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• Features in JUNOS Software for EX-series Switches, Release 9.0  

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Features in JUNOS Software for EX-series Switches, Release 9.0

Hardware

• EX 3200 series switches—Fixed-configuration switches with either 24 or 48 10/100/1000Base-T ports, and with partial or full Power over Ethernet (PoE). Options include 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplink modules and field-replaceable AC power supply and fan blower.
• EX 4200 series switches—Virtual chassis switches with either 24 or 48 10/100/1000Base-T ports or 24 100Base-FX/1000Base-X SFP fiber ports, with partial or full Power over Ethernet (PoE). Using virtual chassis technology, up to 10 switches can be aggregated to create a single 128-Gbps virtual interconnect system supporting up to 480 10/100/1000Base-T ports plus 20 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports.

  For virtual chassis systems, you can create a preprovisioned configuration file. Preprovisioning allows you to control the member identifier and the role assigned to the member switches by associating both attributes with the member switch's serial number.

Layer 2 Protocols

• Bridging and VLANs—All EX-series switches support virtual LANs as defined in the IEEE 802.1Q standard. Support includes per-port tagging, VLAN trunking, MAC-based VLANs, traffic class expediting, and dynamic multicast filtering as defined in the IEEE 802.1p standard. Up to 4096 VLANs can be created on an EX 3200 or EX 4200 series switch. Bridging includes support for MAC address filtering, configuring MAC address aging, assigning static MAC addresses to interfaces, and per-VLAN MAC learning.
• GVRP—The GARP VLAN Registration Protocol is an application protocol of the Generic Attribute Registration Protocol (GARP) that is defined in the IEEE 802.1Q standard. GVRP dynamically maintains and updates VLAN information for switches on the network. Switches that support GVRP receive VLAN registration information from each other and use this information to dynamically update the local VLAN registration information.

  Note: Please contact Juniper Networks customer support before implementing GVRP on EX-series switches.

• LACP and link aggregation—The Link Aggregation Control Protocol, defined in IEEE 802.3ad, bundles physical Ethernet ports belonging to different member switches in a virtual chassis configuration to form a single logical point-to-point link known as a link aggregation group (LAG).
• Redundant trunk group—When a trunk port goes down, traffic is routed to another trunk port, keeping network convergence time to a minimum.
• Routed VLAN Interfaces (RVI)—Enable switches to recognize which packets are being sent to local addresses so that the switches will bridge whenever possible and route only when needed.
• Spanning trees—Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), and Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) provide Layer 2 loop prevention. STP is defined in IEEE 802.1D-2004. RSTP (defined in 802.1w) and MSTP (defined in 802.1s) are both based upon STP. RSTP provides faster convergence times than STP. MSTP is used to create a loop-free topology in networks with a number of VLANs that require multiple spanning-tree regions to efficiently provide a loop-free topology.

Layer 3 Protocols

• BFD—The Bidirectional Forwarding Detection Protocol is used to detect faults between two forwarding points on the network.
• BGP—The Border Gateway Protocol is an exterior gateway protocol (EGP) for routing traffic between autonomous systems (ASs).
• IS-IS—The Intermediate System–to–Intermediate System protocol is an interior gateway protocol (IGP) for routing traffic within an AS.
• OSPF—The IPv4 Open Shortest Path First protocol is an IGP for routing traffic within an AS.
• PIM—Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) routes to multicast groups that span wide-area and interdomain internetworks. EX-series switches support PIM sparse mode (PIM-SM).
• RIP—The IPv4 Routing Information Protocol is an IGP for routing traffic within an AS. EX-series switches support RIP version 1 (RIPv1) and RIPv2.
• Routing policy—Controls routing information between routing protocols and routing tables and between routing tables and the forwarding table.
• Static routes—Static routes can be created on EX-series switches.
• VRRP—Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, as defined in RFC 3768, allows hosts on a LAN to make use of redundant routing platforms on that LAN without requiring more than the static configuration of a single default route on the hosts.

Access Control and Port Security

• 802.1X—Provides port-based network access control (PNAC) as defined in the IEEE 802.1X standard. EX-series switches support port-based 802.1X, with multiple supplicants, VLAN assignment, authentication bypass access, VoIP VLANs, authentication bypass based on the host MAC address, and dynamic firewall filters based on RADIUS information.
• LLDP and LLDP-MED—EX-series switches use Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) and Link Layer Discovery Protocol/Media Endpoint Discovery (LLDP-MED) to learn and distribute device information on network links. The information allows the switch to quickly identify a variety of devices, including IP telephones, resulting in a LAN that interoperates smoothly and efficiently.
• Port security—Protects the switch's access ports against denial of service (DoS) and other attacks on network devices. EX-series switches support DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection (DAI), MAC limiting, MAC move limiting, and trusted DHCP servers.

Firewall Filters

• Firewall filters—Provide rules that define whether to permit or deny packets that are transiting an interface on a switch from a source address to a destination address. You configure and apply firewall filters to determine whether to permit or deny traffic before it enters or exits a port, VLAN, or router interface to which the firewall filter is applied.

CoS

• Layer 2 and Layer 3 Class of Service—Support includes classification, rewriting, queuing, single-rate two-color policers (on ingress), and strict priority queuing (on egress). Eight egress queues are available per port. These queues are useful for networks that are converging data, voice, video, building or campus security, and other services into a single network.

  You can configure policers to discard packets that exceed the rate limits. To configure CoS parameters such as loss-priority and forwarding-class, you must use firewall filters.

Port Mirroring

• Port mirroring—Facilitates analysis of traffic on a packet level. You can use it to enforce network usage and peer-to-peer file-sharing policies and to identify sources of problems on the network by locating abnormal or heavy bandwidth usage by stations or applications.

High Availability

• Graceful protocol restart—JUNOS software, which is modular by design, supports restartable protocol processes.
• Graceful Routing Engine Switchover (GRES) for Layer 3 protocols—Maintains routing tables in case of a switch over from the master to the backup Routing Engine.

  Note: Please contact Juniper Networks customer support before implementing GRES on EX-series switches.

Management and RMON

• J-Web—The J-Web graphical user interface (GUI) allows you to configure and monitor EX-series switches.
• CLI—The JUNOS command-line interface allows you to configure and monitor EX-series switches through the switch console, Telnet, SSH, or the J-Web CLI terminal. The CLI provides role-based management and access control to the switch.
• Configuration management—Features include rollback of configuration and software images.
• SNMP—EX-series switches support the Simple Network Management Protocol versions 1, 2, and 3.
• RMON history—EX-series switches support the RMON history group.