Spec Sheet

6
Data SheetEX4600 Ethernet Switch
Management Options
Four different system management options are available for the
EX4600 Ethernet Switch:
• The standard Junos OS CLI offers the same granular
management capabilities and scripting parameters found in
any router powered by the Junos operating system.
• The EX4600 also includes the integrated Juniper
Networks Junos Web Software, an embedded web-based
device manager that allows users to configure, monitor,
troubleshoot, and perform system maintenance on
individual switches via a browser-based graphical interface.
• EX4600 performance, configuration, and fault data can
also be exported to leading third-party management
systems such as HP OpenView, IBM Tivoli, and Computer
Associates Unicenter software, providing a complete,
consolidated view of network operations.
• The EX4600 is also supported by Juniper Networks Junos
Space Network Director, a smart, comprehensive, and
automated network management tool that enables network
administrators to visualize, analyze, and control their entire
enterprise network—data center and campus, physical and
virtual, wired and wireless—through a single pane of glass.
Junos Space is an open, programmable application platform
for hosting a comprehensive suite of network operational
application tools that provide a smart, simple, and open approach
for automating the deployment and operation of a Juniper
infrastructure. Junos Space provides multiple management and
infrastructure applications for managing Juniper resources and
assets, including inventory management, device and interface
configuration, automated soware management and deployment,
and event-driven fault management. These Junos Space
applications oer predefined automation schemes and best-
practice templates to enable rapid and accurate deployments.
Features and Benefits
EX4600 Ethernet switches include the following key features
and benefits:
• High performance: Each EX4600 supports up to 1.44 Tbps
of bandwidth or 1.07 Bpps at the minimum Ethernet frame
size, with 24 line-rate 10GbE fixed ports, 4 40GbE fixed
ports, and 2 expansion slots that can each support either a
4x40GbE module or an 8x10GbE module.
• Unified in-service software upgrade (unified ISSU): With
its Intel core processor, the EX4600 switch allows Junos
OS to run within a virtual machine (VM) on Linux. Junos OS
runs in two separate VMs in active and standby pairs; during
software upgrade cycles, the switches seamlessly move to
the newer software version while maintaining intact data
plane traffic. This true topology-independent ISSU (TISSU),
an industry-first software upgrade feature for a fixed-
configuration top-of-rack switch, is supported across all L2
and L3 protocols and doesn’t need the support of any other
switches to perform an image upgrade.
• High availability: EX4600 switches offer dual internal
load-sharing AC power supplies and redundant variable-
speed fans as standard features, protecting the switch from
a single power supply or fan failure. DC power options are
also available.
• Automation: The EX4600 switches support a number
of features for network automation and plug-and-play
operations. Features include zero touch provisioning
(ZTP), operations and event scripts, automatic rollback,
and Python scripting. The switch also offers support for
integration with VMware NSX Layer 2 Gateway Services,
Puppet, and OpenStack.
• Energy efficient: Consuming less than five watts per 10GbE
interface, the EX4600 offers a low power solution for 10GbE
top-of-rack, end-of-row, and distribution deployments.
The EX4600 switches also improve cooling efficiency with
redundant variable-speed fans that automatically adjust
their speed based on existing conditions to reduce power
consumption.
• Small footprint: The EX4600 supports up to 72 wire-speed
10GbE ports in a single 1 U platform.
• Flexible forwarding table: The EX4600’s flexible
forwarding table allows the hardware table to be carved
into configurable partitions of L2 media access control
(MAC), L3 host, and longest prefix match (LPM) tables.
In a pure Layer 2 environment, the EX4600 supports up
to 288,000 MAC addresses. In Layer 3 mode, the table
can support up to 128,000 host entries; in LPM mode, it
can support up to 128,000 prefixes. Junos OS provides
configurable options through a CLI so that each EX4600
can be optimized for different deployment scenarios.
• Intelligent buffer management: EX4600 switches have a
total of 12 MB shared buffers. While 25 percent of the total
buffer space is dedicated, the rest is shared among all ports
and is user configurable. The intelligent buffer mechanism
in the EX4600 effectively absorbs traffic bursts while
providing deterministic performance, significantly increasing
performance over static allocation.
• Insight technology for analytics: The EX4600 provides
dynamic buffer utilization monitoring and reporting with
an interval of 10 milliseconds to provide microburst and
latency insight. It calculates both queue depth and latency,
and logs messages when configured thresholds are crossed.
Interface traffic statistics can be monitored at two-second
granularity. The data can be viewed via CLI, system log, or
streamed to external servers for more analysis. Supported
reporting formats include Java Script Object Notification
(JSON), comma-separated values (CSV), and tab-
separated values (TSV). These files can be consumed
by orchestration systems, SDN controllers, or network
management applications (such as Juniper Networks Junos
Space Network Director) to make better network design
decisions and identify network hotspots.