Hardware Architecture Overview

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Juniper Network routing platforms are made up of two basic routing components:

Routing Engine—The Routing Engine controls the routing updates and system management.
Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE)—The Packet Forwarding Engine performs Layer 2 and Layer 3 packet switching, route lookups, and packet forwarding.

From a system administration perspective, you install the software onto the Routing Engine and during the installation, the appropriate software is forwarded to other components as necessary. Each Routing Engine includes a CompactFlash card that stores the JUNOS software. On the M-series, MX-series, T-series, and TX Matrix platforms, the system also includes a hard drive that acts as a backup boot drive.

On routing platforms with dual Routing Engines, each Routing Engine is independent with regard to upgrading the software. To install new software on both Routing Engines, you need to install the new software on each Routing Engine. On platforms with dual Routing Engines configured for high availability, you can use the unified in-service software upgrade procedure to upgrade the software. For more information on this procedure, see the JUNOS High Availability Configuration Guide.

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