Technical Guide SwitchBlade x8100 Series System Overview ® Next Generation Intelligent Layer 3+ Chassis Switches
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview Contents Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................................3 SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Chassis...........................................................................................................................4 SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Chassis..........................................................................
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview Introduction The SwitchBlade x8100 Series next generation intelligent Layer 3+ chassis switches are designed to deliver high availability, wire-speed performance, and a high port count. Allied Telesis advanced features make them the ideal solution for the modern enterprise network where resiliency, reliability and high performance are the key requirements.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Chassis The SwitchBlade x8112 is a 7 rack unit modular chassis comprising: ■■ 2 Controller Fabric Card (CFC) slots ■■ 10 Line card slots ■■ 2 System PSU bays ■■ 2 PoE PSU bays ■■ Fan tray A number of components have specific positions in the chassis: ■■ System PSUs use the 2 right hand bays ■■ PoE PSUs use the 2 left hand bays ■■ CFCs use slots 5 & 6 ■■ Line cards use slots 1-4, 7-12 All of the above system components are hot-swappable
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Chassis The SwitchBlade x8106 is a 4 rack unit modular chassis comprising: ■■ 2 Controller Fabric Card (CFC) slots ■■ 4 Line card slots »» A 5th Line card can replace one CFC ■■ 2 System PSU bays ■■ 2 PoE PSU bays ■■ Fan tray A number of components have specific positions in the chassis: ■■ System PSUs use the 2 right hand bays ■■ PoE PSUs use the 2 left hand bays ■■ Line cards use slots 1-4 ■■ A CFC uses slots 5 ■■ A CFC or Line card us
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Control and Line Cards ■■ SBx81CFC960 (Controller Fabric Card) ■■ SBx81CFC400 (Controller Fabric Card) ■■ SBx81GT24 (24 x 10/100/1000T Line Card) ■■ SBx81GT40 (40 x 10/100/1000T RJ.5 Line Card) ■■ SBx81GP24 (24 x 10/100/1000T PoE+ Line Card) ■■ SBx81GS24a (24 x 100/1000 SFP Line Card) ■■ SBx81XS6 (6 x 10Gbps (SFP+) Line Card) Note: The SwitchBlade x8100 Series shares hardware design with the Layer-2 SwitchBlade x3100 Series chassis.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview CFC960 Control Card The CFC960 shown above provides all of the same connectors and front panel information as the CFC400 shown previously, plus 4 x 10GbE SFP+ ports. The SFP+ ports can be used for standard 10GbE connectivity (fiber only) or for stacking two SwitchBlade x8100 Series chassis together into a single virtual unit using VCStack Plus.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Power Supplies and Cooling The SwitchBlade x8100 Series includes AC and DC system power supply options. Optional PoE power supplies will supply power to endpoints when used with the SBx81GP24 line card.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview System cooling Cooling of the SwitchBlade x8100 Series is: ■■ Front to back for the PSUs via their own internal fans ■■ Side to side for the chassis cards via the SBxFAN12 fan tray (which comprises 4 individual fans) for the SwitchBlade x8112.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Internal Architecture Data plane connectivity To avoid any single point of failure, the data plane employs a dual star topology. Two 10Gbps data lanes, one from each packet processor on the SBx81CFC400 control card, connect to each line card slot.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview A SwitchBlade x8100 Series with two CFC400s or two CFC960s installed provides 80Gbps bandwidth per line card slot*.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview Control plane connectivity The SwitchBlade x8100 Series control plane is facilitated by gigabit switch chips fitted to both the CFC and line cards.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview Control plane data is managed by the CPU, as it consists of chassis related communication such as switch management, file transfer and so on. To facilitate this, the CPU is connected to the control plane switch chip with a 1Gbps link. It is also connected to each packet processor via 2Gbps PCI Express to manage data traffic that needs to be processed by the switch, for example protocol management packets (STP, EPSR etc).
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview CPU traffic prioritization and rate limiting In a Layer 3 switch, such as the SwitchBlade x8100 Series, data traffic will be predominantly switched in hardware by the packet processors, keeping wire-speed performance for the large number of gigabit and 10 gigabit ports. Control plane traffic is processed by the CPU, as it manages internal switch management.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview SwitchBlade x8100 Series – Switch Startup One of the key differences between the SwitchBlade x8100 Series and other switches running the AlliedWare Plus operating system is that the SwitchBlade x8100 Series has multiple CPUs (one on each card). While the CPU on the master CFC will run the system, because the other control and line cards have their own CPU and packet processors, they all need to have a copy of the release software loaded.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview Software upgrading Like other AlliedWare Plus switches, the SwitchBlade x8100 Series has no restriction on upgrading between software versions. So minor release upgrades (e.g. 5.4.3-2.5 to 5.4.3-3.6) and major release upgrades (e.g. 5.4.3-2.5 to 5.4.4) are both supported. Upgrading the software on a SwitchBlade x8100 Series requires the software to be distributed to all cards in the system.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview System information Once the SwitchBlade x8100 chassis has successfully booted, information about the system is available from the command line. For example, ‘show system’ and ‘show card’ provide an overview of hardware installed and its status.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | System Overview System Location awplus# show card Slot Card Type State ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 AT-SBx81GP24 Online 2 AT-SBx81XS6 Online 3 AT-SBx81GP24 Online 4 5 AT-SBx81CFC400 Online (Active) 6 AT-SBx81CFC400 Online (Standby) 7 AT-SBx81GS24a Online 8 9 10 11 AT-SBx81GT24 Online 12 AT-SBx81GS24a Online -----------------------------------------------------------------
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Appendix A: SwitchBlade x8100 Series Network Solutions The SwitchBlade x8100 Series is an ideal chassis based solution for modern enterprise networks. Ideally suited to medium and large network core solutions, the SwitchBlade x8100 Series can provide a powerful solution - this appendix showcases five such examples.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Solution 1 – SwitchBlade x8100 (CFC400) network core resiliency 10 x2 The convergence of network services in the enterprise has led to increasing demand for high performing networks with minimal downtime. In this solution, a SwitchBlade x8112 with dual CFC400 control cards provides a powerful network core with extremely high reliability.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Solution 2 – SwitchBlade x8100 (CFC400) distributed network with EPSRing Wherever a distributed network design is required, Allied Telesis Ethernet Protection Switched Ring (EPSRing) with the SwitchBlade x8106 is ideal, providing high-speed 10GbE connectivity. Failover in a little as 50ms prevents a node or link failure from affecting customer experience, even when using demanding applications such as IP telephony and video monitoring.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Solution 3 – SwitchBlade x8100 (CFC960) complete network core resilience Today’s large enterprises demand ready access to online resources and applications. These needs require a high performing network, one that can seamlessly carry multiple converged services. SwitchBlade x8106 chassis with CFC400 control cards are used to aggragate tracffic from other buildings, increasing network resilience.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Solution 4 – SwitchBlade x8100 (CFC960) distributed collapsed backbone As large businesses spread across multiple buildings, both onsite and across distances, their need for reliable access to online resources and applications grows. Employees expect seamless connectivity to data center services from all business locations. Allied Telesis VCStack Plus allows two SwitchBlade x8100 chassis with dual CFC960 control cards to combine as a single virtual unit.
SwitchBlade x8100 Series | Network Solutions Solution 5 – SwitchBlade x8100 Series as AMF master Allied Telesis Management Framework (AMF) is a sophisticated suite of management tools that provide a simplified approach to network management. Common tasks are automated or made so simple that the every-day running of a network can be achieved without the need for highly-trained, and expensive network engineers.
SwitchBlade x8112 | Network Solutions About Allied Telesis, Inc. Founded in Japan in 1987 and with offices worldwide, Allied Telesis is a leading provider of networking infrastructure and flexible, interoperable network solutions. The company provides reliable video, voice and data network solutions to clients in multiple markets including government, healthcare, defense, education, retail, hospitality and network service providers.