Understanding QFX3000-G QFabric System Hardware Configurations

The QFX3000-G QFabric system is made up of multiple hardware components:

• EX4200 switches—Eight EX4200 switches are required for a QFX3000-G QFabric system. The EX4200 switches are divided into two Virtual Chassis configurations with four switches each.

  • Up to 192 Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 ports on each Virtual Chassis provide control plane and management network interconnection.

  • Four 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports on each Virtual Chassis interconnect the two Virtual Chassis configurations.

• QFX3100 Director devices—Two QFX3100 Director devices are required for a QFX3000-G QFabric system. Together, the two Director devices are called a Director group.

  • Six Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 or six small-form factor pluggable (SFP) ports on each QFX3100 Director device provide connection to the control plane and management network through the Virtual Chassis.

  • Two Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 or two SFP ports on each QFX3100 Director device interconnect two Director devices in a Director group.

  • One Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 management port on each QFX3100 Director device provides connection to the management network through your out-of-band management network.

• QFX3500 , QFX3600, and QFX5100-48S, QFX5100-48T, and QFX5100-24Q Node devices—Up to 128 Node devices can be connected to the QFX3000-G QFabric system.

  • Note:

    Up to eight Node devices can be configured as a network Node group to connect to external networks. See Understanding Node Groups.

  • Four 40-Gbps quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) uplink ports on each QFX3500 or QFX5100 Node device connect to the data plane network through the QFX3008-I Interconnect devices. Models QFX5100-48S, QFX5100-48T, and QFX5100-24Q are supported as a QFX5100 Node device.

  • Two to eight 40-Gbps QSFP+ uplink ports on each QFX3600 or QFX5100 Node device connect to the data plane network through the QFX3008-I Interconnect devices.

    Note:

    On QFX3600 the four QSFP+ ports (Q0 through Q3 are configured as uplink ports by default.

  • Two Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 or two SFP ports on each Node device provide connection to the control plane and management network through the Virtual Chassis.

    Note:

    All models of the QFX5100 have at least one RJ-45 port C0 and an SFP cage (C1). Some QFX5100 SKUs have an additional SFP cage. The SFP cages can be configured for either 1 GbE copper or fiber SFP transceivers. For details on the number of management ports on QFX5100 SKUs, see QFX5100 Device Models.

• QFX3008-I Interconnect devices—Two QFX3008-I Interconnect devices are required for a QFX3000-G QFabric system. Up to four QFX3008-I Interconnect devices can be used in a QFX3000-G QFabric sysem.

  • Up to 128 40-Gbps QSFP+ ports on each QFX3008-I Interconnect device connect the QFX3500 and QFX3600 Node devices to the data plane network across fiber-optic cables and a high-speed backplane.

  • Up to eight Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ interfaces (four per Control Board) connect each QFX3008-I Interconnect device to the control plane and management network through the Virtual Chassis.