Spec Sheet

4
Data SheetEX4600 Ethernet Switch
Flexible deployment options enable the EX4600 to support
back-to-front and front-to-back cooling, which ensures
consistency with server designs for hot and cold aisle
deployments. Front and rear facing configuration options ensure
closer proximity to server ports, optimizing performance and
keeping cable lengths short and manageable.
For small data centers, the EX4600, when deployed in a Virtual
Chassis configuration, is ideally suited as an aggregation/core
switch, aggregating 10GbE expansions from EX4300 Virtual
Chassis configurations in the access layer (see Figure 5).
Customers introducing 10GbE into their server racks can use the
EX4600 to add 10GbE-attached servers, iSCSI, and network-
attached storage (NAS) with minimal impact to their current
switching infrastructure.
10GbE Data Center Bridging and I/O Convergence
Deployments
The EX4600 is a full IEEE DCB-based and T11 FC-BB-5-based
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) transit switch, delivering a
high-performance solution for converged server edge access
environments. As an FCoE transit switch, the EX4600 provides
a pure IEEE DCB converged access layer between FCoE-enabled
servers and an FCoE-enabled Fibre Channel (FC) storage area
network (SAN) (see Figure 6).
The EX4600 also supports FCoE Initialization Protocol (FIP)
snooping, which provides perimeter protection to ensure that
the presence of an Ethernet layer does not impact existing SAN
security policies. The FCoE transit switch functionality, along
with priority-based flow control (PFC) and Data Center Bridging
Capability Exchange protocol (DCBX), are included as part of the
default software; no additional licenses are required.
Junos Operating System
The EX4600 runs the same Juniper Networks Junos operating
system that is used by other EX Series Ethernet Switches, as well
as all Juniper routers and Juniper Networks SRX Series Services
Gateways. By utilizing a common operating system, Juniper
delivers a consistent implementation and operation of control
plane features across all products. To maintain that consistency,
Junos OS adheres to a highly disciplined development process
that uses a single source code, follows a single quarterly release
train, and employs a highly available modular architecture that
prevents isolated failures from bringing down an entire system.
These attributes are fundamental to the core value of the
software, enabling all Junos OS-powered products to be updated
simultaneously with the same software release. All features are
fully regression tested, making each new release a true superset
of the previous version. Customers can deploy the software
with complete confidence that all existing capabilities will be
maintained and operate in the same way.
Figure 4: EX4600 provides 10GbE server access in the data center.
EX9200
Virtual
Chassis
10GbE
10GbE
MX Series
10GbE
GbE Servers 1/10GbE Servers
EX4300 and EX4600 Virtual Chassis
SRX5800
Aggregation
Core
Access