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Step 1: Begin

In this guide, we provide a simple, three-step path, to quickly get you up and running with your new EX4600. We’ve simplified and shortened the installation and configuration steps, and included how-to videos. You’ll learn how to install an AC-powered EX4600, power it up, and configure basic settings.

Note:

Are you interested in getting hands-on experience with the topics and operations covered in this guide? Visit Juniper Networks Virtual Labs and reserve your free sandbox today! You’ll find the Junos Day One Experience sandbox in the stand alone category. EX switches are not virtualized. In the demonstration, focus on the virtual QFX device. Both the EX and QFX switches are configured with the same Junos commands.

Meet the EX4600

The Juniper Networks® EX4600 offers a compact, highly scalable, high-performance 10GbE solution for enterprise campus distribution deployments as well as low-density data center top-of-rack environments. A single EX4600 can support up to 72 10GbE ports (using 10GbE breakout cables on 40GbE fixed ports) at line rate. In addition, Virtual Chassis technology makes it easy to scale the network while reducing management complexity. By adding switches to a Virtual Chassis configuration, you can grow the number of switch ports without increasing the number of devices to manage.

The base EX4600 model has:

  • 24 fixed small form-factor pluggable (SFP) or SFP+ access ports

  • Four fixed quad SFP+ (QSFP+) high-speed uplinks

  • Two power supplies

  • Five fan modules

  • Management interface ports: RJ-45 console (CON) port, RJ-45 management Ethernet port (CO), SFP management Ethernet port (C1), and a USB port

  • Two expansion slots for optional expansion modules

The EX4600 is available in AC-powered or DC-powered models with air-flow in or air-flow out cooling. You can install the switch in a two-post or four-post rack. In this guide, we show you how to install an AC-powered EX4600 in a four-post rack. If you need instructions for installing a DC-powered EX4600, see the EX4600 Ethernet Switch Hardware Guide.

Install the EX4600

Let’s get going and install the EX4600 in a four-post rack.

What’s in the Box?

  • EX4600 switch with two power supplies and five fan modules pre-installed

  • Two power cords appropriate for your geographic location

  • Rack mount kit

The rack mount kit contains one pair of mounting rails, one pair of mounting blades, and 12 flat-head Phillips mounting screws.

What Else Do I Need?

  • Someone to help you secure the switch to the rack

  • A number two Phillips (+) screwdriver

  • Eight rack mount screws

  • Cage nuts and washers, if your rack requires them

  • Grounding lug and attached cable

  • Two 10-32 x 0.25 screws with #10 split-lock washers

  • An electrostatic discharge (ESD) grounding strap

  • Management host, such as a laptop or desktop PC

  • Serial-to-USB adapter (if your laptop or desktop PC doesn’t have a serial port)

  • An Ethernet cable with RJ-45 connectors attached and an RJ-45 to DB-9 serial port adapter

    Note:

    We no longer include a DB-9 to RJ-45 cable or a DB-9 to RJ-45 adapter with a CAT5E copper cable as part of the device package. If you require a console cable, you can order it separately with the part number JNP-CBL-RJ45-DB9 (DB-9 to RJ-45 adapter with a CAT5E copper cable).

Rack It

  1. Review General Safety Guidelines and Warnings.
  2. Wrap the ESD grounding strap around your bare wrist and ground yourself to an ESD point or to the rack.
  3. Decide which end of the switch you want to place at the front of the rack: the field-replaceable unit (FRU) end or the port end. Position it in the rack so that the AIR IN labels on the power supplies are next to the cold aisle, and the AIR OUT labels on the power supplies are next to the hot aisle.
  4. Attach the mounting rails to each side of the switch using the supplied flat-head mounting screws.
  5. Lift the switch and position it in the rack. Line up the bottom hole in each mounting rail with a hole in each rack rail, making sure the switch is level.
  6. While you’re holding the switch in place, have a second person insert and tighten the rack mount screws to secure the mounting rails to the rack rails. Make sure they tighten the screws in the two bottom holes first, and then tighten the screws in the two top holes.
  7. Continue holding the switch in place and have the second person slide the mounting blades into the mounting rail grooves.
  8. Screw the mounting blades to the rack using the rack mount screws (and cage nuts and washers, if your rack requires them).
  9. Double-check that the mounting brackets on each side of the rack are level.

Power On

Now that you’ve installed your EX4600 in the rack, you’re ready to connect it to power.

  1. Wrap and fasten one end of the ESD grounding strap around your bare wrist, and connect the other end to one of the ESD grounding points on the chassis.
  2. Secure the grounding lug and attached cable to the chassis using two 10-32 x 0.25 screws with #10 split-lock washers. Attach the lug to the chassis through the left rail and blade assembly.
  3. Connect the other end of the grounding cable to a proper earth ground, such as the rack. Dress the grounding cable and ensure that it doesn’t touch or block access to other device components, and that it doesn’t drape where people could trip over it.
  4. Plug in the coupler end of the AC power cord to the AC power cord inlet on each of the switch’s power supplies.
  5. Push the power cord retainer onto the power cord.
  6. If the AC power source outlet has a power switch, turn it off.
  7. Plug in the power cord to the AC power source outlet.
  8. If the AC power source outlet has a power switch, turn it on.

    The EX4600 powers up as soon as you connect it to power; there is no power switch. When the AC and DC LEDs on each power supply are solid green, the EX4600 is ready to use.