Switching

In a particular situation we really need Juniper switches that are fanless. The only fanless switches that Juniper offer are the EX2300 series switches.

We want to create a vritual chassis with (the maximum of) 4 EX2300 switches, so we need both SFP front panel sockets for a redundant VC interconnection. So far so good, but then rise the question how to connect the EX2300 VC to the distribution switches. The 2 available SFP front panel ports are already in use, so only 1 Gbps Copper ports are available as uplinks.

We think about a 4 port LAG (one 1 Gbps port on every switch) but this max 4 Gbps doesn't give us a real good feeling about the design. We would like to use 2 x 10 Gbps fibre uplink instead, but there aren't any left! Are the Juniper possibilities for fanless switches really that poor?

Does anyone know a better solution? 

With regards,

Jean

Hi Jen,

The Juniper Networks® EX2300-C Ethernet Switch delivers a compact, silent, and
power-efficient platform for low-density branch deployments and commercial access
or enterprise workgroup environments outside the wiring closet.
Featuring 12 10/100/1000BASE-T access ports and two 10GbE uplink ports
with and without Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+) in a fanless design.

This switch in a VC environment requires both the uplink ports
for VC redundancy. So those ports can't be used as access ports.

Fanless environment is not suitable for high density port swithces because
cooling system is required to avaoid any Hardware damage on the node.

you can check the Juniper EX series switch details in the below link.

https://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/switching/ex-series/compare?p=EX2300,EX2300-C,EX2300M,EX3400,EX4300,EX4300M,EX4600,EX4650,EX9200,EX9250

Thanks,
Ganesan

Hello,

For 4*EX2300 Vc, you can form "daisy-chained" Virtual chassis for which only FPC0 and FPC3 would require 2 uplink ports. The other 2 uplink ports on FPC1 and FPC2 would be free for 2*10 uplink connectivity.

I believe for daisy-chain or braided-ring VC cabling, a minimum of 2 interfaces on each member are required for complete ring redundancy.  You could not use one connection anywhere to free up 1 interface on 2 different switches, but then the VC itself is a single point of failure, for which the probability is probably very low.  So this might be an alternative.

What @Jean de la Cour stated is correct, and is one reason why VC with EX2300 is not that popular an option, plus VC on EX2300 requires an extra license, again becaused not generally deployed.  Most EX2300 usage is with single switches.

For braided-cable VC cabling design see page 16 - https://www.juniper.net/us/en/local/pdf/implementation-guides/8010018-en.pdf

HTH

Thank you for youre response.

Good to know that these are the only possibilities and there are no better alternatives