Month: January 2023

The Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series is affordable, attractive, and highly reliable

If you’re in the market for a dependable, affordable, and attractive switch for your IT infrastructure, then the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series may be the perfect solution. With its sleek design and power capabilities, it’s no wonder that the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series is gaining popularity among businesses of all sizes. In this blog post, we’ll take an in-depth look at the features and benefits of using the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series to get a better understanding of why it’s become such a popular choice for network managers. We’ll examine how it can help improve network performance while still keeping costs manageable and get into some of the more technical details as well.

What is a networking switch?

A networking switch is a hardware device that connects computer networks and directs traffic between them. Switches allow different devices on the same network to communicate with each other by creating a separate path for each device. This allows for more efficient use of bandwidth and prevents data collisions.

Dell’s PowerSwitch S-series is a line of affordable, attractive, and reliable switches that are perfect for small- to medium-sized businesses. The S-series offers a variety of features and options, making it easy to find the right switch for your needs.

Do you need a networking switch?

The short answer is yes if you have more than one computer or other devices that you want to connect to each other or the internet. A switch allows you to expand your network by providing additional ports.

For a home user with two or three PCs, a small Ethernet switch may be all that is needed to start building a network. In fact, if you have a router with built-in Ethernet switching capability (such as many of the popular home and small office routers on the market today), you may not need an external switch at all. Just connect all of your PCs directly to the router.

However, if you want to add more than a few PCs or other devices to your network (or if you want the flexibility of being able to easily connect and disconnect devices without having to rearrange cables), then an Ethernet switch is definitely the way to go.

What to look for when buying a networking switch?

When shopping for a networking switch, there are several key factors to consider in order to ensure you’re getting a quality device that will meet your needs. First, identify the type of connection you need – Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, or Gigabit Ethernet. Then, determine the number of ports you require – 8, 16, 24, or 48. Once you’ve decided on these basic specifications, compare features and prices of different models to find the best value. Consider additional features likePoE support, energy efficiency, scalability, and manageability when making your final decision.

Introduction to the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series

The S4100-ON 10GbE switches comprise Dell Technologies’ latest disaggregated hardware and software data center networking solutions, providing state-of-the-art 100GbE uplinks and a broad range of functionality to meet the growing demands of today’s data center environment. These innovative, next-generation top-of-rack open networking switches offer optimum flexibility and cost-effectiveness for enterprise, midmarket and tier 2 cloud service providers with demanding to compute and storage traffic environments. 

The compact S4100-ON models provide industry-leading density with up to 48 ports of 10GbE or up to 48 ports of 10GBaseT ports, 2 ports of 40GbE, and 4 ports of 100GbE in a 1RU form factor. The S4112-ON is a half-rack width model that supports up to 12 ports of 10GbE or 12 ports of 10GBaseT, and 3 ports of 100GbE.

Using industry-leading hardware and a choice of Dell SmartFabric OS10 or select 3rd party network operating systems and tools, the S4100-ON Series offers flexibility through the provision of configuration profiles and delivers nonblocking performance for workloads sensitive to packet loss. The compact S4100-ON models provide multi-rate speed, enabling denser footprints and simplifying migration to 100Gbps.

Also unique to the S4100-ON series is the ability to meet the demands of converged and virtualized data centers by offering hardware support for the L2 and L3 VXLAN gateway. Priority-based flow control (PFC), data center bridge exchange (DCBX), and enhanced transmission selection (ETS) make the S4100-ON ideally suited for DCB environments. Dell PowerSwitch S4100-ON switches support the open source Open Network Install Environment (ONIE) for zero-touch installation of Dell SmartFabric OS10 networking operating system, as well as of alternative network operating systems.

Key applications

• Organizations looking to enter the software-defined data center era with a choice of networking technologies designed to maximize flexibility
• Multi-functional 1/10/25/40/50/100 GbE switching in High-Performance Computing Clusters or other business-sensitive deployments requiring the highest bandwidth. High-density 1/10 GbE ToR server access in high-performance data center environments
• iSCSI storage deployment, including DCB converged lossless transactions
• Small-scale data center fabric implementation via the S4100-ON switch in leaf and spine along with S-Series 1/10GbE ToR switches
• VXLAN layer 2/layer 3 gateway support

The features of the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series

• 1RU high-density 10/40/100 GbE ToR switches with up to 48 10GbE (SFP+) or 10GBaseT ports, and up to 4 ports of 100GbE (QSFP28)
• The S4112 is a 1RU, half-rack width 10/100GbE ToR switch with up to 12 ports of 10GbE (SFP+) or up to 12 ports of 10GBaseT ports, and up to 3 ports of 100GbE (QSFP28)
• Multi-rate 100GbE ports support 10/25/40/50 GbE. 40GbE ports support 10GbE. 10GbE ports support 1GbE. Up to 4 different simultaneous speeds are possible in a given profile 
• 1.76Tbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4148F-ON and S4148T-ON
• 960Gbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4128F-ON and S4128T-ON
• 840Gbps (full-duplex) non-blocking, cut-through switching fabric delivers line-rate performance under full load on S4112F-ON and S4112T-ON
• VXLAN gateway functionality support for bridging and routing the non-virtualized and the virtualized overlay networks with line rate performance
• Converged Network support with DCB
• IO panel to PSU airflow or PSU to IO panel airflow
• Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fans (S4112-ON has redundant, fixed power supplies and fans)
• IEEE 1588v2 supported on 48 port models

Key Features with Dell SmartFabric OS10

• Consistent DevOps framework across compute, storage, and networking elements
• Standard networking features, interfaces, and scripting functions for legacy network operations integration
• Standards-based switching hardware abstraction via Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI)
• Pervasive, unrestricted developer environment via Control Plane Services (CPS)
• OS10 Enterprise Edition software enables Dell Technologies layer 2 and 3 switchings and routing protocols with integrated IP services, quality of service, manageability, and automation features
• OS10 supports Precision Time Protocol (PTP, IEEE 1588v2) to synchronize clocks on network devices.
• Leverage common open-source tools and best practices (data models, commit rollbacks)
• Increase VM Mobility region by stretching L2 VLAN within or across two DCs with unique VLT capabilities
• Scalable L2 and L3 Ethernet Switching with QoS, ACL, and a full complement of standards-based IPv4 and IPv6 features including OSPF, BGP, and PBR
• Enhanced mirroring capabilities including local mirroring, Remote Port Mirroring (RPM), and Encapsulated Remote Port Mirroring (ERPM)
• Converged network support for Data Center Bridging, with priority flow control (802.1Qbb), ETS (802.1Qaz), DCBx and iSCSI TLV Enhanced mirroring capabilities including local mirroring, Remote Port Mirroring (RPM), and Encapsulated Remote Port Mirroring (ERPM)
• Converged network support for Data Center Bridging, with priority flow control (802.1Qbb), ETS (802.1Qaz), DCBx, and iSCSI TLV

Conclusion

The Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series is an ideal choice for businesses looking to upgrade their network infrastructure. It offers a great balance of affordability, attractive design, and reliability that can’t be beaten. And with support from the knowledgeable team at Dell, you’re sure to get the help you need whenever you need it. From small startups to large enterprises, the Dell PowerSwitch S-4100 series is an excellent way to ensure your business runs smoothly and efficiently.

Dell’s PowerEdge R940: All the features to data center customers are looking for

Data centers are the backbone of modern businesses, and as such, they require a server that is reliable, robust, and cost-effective. Dell’s PowerEdge R940 is one such server that comes with all the features to fulfill data center customers’ expectations. From its form factor to its industry-leading storage capacity, the PowerEdge R940 promises to deliver superior performance and reliability. In this blog post, we will take a look at the various features of Dell’s PowerEdge R940 server, including its cutting-edge processor technology, expandability options, and more. Read on to learn why this powerful server should be your go-to choice for your data center needs.

How is a data center server different?

A data center server is a powerful computer that stores and manages data for businesses and organizations. These servers are typically located in a separate, secure facility away from the main office. Data center servers are built to handle large amounts of data and traffic, and they offer high levels of security and uptime. Dell’s PowerEdge R is a high-performance data center server that comes with all the features that customers are looking for, including enterprise-class storage, networking, and security.

Does your data center need a server?

Data center servers are the backbone of any company’s IT infrastructure. They provide the processing power, storage, and networking needed to support critical applications and business operations. But not all data centers need a server. The decision of whether or not to deploy a server depends on a number of factors, including:

  • The size and complexity of your data center
  • The types of applications you are running
  • Your budget
  • Your performance requirements

If you have a small data center with only a few applications, you may be able to get by without a server. In this case, you can use a network-attached storage (NAS) device or a cloud storage service to store your data. For computing power, you can use cloud-based solutions or client computers. This approach is often called “serverless” computing.

However, if you have a large data center with many applications, you will likely need one or more servers. Servers provide the processing power and storage needed to run complex applications. They also offer features like high availability and disaster recovery that are essential for mission-critical applications.

How to select a server for your data center?

When it comes to selecting a server for your data center, there are many factors to consider. But with Dell’s new PowerEdge R series, customers can rest assured they are getting a top-of-the-line product that comes packed with features ideal for data centers.

Some of the key features to look for when selecting a server for your data center include:

Processor: The processor is the heart of the server and must be powerful enough to handle the demands of your data center. With the Dell PowerEdge R series, customers can choose from a variety of Intel Xeon processors that offer best-in-class performance.

Memory: Memory is another important factor to consider when selecting a server. The PowerEdge R series offers up to 1TB of memory, making it ideal for demanding workloads.

Storage: Storage is another critical component of any data center server. The PowerEdge R series offers up to 16TB of internal storage, giving you plenty of room to grow. And with support for SSDs and NVMe drives, you can be sure your data is stored safely and accessed quickly.

Networking: A good network is essential for any data center. The PowerEdge R series includes support for 10GbE and 40GbE networking, making it easy to connect your servers and storage devices.

These are just some of the key features to look for when selecting a server for your data center. With the Dell PowerEdge R series, you can be sure you’re getting a reliable and powerful server that is ready to handle the demands of your data center.

Introducing the Dell PowerEdge R940

The PowerEdge R940 is designed to power your mission-critical applications and real-time decisions. With four sockets and up to 12 NMVe drives, the R940 provides scalable performance in just 3U.

Breathtaking performance for mission-critical workloads

The scalable business architecture of the Dell EMC PowerEdge R940 can deliver the most mission-critical workloads. With automatic workload tuning for many workloads, the configuration is quick. Combined with up to 15.36TB of memory and 13 PCIe Gen 3 slots, the R940 has all the resources to maximize application performance and scale for future demands.

  • Maximize storage performance with up to 12 NVMe drives and ensure application performance scales easily.
  • Optimized for software-defined storage with a special 2-socket configuration delivering 50% more UPI bandwidth compared to a regular 2-socket server.
  • Free up storage space using internal M.2 SSDs optimized for boot.
  • Eliminate bottlenecks with up to 15.36TB of memory in 48 DIMMS, 24 of which can be Intel Optane persistent memory PMem.

Automate maintenance with Dell EMC OpenManage

The Dell EMC OpenManage portfolio helps deliver peak efficiency for PowerEdge servers, delivering intelligent, automated management of routine tasks. Combined with unique agent-free management capabilities, the PowerEdge R940 is simply managed, freeing up time for high-profile projects.

  • Simplify management with the OpenManage Enterprise console, with customized reporting and automatic discovery.
  • Take advantage of QuickSync 2 capabilities and gain access to your servers easily through your phone or tablet.

Rely on PowerEdge with built-in security

Every PowerEdge server is designed as part of a cyber-resilient architecture, integrating security into the full server life cycle. The R940 leverages new security features built into every new PowerEdge server strengthening protection so you can reliably and securely deliver accurate data to your customers no matter where they are. By considering each aspect of system security, from design to retirement, Dell EMC ensures trust and delivers a worry-free, secure infrastructure without compromise.

  • Rely on a secure component supply chain to ensure protection from the factory to the data center.
  • Maintain data safety with cryptographically signed firmware package and Secure Boot.
  • Protect your server from malicious malware with iDRAC9 Server Lockdown mode (requires Enterprise or Datacenter license).
    • Wipe all data from storage media including hard drives, SSDs, and system

Automate productivity with intelligent, embedded management

Dell EMC automation and intelligent management mean you spend less time on routine maintenance so you can focus on bigger priorities.

  • Help maximize uptime and reduce the IT effort to resolve issues by up to 72% with ProSupport Plus and SupportAssist.
  • Leverage existing management consoles with easy integrations for VMware® vSphere, Microsoft System Center, and Nagios.
  • Improve productivity with agent-free Dell iDRAC9 for automated, efficient management.
  • Simplify deployment with OpenManage next-generation console and server profiles to fully configure and prep servers in a rapid, scalable fashion.

Fortify your data center with comprehensive protection

Dell EMC provides a comprehensive, cyber-resilient architecture with security embedded into every server to protect your data.

  • Protect server configuration and firmware from malicious changes with new Configuration Lock-down.
  • Use system erase of local storage to help ensure data privacy when you repurpose or retire servers.
  • Automate updates that check file dependencies and proper update sequence, before deploying them independently from the OS/hypervisor.
  • Take control of your firmware consoles with embedded authentication that is designed to allow only properly designed updates to run.

Conclusion

Dell’s PowerEdge R940 is an excellent choice for data center customers looking for a powerful and reliable server. With its impressive specs, scalability, and compatibility with existing Dell systems, it provides the features businesses need to optimize their operations in the long term.

The PowerEdge R940 also offers advanced security features such as hardware encryption and secure boot so that businesses can trust their data is safe from any malicious attempts. All these advantages make Dell’s PowerEdge R940 an ideal solution for any business wanting to take its productivity to the next level.

Everything You Need To Know About JUNIPER QFX-5700 Switch

Juniper Networks is a leader in the networking industry and their QFX-5700 Switch stands as one of the most powerful switches currently on the market. If you’re looking to upgrade your network, this piece of hardware might be just what you need. This article will explore everything that you need to know about the Juniper QFX-5700 Switch, including its features, benefits, and more. Whether you’re an IT professional looking to upgrade your existing system or someone just getting into the world of networking, this article will provide all the information you need to properly evaluate the switch.

What is the JUNIPER QFX-5700 Switch?

The QFX5700 Switch offers a high-density, cost-optimized, 5 U 400GbE, 8-slot fabric-less modular platform, ideal for data centers where capacity and cloud services are being added as business needs grow. These services require higher network bandwidth per rack, as well as flexibility, making the 10/25/40/50/100/200/400GbE interface options of the QFX5700 switch ideal for server and intra-fabric connectivity. The QFX5700 is an optimal choice for spine-and-leaf deployments in enterprise, service provider, and cloud provider data centers.

Coupled with the widespread adoption of overlay technologies, the QFX5700 lays a strong foundation for your evolving business and network needs, offering deployment versatility to future-proof your network investment.

Increased Scale and Buffer

The QFX5700 provides enhanced scale with up to 1.24 million routes, 80,000 firewall filters, and 160,000 media access control (MAC) addresses. It supports high numbers of egress IPv4/IPv6 rules by programming matches in egress ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) along with ingress TCAM.

132MB Shared Packet Buffer

Today’s cloud-native applications have a critical dependency on buffer size to prevent congestion and packet drops. The QFX5700 has a 132 MB shared packet buffer that is allocated dynamically to congested ports.

Programmability

The QFX5700 revolutionizes performance for data center networks by providing a programmable software-defined pipeline in addition to the comprehensive feature set provided in the Juniper Networks QFX5120 Switch line. The QFX5700 uses a compiler-driven switch data plane with full software program control to enable and serve a diverse set of use cases, including in-band telemetry, fine-grained filtering for traffic steering, traffic monitoring, and support for new protocol encapsulations.

Power Efficiency

With its low-power 7nm technology, a fully loaded and fully redundant QFX5700 consumes typically 2,870 W, bringing improvements in speed, less power consumption, and higher density on a chip.

What are the features and benefits of using this switch?

  • Automation and programmability: The QFX5700 supports several network automation features for plug-and-play operations, including zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), Network Configuration Protocol (NETCONF), Juniper Extension Toolkit (JET), Junos telemetry interface, operations and event scripts, automation rollback, and Python scripting.
  • Cloud-level scale and performance: The QFX5700 supports best-in-class cloud-scale L2/L3 deployments with a low latency of 630 ns and superior scale and performance. This includes L2 support for 160,000 MAC addresses and Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) learning, which scales up to 64,000 entries at 500 frames per second. It also includes L3 support for 1.24 million longest prefix match (LPM) routes and 160,000 host routes on IPv4.

Additionally, the QFX5700 supports 610,000 LPM routes and 80,000 host routes on IPv6, 128-way equal-cost multipath (ECMP) routes, and a filter that supports 80,000 ingresses and 18,000 egresses exactly match filtering rules. The QFX5700 supports up to 128 link aggregation groups, 4096 VLANs, and Jumbo frames of 9216 bytes. Junos OS Evolved provides configurable options through a CLI, enabling each QFX5700 to be optimized for different deployment scenarios.

  • VXLAN overlays: The QFX5700 is capable of both L2 and L3 gateway services. Customers can deploy overlay networks to provide L2 adjacencies for applications over L3 fabrics. The overlay networks use VXLAN in the data plane and EVPN or Open vSwitch Database (OVSDB) for programming the overlays, which can operate without a controller or be orchestrated with an SDN controller.
  • IEEE 1588 PTP Boundary Clock with Hardware Timestamping: IEEE 1588 PTP transparent/boundary clock is supported on QFX5700, enabling accurate and precise sub-microsecond timing information in today’s data center networks. In addition, the QFX5700 supports hardware timestamping; timestamps in Precision Time Protocol (PTP) packets are captured and inserted by an onboard field-programmable gate array (FPGA) on the switch at the physical (PHY) level.
  • Data packet timestamping: When the optional data packet timestamping feature is enabled, select packets flowing through the QFX5700 are timestamped with references to the recovered PTP clock. When these packets are received by nodes in the network, the timestamping information can be mirrored onto monitoring tools to identify network bottlenecks that cause latency. This analysis can also be used for legal and compliance purposes in institutions such as financial trading, video streaming, and research establishments.
  • RoCEv2: As a switch capable of transporting data as well as storage traffic over Ethernet, the QFX5700 provides an IEEE data center bridging (DCB) converged network between servers with disaggregated flash storage arrays or an NVMe-enabled storage-area network (SAN). The QFX5700 offers a full-featured DCB implementation that provides strong monitoring capabilities on the top-of-rack switch for SAN and LAN administration teams to maintain a clear separation of management. The RDMA over Converged Ethernet version 2 (RoCEv2) transit switch functionality, including priority-based flow control (PFC) and Data Center Bridging Capability Exchange (DCBX), are included as part of the default software.
  • Junos Evolved features: The QFX5700 switch supports features such as L2/L3 unicast, EVPN-VXLAN*, BGP add-path, RoCEv2 and congestion management, multicast, 128- way ECMP, dynamic load balancing capabilities, enhanced firewall capabilities, and monitoring.
  • Junos OS Evolved Architecture: Junos OS Evolved is a native Linux operating system that incorporates a modular design of independent functional components and enables individual components to be upgraded independently while the system remains operational. Component failures are localized to the specific component involved and can be corrected by upgrading and restarting that specific component without having to bring down the entire device.

The switches control and data plane processes can run in parallel, maximizing CPU utilization, providing support for containerization, and enabling application deployment using LXC or Docker.

  • Retained state: State is the retained information or status about physical and logical entities. It includes both operational and configuration state, comprising committed configuration, interface state, routes, hardware state, and what is held in a central database called the distributed data store (DDS). State information remains persistent, is shared across the system, and is supplied during restarts.
  • Feature support: All key networking functions such as routing, bridging, management software, and management plane interfaces, as well as APIs such as CLI, NETCONF, JET, Junos telemetry interface, and the underlying data models, resemble those supported by the Junos operating system. This ensures compatibility and eases the transition to Junos Evolved.

The Different Types of JUNIPER QFX-5700 Switches

The QFX5700 can be deployed as a universal device in cloud data centers to support 100GbE server access and 400GbE spine-and-leaf configurations, optimizing data center operations by using a single device across multiple network layers. The QFX5700 can also be deployed in more advanced overlay architectures like an EVPN-VXLAN fabric. Depending on where tunnel terminations are desired, the QFX5700 can be deployed in either a centrally routed or edge-routed architecture.

Conclusion

The Juniper QFX-5700 switch powerful and reliable piece of hardware that can help facilitate the smooth operation of your network. With its advanced features such as support for 10GBASE-T, dynamic power saving, and multiple management tools, this switch is an excellent choice for businesses looking to upgrade their networks. By understanding all the components and capabilities of this impressive switch you’ll be able to make sure it’s up to the job no matter how demanding your requirements are.

Brocade ICX 7750-48 F Layer 3 Switch

In computer networking, a switch is a device that connects multiple devices together on a single network. A switch allows for communication between these devices by way of packet switching. Packet switching is the process of sending data in small packets from one device to another. Switches typically have multiple ports, which allow them to connect to multiple devices at once.

What is a layer 3 networking switch?

A layer 3 switch is a type of network switch that is capable of routing traffic at the third layer of the OSI model, which is the network layer. Layer 3 switches are typically used in enterprise-level networks where there is a need for high-performance routing.

Layer 3 switches can provide advanced features such as support for multiple VLANs, Quality of Service (QoS), and security. They can also be used to create virtual private networks (VPNs).

What is the Brocade ICX 7750-48 F Layer 3 Switch?

Today’s campus network core and aggregation layers are quickly moving to 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) switching as enterprises rapidly adopt applications such as High-Definition (HD) video and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiatives, which drive the need for resilient, high-bandwidth access networks. To meet these challenges, campus network solutions must provide a better performance, port density, reliability, security, Quality of Service (QoS), and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

The Brocade ICX 7750 Switch delivers industry-leading 10/40 GbE port density, advanced high-availability capabilities, and flexible stacking architecture, making it the most robust Brocade aggregation and core distributed chassis switch offering for enterprise LANs. In addition to rich Layer 3 features, the Brocade ICX 7750 scales to 12-unit distributed-chassis stacking or Multi-Chassis Trunking (MCT) and is an integral part of Brocade Campus Fabric technology.

Today’s data centers are also expanding as the demand for data and storage continues to grow exponentially. Moreover, requirements such as application convergence, non-stop operation, scalability, high availability, and power efficiency are placing even greater demands on the network infrastructure.

Part of the Brocade ICX family of Ethernet switches for campus LAN and classic Ethernet data center environments, the Brocade ICX 7750 Switch is a 1U high-performance, high-availability, and market-leading-density 10/40 GbE solution that meets the needs of business-sensitive campus deployments and High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments. With industry-leading price/performance and a low-latency, cut-through, non-blocking architecture, the Brocade ICX 7750 provides a cost-effective, robust solution for the most demanding deployments.

Highlights

  • Provides unprecedented stacking density and performance with up to 12 switches per stack and up to 5.76 Tbps of aggregated stacking bandwidth, limiting inter-switch bottlenecks and supporting large-scale distributed chassis deployments.
  • Enables a single point of management across the campus through a distributed chassis architecture supporting long-distance stacking and new Brocade Campus Fabric technology.
  • Offers industry-leading 10/40 GbE port density and flexibility in a 1U form factor with up to 32×40 GbE or 96×10 GbE ports per unit, saving valuable rack space and power in wiring closets.
  • Provides chassis-class high availability with up to 12 full-duplex 40 Gbps stacking ports per switch, hitless stacking failover, and hot-swappable power supplies and fan assemblies.
  • Delivers superior value by incorporating enterprise-grade advanced features such as BGP, Multi-Chassis Trunking (MCT), and Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF).
  • Provides OpenFlow support in true hybrid port mode, enabling software-defined Networking (SDN) for programmatic control of network data flows.

The Features of the ICX 7750-48 F Layer 3 Switch

Brocade Campus Fabric technology, offered for Brocade ICX 7250*, 7450, and 7750 Switches, extends network options and scalability. It integrates premium Brocade ICX 7750, midrange Brocade ICX 7450, and entry-level Brocade ICX 7250 Switches, collapsing network access, aggregation, and core layers into a single logical switch. This logical device shares network services while reducing management touchpoints and network hops through a single-layer design spanning the entire campus network. These powerful deployments deliver equivalent or better functionality than large, rigid modular chassis systems, but with significantly lower costs and smaller carbon footprints.

Brocade ICX switches support a Distributed Chassis deployment model that uses standards-based optics and cabling interface connections to help ensure maximum distance between campus switches—up to 80 km—and minimum cabling costs—up to 50 percent less than incumbent solutions. This gives organizations the flexibility to deliver ports wherever they are needed on campus at a fraction of the cost. The Distributed Chassis design future-proofs campus networks by allowing networks to easily and cost-effectively expand in scale and capabilities.

Leading-Edge Flexibility and Reliability

The Brocade ICX 7750 provides a highly flexible 10/40 GbE aggregation solution that offers the highest levels of reliability and port density available in a 1U form factor. The Brocade ICX 7750 is available in three models: the Brocade ICX 7750-48F, 7750-48C, and 7750-26Q. The Brocade ICX 7750-48F and 7750-48C both offer 48 10 GbE ports (SFP+ and 10GBASE-T, respectively) and up to 12 40 GbE ports (six optional). The Brocade ICX 7750-26Q offers up to 32 40 GbE QSFP+ ports (six optional).

All models support stacking, which allows organizations to buy only the ports they need now and expand later by adding switches to the stack where and when they are needed. This eliminates the need for a forklift upgrade and helps avoid provisioning an underutilized, centralized chassis. In addition, the Brocade ICX 7750 supports redundant, hot-swappable AC or DC power supplies and fans, reversible airflow, and advanced software.

Distributed Chassis Architecture for Ultimate Flexibility

The Brocade ICX 7750 Switch redefines the economics of enterprise networking by delivering a unique 10/40 GbE campus aggregation solution in a fixed form factor and new levels of performance, availability, and flexibility. It provides the capabilities of a chassis with the flexibility and costeffectiveness of a stackable switch.

The Brocade ICX 7750 delivers wire-speed, non-blocking performance across all ports to support latency-sensitive applications such as real-time voice/ video streaming and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). Up to 12 Brocade ICX 7750 Switches can be stacked together using up to 12 full-duplex 40 Gbps standard QSFP+ stacking ports that provide an unprecedented maximum of 5.76 Tbps of aggregated stacking bandwidth with full redundancy, eliminating inter-switch bottlenecks

SDN-enabled Programmatic Control Of The Network

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is a powerful new network paradigm designed for the world’s most demanding networking environments and promises breakthrough levels of customization, scale, and efficiency. The Brocade ICX 7750 enables SDN by supporting the OpenFlow 1.0 and 1.3 protocols, which allow communication between an OpenFlow controller and an OpenFlowenabled switch. Using this approach, organizations can control their networks programmatically, transforming the network into a platform for innovation through new network applications and services.

The Brocade ICX 7750 delivers OpenFlow in true hybrid port mode. With Brocade hybrid port mode, organizations can simultaneously deploy traditional Layer 2/3 forwarding with OpenFlow on the same port. This unique capability provides a pragmatic path to SDN by enabling network administrators to progressively integrate OpenFlow into existing networks, giving them the programmatic control offered by SDN for specific flows while the remaining traffic is forwarded as before. Brocade ICX 7750 hardware support for OpenFlow enables organizations to apply these capabilities at line rate in 10 GbE and 40 GbE networks.

Greener Campus And Data Center Networks With Lower TCO

As application data and storage requirements continue to rise exponentially, demand for higher port density and bandwidth grows, along with the number of network devices and power consumption. Organizations seeking to reduce TCO need solutions that can provide higher scalability and density per rack unit, thereby reducing power consumption and heat dissipation.

The Brocade ICX 7750 addresses those needs with a state-of-the-art ASIC, reversible airflow, automatic fan-speed control, and power-efficient optics to ensure the most efficient use of power and cooling. For low-cost, low-latency, and low-energy-consuming cabling within and between the racks, the Brocade ICX 7750 supports SFP+ Direct Attach Copper (Twinax) cables at up to 5 meters. For switch-to-switch connectivity, the Brocade ICX 7750 supports low-power-consuming SFP+ and 40GBASE-SR4 QSFP+ optical transceivers at up to 100 meters. In high-port-density deployments, these features save significant operating costs.

Superior ROI And Investment Protection

The Brocade ICX 7750 combines strategic performance, availability, and scalability advantages with investment protection for existing LAN environments. It utilizes the same Brocade FastIron operating system used by other Brocade Ethernet/ IP products. This helps ensure full forward and backward compatibility among the product family while simplifying software maintenance and field upgrades.

Moreover, the use of the same industry-standard Command Line Interface (CLI) eliminates the need for staff retraining. As a result, the Brocade ICX 7750 enables organizations to better leverage their current training, tools, devices, and processes. Brocade enables organizations to further maximize their investments by not requiring additional licensing fees for advanced Layer 3 features, including IPv6 routing.

Conclusion

The ICX 7750-48 F layer 3 switch is a powerful and versatile option for anyone looking for a top-of-the-line switch. With its 48 ports, it can easily handle large networks, and its support for 10 Gigabit Ethernet makes it perfect for high-speed applications. Brocade has thought of everything with this switch, and it shows in its feature set and performance. If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line layer 3 switches, the ICX 7750-48 F should be at the top of your list.

Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P- The Ultimate Data Center Switch

A data center switch is a device that connects computing devices in a data center so that they can communicate with each other. Switches are used to create redundancy and improve network performance.

A data center switch typically has multiple ports, which can be used to connect to various types of devices. The most common type of data center switch is the Ethernet switch, which is used to connect computers and other devices that use Ethernet cables.

How to Choose the Right Data Center Switch?

A data center switch is a multi-port network switch that is specifically designed for use in a data center. They are typically used to connect servers and storage devices to each other, as well as to connect the data center to the outside world.

There are many different types of data center switches available on the market today, so it can be difficult to choose the right one for your needs. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a data center switch:

1. Make sure that the switch supports the required number of ports.

2. Choose a switch with redundant power supplies for added reliability.

3. Select a switch that offers features such as port monitoring and VLAN support.

4. Consider the overall cost of ownership when making your decision.

Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P: An overview

The Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P Switch is a multigigabit-capable fixed switch, which was built with Cisco Cloud Scale technology. It’s part of the Cisco Nexus 9300 platform. Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet technology supports bandwidth speeds from 100Mbps to 10 Gbps over traditional Category 5e/6 cabling.

Current cabling infrastructure can’t meet the bandwidth needs driven by 802,11ac Wave 2 and Wi-Fi 6. To solve this, engineers created a new method of transmitting data packets using optics, which eliminates the need for replacing the current infrastructure. The switch is built on a modern-system architecture designed to provide high performance, support cost-effective deployments, and meet the evolving needs of growing mid-size to large enterprise customers.

Cisco provides two modes of operation for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches. Organizations can deploy Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (Cisco ACI) or Cisco NX-OS mode. Cisco ACI is a holistic, intent-driven architecture with centralized automation and policy-based application profiles.

The system is designed to manage dynamic workloads, so it can serve and balance traffic as needed. Additionally, it offers a network fabric that combines time-tested protocols and new innovations to create extremely flexible, scalable, and resilient architecture with low latency and high bandwidth links.

This fabric delivers a network that can support the most demanding and flexible data center environments. Designed for the programmable network, the Cisco NX-OS operating system automates configuration and management for customers who want to take advantage of the DevOps operation model and toolsets.

Take advantage of the Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P’s optimized efficiency, simplified operation, and installation combined with its wide array of device versatility to protect your investments as your business becomes more data-centric and interconnected.The expansive feature set includes 40MB of intelligent buffering, support for voice VLANs, and a full-featured Layer 2 and Layer 3 Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

The Features of the Cisco Nexus 9372PX

The Cisco Nexus 9300-FX3 series switches provide the following features and benefits:

Architectural flexibility

  • Industry-leading software-defined networking (SDN) solution Cisco ACI support
  • Support for standards-based VXLAN EVPN fabrics, inclusive of hierarchical multisite support 
  • Three-tier BGP architectures enabling horizontal, nonblocking IPv6 network fabrics at web-scale
  • Segment routing allows the network to forward Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) packets and engineer traffic without Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) Traffic Engineering (TE). It provides a control-plane alternative for increased network scalability and virtualization.
  • Comprehensive protocol support for Layer 3 (v4/v6) unicast and multicast routing protocol suites, including BGP, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2), Protocol Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), Source-Specific Multicast (SSM), and Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP).

Extensive programmability

  • Day-0 automation through Power On Auto Provisioning, drastically reducing provisioning time
  • Industry-leading integrations for leading DevOps configuration management applications, including Ansible, Chef, Puppet, SALT, Extensive Native YANG, and industry-standard OpenConfig model support through RESTCONF/NETCONF
  • Pervasive APIs for all switch CLI functions (JSON-based RPC over HTTP/HTTPS)

High scalability, flexibility, and security

  • Flexible forwarding tables support up to two million shared entries on FX3 models. Flexible use of TCAM space allows for the custom definition of Access Control List (ACL) templates.
  • MAC Security (MACsec) and CloudSec (VTEP-to-VTEP encryption) support on all ports of Cisco Nexus 9300-FX3 models with speeds greater than or equal to 1 Gbps, which allows traffic encryption at the physical layer and provides secure server, border-leaf, and leaf-to-spine connectivity

Intelligent buffer management

The platform offers Cisco’s innovative intelligent buffer management, which offers the capability to distinguish mice and elephant flows and apply different queue management schemes to them based on their network forwarding requirements in the event of link congestion.

Intelligent buffer management functions are:

  • Approximate Fair Dropping (AFD) with Elephant Trap (ETRAP). AFD uses ETRAP to distinguish long-lived elephant flows from short-lived mice flows. AFD exempts mice flows from the dropping algorithm so that mice flows will get their fair share of bandwidth without being starved by bandwidth-hungry elephant flows. Also, AFD tracks elephant flows and subjects them to the AFD algorithm in the egress queue to grant them their fair share of bandwidth.
  • ETRAP measures the byte counts of incoming flows and compares this against the user-defined ETRAP threshold. After a flow crosses the threshold, it becomes an elephant flow.
  • Dynamic Packet Prioritization (DPP), provides the capability of separating mice flows and elephant flows into two different queues so that buffer space can be allocated to them independently. Mice flow that is sensitive to congestion and latency can take priority in the queue and avoid reordering, allowing elephant flows to take full link bandwidth.

RDMA over Converged Ethernet – RoCE support

The platform offers lossless transport for RDMA over Converged Ethernet with support of DCB protocols:

  • Priority-based Flow Control (PFC) — to prevent drops in the network and pause frame propagation per priority class
  • Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) — to reserve bandwidth per priority class in a network contention situation
  • Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol (DCBX) — to discover and exchange priority and bandwidth information with endpoints
  • The platform also supports Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN), which provides end-to-end notification per IP flow by marking packets that experienced congestion, without dropping traffic. The platform is capable of tracking ECN statistics of the number of marked packets that have experienced congestion.

Hardware and software high availability

  • Virtual Port-Channel (vPC) technology provides Layer 2 multipathing through the elimination of the Spanning Tree Protocol. It also enables fully utilized bisectional bandwidth and simplified Layer 2 logical topologies without the need to change the existing management and deployment model.
  • The 64-way Equal-Cost MultiPath (ECMP) routing enables the use of Layer 3 fat-tree designs. This feature helps organizations prevent network bottlenecks, increase resiliency, and add capacity with little network disruption.
  • Advanced reboot capabilities include hot and cold patching
  • The switch uses hot-swappable Power-Supply Units (PSUs) and fans with N+1 redundancy.

Purpose-built Cisco NX-OS software operating system with comprehensive, proven innovations

A single binary image that supports every switch in the Cisco Nexus 9000 series, simplifying image management. The operating system is modular, with a dedicated process for each routing protocol: a design that isolates faults while increasing availability. In the event of a process failure, the process can be restarted without loss of state. The operating system supports hot and cold patching and online diagnostics.

Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) is the network management platform for all NX-OS-enabled deployments, spanning new fabric architectures, IP Fabric for Media, and storage networking deployments for the Cisco Nexus-powered data center. Accelerate provisioning from days to minutes, and simplify deployments from day 0 through day N. Reduce troubleshooting cycles with graphical operational visibility for topology, network fabric, and infrastructure. Eliminate configuration errors and automate ongoing change in a closed loop, with a templated deployment model and configuration compliance alerting with automatic remediation. Real-time health summary for fabric, devices, and topology. Correlated visibility for fabric (underlay, overlay, virtual, and physical endpoints), including computing visualization with VMware.

Network traffic monitoring with Cisco Nexus Data Broker builds simple, scalable, and cost-effective network test access points (TAPs) and Cisco Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) aggregation for network traffic monitoring and analysis.

Conclusion

The Cisco Nexus 9372PX is the perfect data center switch for those who need high performance and scalability. It offers a comprehensive feature set, including support for virtualization, making it an ideal choice for businesses of all sizes. Thanks to its easy-to-use interface, the 9372PX is also perfect for those who are new to data center networking. If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line data center switch, the Cisco Nexus 9372PX is the perfect option.

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