in any of the ports 0 through 5, then ports 0 through 5 must be configured as Fibre Channel ports. If you use a Fibre Channel SFP+ transceiver in any of the ports 42 through 47, then ports 42 through 47 must be configured as Fibre Channel ports. You then cannot use 10-Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ transceivers in these ports.
- Up to 36 of the access ports can be used for SFP transceivers.
Gigabit Ethernet SFP transceivers can be used in ports 6 through 41.
Caution: Do not place a copper transceiver in an access port directly above or below another copper transceiver. Internal damage to the access ports and device can occur. Because of this limitation, a maximum of 18 copper transceivers can be installed in ports 6 through 41. We recommend using only the top row of access ports for copper transceivers.
Figure 3 shows the location of the SFP+ access ports, including the ports that can be used with Fibre Channel SFP+ transceivers and Gigabit Ethernet SFP transceivers.
Figure 3: SFP+ Access Port Locations
QSFP+ Uplink Ports
The QFX3500 device has four uplink ports (Q0 through Q3) that support up to four QSFP+ to four SFP+ copper breakout cables. See Interface Specifications for QSFP+ DAC Breakout Cables for QFX3500 Device Uplink Ports. Figure 4 shows the location of the QSFP+ uplink ports, and the interfaces supported on each port. When the QFX3500 device is used as part of a QFX3000 QFabric system, these uplink ports are used to connect the QFX3500 Node device to QFX3008-I Interconnect Devices. See Interface Specifications for Data Plane Connections for the QFabric System and Connecting a QFX3500 Node Device to a QFX3008-I Interconnect Device.
All four of the uplink ports can be used for QSFP+ transceivers to four SFP+ breakout copper cables.
| Note: Port Q0 of the QFSP+ uplink ports only supports three of the four QFSP+ to four SFP+ breakout cable divisions. Ports Q1 through Q3 support all four of the QFSP+ to four SFP+ breakout cable divisions. Together, the four QSFP+ ports provide 15 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces. |
| Note: The QSFP+ uplink ports are not supported in Junos OS Release 11.1. The QSFP+ uplink ports and QSFP+ to four SFP+ breakout cables are supported in Junos OS Release 11.2 and later. |
Figure 4: QSFP+ Uplink Port Locations
