Routing Protocols

Enhancing Traffic Distribution with Weighted Packet Spray (QFX5240-64QD, QFX5241-32OD, QFX5241-32QD, QFX5241-64OD, and QFX5241-64QD)—Weighted Packet Spray (WPS) is a load balancing technique that enhances traffic distribution across network fabrics by assigning weights to packets and rebalancing flows based on link bandwidth. Operating at the route level, WPS improves efficiency and resilience during link failures and works alongside Weighted ECMP to optimize traffic paths. Firewall filters with the weighted-packet-spray option allow selective application to specific flows, while other flows continue using flow‑based Weighted ECMP. For BGP‑based load balancing, all paths of a given route must advertise link bandwidth; if any path lacks this attribute, that route alone falls back to equal‑cost multipath (ECMP). Consistent deployment of WPS across network tiers reduces packet loss, maximizes bandwidth utilization, and ensures stable load balancing.

[See Weighted Packet Spray.]

GLB multi-link support on IP Fabric (QFX5240-64OD and QFX5240-64QD)—We are extending Global Load Balancing (GLB) to support multiple paths between spine and top-of-rack switches on a 3-stage CLOS IP fabric.

To enable this feature, include the glb-multilink-mode max-val|avg-val statement at the [edit forwarding-options enhanced-hash-key] hierarchy level. By default, the spine advertises the average quality of all links. Make sure you enable GLB globally at the [edit protocols bgp] hierarchy level.

[See Configure GLB on 3-CLOS IP Fabric with Multilinks.]

Support for 256-way ECMP (QFX5130-32CD, QFX5230-64CD, QFX5240-64OD, and QFX5240-64QD)—Use this feature to increase the number of direct Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) peer connections, improve latency, and optimize data flow by configuring up to 256 equal-cost multipath (ECMP) next hops for external BGP peers.

[See Example: Load Balancing BGP Traffic.]