EX4300 Switches

The Juniper Networks^® EX4300 line of Ethernet switches with Virtual Chassis technology combines the carrier-class reliability of modular systems with the economics and flexibility of stackable platforms, delivering a high-performance, scalable solution for data center, campus, and branch office environments. Both 1GbE access and multigigabit switch options are available.

Offering a full suite of Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching capabilities, the EX4300 enables a variety of deployments, including campus, branch, and data center access. A single 24-port or 48-port EX4300 switch can be deployed initially. As requirements grow, Juniper’s Virtual Chassis technology allows any combination of up to 10 EX4300 and/or EX4600 switches to be seamlessly interconnected and managed as a single device, delivering a scalable, pay-as-you-grow solution for expanding network environments. A pair of 32-port EX4300 fiber switches can also be deployed as a consolidated aggregation or small core switch. Additionally, the EX4300 can integrate with the Juniper Networks QFX5100 line of 10GbE and 40GbE data center access switches in a single stack or Virtual Chassis configuration, enabling nondisruptive 10GbE server upgrades and simplified management of a mixed access environment.

The EX4300 switches can be interconnected over multiple 40GbE quad small form-factor pluggable plus (QSFP+) transceiver ports to form a 320 gigabit per second (Gbps) backplane. A flexible uplink module that supports both 1GbE and 10GbE options is also available, enabling high-speed connectivity to aggregation- or core-layer switches which connect multiple floors or buildings.

All EX4300 switches include high availability (HA) features such as redundant, hot-swappable internal power supplies and field-replaceable fans to ensure maximum uptime. In addition, Power over Ethernet (PoE)-enabled EX4300 switch models offer standards-based 802.3at PoE+ for delivering up to 30 watts on all ports to support high-density IP telephony and 802.11n wireless access point deployments.

Additionally, a multigigabit model, the EX4300-48MP, supports IEEE 802.3bz-compliant 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps speeds on access ports. This enables 802.11ac Wave 2 access points, which require higher bandwidth, to connect to the switch. The EX4300 multigigabit switch also supports up to 95 watts of power on any of the access ports, enabling PoE++ devices requiring more than 30 watts to connect to and draw power from the switch.

The EX4300 multigigabit switch also enables higher levels of Media Access Control Security (MACsec) AES256 encryption on all access and uplink ports, protecting customer traffic from unauthorized access. The EX4300-48MP includes four dedicated 40GbE QSFP+ transceiver ports that can be used as Virtual Chassis ports to create a 320 Gbps backplane.

Chassis-Like Features in an Expandable Form Factor

The fixed-configuration EX4300 switches include a number of high availability features typically associated with chassis-based solutions, including the following:

• Hot-swappable fans
• Modular Juniper Networks Junos^®operating system (consistent with chassis systems)
• Dual Routing Engines (REs) with graceful Routing Engine switchover (GRES) in a Virtual Chassis configuration
• Single management interface
• Easy, centralized software upgrades
• Scalability from 24 to 480 10/100/1000BASE-T ports and 24 to 240 100/1000/2500/5000/10000BASE-T ports, with up to 40 10GbE uplinks and 40 40GbE uplinks (up to 40 10GbE uplinks, 20 40GbE uplinks, or 20 100GbE uplinks on multigigabit models, in addition to four dedicated 40 Gbps Virtual Chassis ports per switch)

Each EX4300 switch includes a single ASIC-based Packet Forwarding Engine, the EX-PFE. The integrated Routing Engine (RE) delivers all control plane functionality. The EX4300 also leverages the same modular Junos OS as other Juniper Networks switches, routers, and security devices, ensuring a consistent implementation and operation of control plane features across the Juniper Networks infrastructure.