Juniper QFX3000-G QFabric, Deployment Manual, Page: 35 / 652

Table 3: QFabric System Terms (continued)
Definition Term
Internal network connection that carries control traffic between QFabric system
components. The QFabric system control plane includes management
connections between the following QFabric system hardware and software
components:
• Node devices , such as the QFX3500 Node device.
• Interconnect devices , such as the QFX3008-I Interconnect device.
• Director group processes, such as management applications, provisioning,
and topology discovery.
• Control plane Ethernet switches to provide interconnections to all QFabric
system devices and processes. For example, you can use EX Series EX4200
switches running in Virtual Chassis mode for this purpose.
To maintain high availability, the QFabric system control plane uses a different
network than the QFabric system data plane, and uses a fabric provisioning
protocol and a fabric management protocol to establish and maintain the
QFabric system.
QFabric system control plane
Redundant, high-performance, and scalable data plane that carries QFabric
system data traffic. The QFabric system data plane includes the following
high-speed data connections:
• 10-Gigabit Ethernet connections between QFabric system endpoints (such
as servers or storage devices) and Node devices.
•
40-Gbps quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) connections
between Node devices and Interconnect devices.
• 10-Gigabit Ethernet connections between external networks and a Node
device acting as a network Node group.
To maintain high availability, the QFabric system data plane is separate from
the QFabric system control plane.
QFabric system data plane
Device connected to a Node device port, such as a server, a storage device,
memory, an appliance, a switch, or a router. QFabric system endpoint
Distributed, multistage network that consists of a queuing and scheduling
system that is implemented in the Node device, and a distributed cross-connect
system that is implemented in Interconnect devices. The QFabric system fabric
is part of the QFabric system data plane. QFabric system fabric
Node device that connects to either endpoint systems (such as servers and
storage devices) or external networks in a QFabric system. It is packaged in an
industry-standard 1U, 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure.
The QFX3500 Node device provides up to 48 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
to connect to the endpoints. Twelve of these 48 interfaces can be configured
to support 2-Gbps, 4-Gbps or 8-Gbps Fibre Channel, and 36 of the interfaces
can be configured to support Gigabit Ethernet. Also, there are four uplink
connections to connect to Interconnect devices in a QFabric system. These
uplinks use 40-Gbps quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+)
interfaces. (See also
QFX3500 switch .)
QFX3500 Node device
9 Copyright © 2015, Juniper Networks, Inc.
Chapter 1: Before You Begin