EX4500 System Overview

EX4500 Switches Hardware Overview

• Benefits of the EX4500 Switch

• Software

• EX4500 Switches First View

• Intraconnect Module and Virtual Chassis Module

• Virtual Chassis

• Uplink Modules

• Power Supplies

Benefits of the EX4500 Switch

Compact solution—The EX4500 switch supports up to 48 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports in a 2 rack units (2 U) chassis.

Support for Virtual Chassis—EX4500 switches support Virtual Chassis technology. You can interconnect up to 10 EX4200 switches, EX4500 switches, or EX4550 switches to form a Virtual Chassis.

Energy efficiency—The 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports consume less than eight watts, thereby offering a low power solution for top-of-rack, end-of-row, and aggregation deployments.

Software

Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches run Junos OS, which provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching, routing, and security services. The same Junos OS code base that runs on EX Series switches also runs on all Juniper Networks M Series, MX Series, and T Series routers, and SRX Series Services Gateways.

EX4500 Switches First View

EX4500 switches provide connectivity for high-density 10-Gigabit Ethernet data center top-of-rack and aggregation deployments. Typically, EX4500 switches are used in data centers where they can be positioned as the top device in a rack to provide connectivity for all devices in the rack.

The EX4500 switch is 2 rack units (2 U) in size. Each EX4500 switch is designed to optimize rack space utilization and cabling. See Figure 1, Figure 2, and Figure 3.

Figure 1: EX4500 Switch Front

Figure 2: EX4500 Switch Rear with Intraconnect Module Installed

Figure 3: EX4500 Switch Rear with Virtual Chassis Module Installed

EX4500 switches are available in models with either front-to back airflow or back-to-front airflow and hardware that either supports or does not support Data Center Bridging (DCB), also known as Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE). See EX4500 Switch Models. All eight models provide 40 wire-speed 10-gigabit small form-factor pluggable (SFP+) network ports that can house either 1-Gigabit Ethernet transceivers or 10-Gigabit Ethernet transceivers. All models support two optional high-speed uplink modules.

To provide carrier-class reliability, EX4500 switches include:

• Dual redundant, load-sharing power supplies that are hot-insertable and hot-removable field-replaceable units.

• An FRU fan tray with five fans. The switch remains operational if a single fan fails.

• Redundant Routing Engines in a Virtual Chassis configuration. This redundancy enables graceful Routing Engine switchover (GRES).

• Junos OS with its modular design that enables failed system processes to gracefully restart.

Intraconnect Module and Virtual Chassis Module

EX4500 switches ship with either the intraconnect module or the Virtual Chassis module preinstalled in the switch. Only one of the modules can be installed on the rear side of the switch chassis at a time. Both modules are offline FRUs.

• Intraconnect module—The intraconnect module helps the switch achieve line rate on all its ports. See Intraconnect Module in EX4500 Switches.

• Virtual Chassis module—The Virtual Chassis module has two dedicated Virtual Chassis ports (VCPs) that can be used to interconnect the EX4500 switch with EX4200 switches, EX4500 switches, or EX4550 switches to form a Virtual Chassis. See Virtual Chassis Module in EX4500 Switches.

Virtual Chassis

The number of EX4500 switches that can be interconnected into a Virtual Chassis composed exclusively of EX4500 switches depends on the Junos OS release running on the switches. See Understanding EX4200, EX4500, and EX4550 Virtual Chassis Hardware Configurations.

EX4200, EX4500, and EX4550 switches can be connected together into the same Virtual Chassis to form a mixed Virtual Chassis. The number of EX4200, EX4500, and EX4550 switches that can be interconnected into a mixed Virtual Chassis depends on the Junos OS release running on the switches. See Understanding EX4200, EX4500, and EX4550 Virtual Chassis Hardware Configurations.

• Dedicated VCPs on the Virtual Chassis module installed in the switch

• SFP+ uplink module ports configured as VCPs

• SFP+ fixed network ports configured as VCPs

For information about understanding and configuring Virtual Chassis, see Virtual Chassis User Guide for EX2200, EX3300, EX4200, EX4500 and EX4550 Switches.

Uplink Modules

Optional uplink modules are available for EX4500 switches. You can install up to two uplink modules in an EX4500 switch. Each uplink module provides four SFP+ ports for connecting to core devices in a data center. You can install SFP or SFP+ transceivers in these ports. You can also configure the uplink module ports as VCPs to form a Virtual Chassis. For more information, see Uplink Modules in EX4500 Switches.

Power Supplies

EX4500 switches support both AC and DC power supplies. Each AC power supply is available in two different airflow models, front-to-back and back-to-front. DC power supplies are available only in the front-to-back airflow model.

EX4500 switches ship with one AC or DC power supply installed. You can install a second AC or DC power supply in your EX4500 switch. See AC Power Supply in EX4500 Switches and DC Power Supply in EX4500 Switches.

EX4500 Switch Models

The EX4500 switch is available in eight models. Table 1 lists the models for an EX4500 switch and their port configurations, the airflow direction in each model, the components included in each model, and the Junos OS release in which the models were introduced.

Identifying EX4500 Switch Models

Purpose

Identify the model number of your EX4500 switch.

Action

Check the value of the Routing Engine (FRU Model Number) field in the output of the show chassis hardware extensive CLI command.

• EX4500-40F-FB

• EX4500-40F-BF

• EX4500-40F-FB-C

• EX4500-40F-BF-C

• EX4500-40F-DC-C

• EX4500-40F-VC1-FB

• EX4500-40F-VC1-BF

• EX4500-40F-VC1-DC

Meaning

• The FB or the BF in the model number indicates the direction of airflow in the chassis:

  • FB—Front-to-back airflow

  • BF—Back-to-front airflow

• The C in the model number indicates that the switch supports Data Center Bridging (DCB), also known as Converged Enhanced Ethernet (CEE). The absence of C in the model number of switches that do not support Virtual Chassis indicates that the switch does not support DCB.

  Note

  All models of EX4500 switches that support Virtual Chassis (switches that have the label VIRTUAL CHASSIS on the front panel) support DCB even though their model numbers do not have a C appended.

• The DC in the model number indicates that the switch model supports DC power supply.

• The VC in the model number indicates that the switch model can be used in a Virtual Chassis configuration.

  Note

  All EX4500 switch models can be used in a Virtual Chassis configuration if you have installed the Virtual Chassis module.

EX4500 Switch Hardware and CLI Terminology Mapping

This topic describes the hardware terms used in EX4500 switch documentation and the corresponding terms used in the Junos OS command line interface (CLI). See Table 2.

Chassis Physical Specifications for EX4500 Switches

The EX4500 switch chassis is a rigid sheet-metal structure that houses the other switch components. Table 3 summarizes the physical specifications of the EX4500 switch chassis.

You can mount an EX4500 switch on a standard 19-in. two-post rack. You can also mount an EX4500 switch on a standard 19-in. four-post rack or in a standard 19-in. enclosed cabinet.

Field-Replaceable Units in EX4500 Switches

Field-replaceable units (FRUs) are components that you can replace at your site. The FRUs in EX4500 switches are:

• Power supplies

• Fan tray

• Uplink module(s)

• Intraconnect module

• Virtual Chassis module

• SFP+ transceivers

• SFP transceivers

The power supplies, fan tray, uplink module(s), and transceivers are hot-removable and hot-insertable: You can remove and replace them without powering off the switch or disrupting switch functions.

The Intraconnect module and Virtual Chassis module are offline field-replaceable: You can remove and replace these components, but the switch must be powered off to replace the component.