QFX3600 Device Overview
The Juniper Networks QFX3600 device is a high-speed, multipurpose switch especially designed for next-generation data centers. The QFX3600 device can be configured as:
A standalone switch
A Node device in a QFX3000-M or QFX3000-G QFabric system
An Interconnect device in a QFX3000-M QFabric system
A member in a QFX Virtual Chassis
A leaf node in a QFX5100 Virtual Chassis Fabric (VCF)
Sixteen 40-Gbps ports in the device use quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) transceivers. The small form-factor and front facing ports in the switch make it suitable for deployment in high-density server racks and container-based data center deployments.
In a QFX3000-G QFabric system, the QFX3600 device can operate as a Node device through the 40-Gbps uplinks ports to a Juniper Networks QFX3008-I Interconnect device. On a QFX3000-M QFabric device, the QFX3600 can be configured to operate as either a Node device or as a QFX3600-I Interconnect device. When configured as a Node device in a QFX3000-M QFabric system, , the QFX3600 device can connect to either a QFX3600-I Interconnect device to a QFX5100-24Q through the 40-Gbps uplink ports.Together, the QFX3600 Node devices and Interconnect devices form a multistage, nonblocking switch fabric that provides a high-performance, low-latency, unified interconnect solution for next-generation data centers.
The QFX3600 Node devices and QFX3008-I or QFX3600-I Interconnect devices are connected to Juniper Networks QFX3100 Director devices in a control plane and management network. The QFX3100 Director device presents the QFabric system devices as a single network entity, allowing for simplified management of your data center using the Junos OS command-line interface (CLI).
In a QFX Virtual Chassis, the QFX3600 device can participate with other QFX3600 devices or QFX3500 devices in a ring topology with up to 10 members.
In a QFX5100 Virtual Chassis Fabric, the QFX3600 device can participate as a leaf device. Up to a total of 32 devices can participate in the Virtual Chassis Fabric.
Software
QFX Series devices use the Junos operating system (OS), which provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching, routing, and security services. Junos OS is installed on the QFX3600 device’s 8-gigabyte (GB) internal flash drive. The same Junos OS code base that runs on QFX Series devices also runs on all Juniper Networks EX Series, J Series, M Series, MX Series, and T Series devices.
For more information about which features are supported on QFX Series devices, see Feature Explorer.
When the QFX3600 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 a QFX Series device operates as part of a QFabric system, all the devices in the data center fabric are managed through the Administrator software installed on the QFX3100 Director devices. Each device in a QFabric system is interconnected in a single control plane and management network, using the redundant management ports on each device.
Hardware
The compact QFX3600 chassis is 1 rack unit (1 U) in size and designed to fit in industry-standard 19-inch rack-mount enclosures, as well as high-density server racks and container-based data center deployments. See Figure 1 and Figure 2 and Chassis Physical Specifications for QFX3600 and QFX3600-I Devices.
1 — LCD panel | 4 — C0S 1-Gbps SFP management port |
2 — QSFP+ ports | 5 — C0 1000BASE-T RJ-45 management port |
3 — C1S 1-Gbps SFP management port | 6 — C1 1000BASE-T RJ-45 management port |
1 — Power supplies | 2 — Fan trays |
The front panel of the QFX3600 chassis has an LCD panel that displays the device hostname and the number of active alarms. It also has sixteen 40-Gbps ports labeled Q0 through Q15 that support quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) transceivers. See Front Panel of a QFX3600 Device.
If you are using the QFX3600 device as a Node device in a QFabric system, by default, four ports (labeled Q0 through C3) are configured for uplink connections between your QFX3600 Node device and your Interconnect device, and twelve ports (labeled Q4 through Q15) support 48 10-Gigabit Ethernet or 12 40-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for connections to either endpoint systems (such as servers and storage devices) or external networks. Optionally, you can choose to configure the first eight ports (labeled Q0 through Q7) for uplink connections between your QFX3600 Node device and your Interconnect device and ports Q2 through Q15 for 10-Gigabit Ethernet or 40-Gigabit Ethernet connections to either endpoint systems or external networks. See Configuring the Port Type on QFX3600 Node Devices and Determining Interface Support for the QFX3600 Device.
If you are using the QFX3600 device as a standalone switch, by default, all 16 QSFP+ ports (Q0 through Q15) are configured as 40-Gigabit Ethernet (xle) ports. Optionally, you can choose to configure each port to operate as 10-Gigabit Ethernet (xe) ports. Port 00 is unique because the number of ports you can specify as 10-Gigabit Ethernet varies by Junos OS release. In some Junos OS releases, port 00 has a reserved port and in other releases, the port is available. See the topics on channelizing interfaces or configuring the port type for your specific software release.
The rear panel of the QFX3600 chassis has two redundant power supplies and three redundant fan trays that are field-replaceable and hot-swappable. See Rear Panel of QFX3600 and QFX3600-I Devices.