Juniper Networks offers new MX Series edge router line cards

Oct. 16, 2013
Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) has upgraded its MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers via a string of new line cards that focus on capacity, service, and subscriber scale. At the top end, the line cards increase per-slot bandwidth up to 520 Gbps and offer hardware support for as many as 128,000 subscribers.

Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) has upgraded its MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers via a string of new line cards that focus on capacity, service, and subscriber scale. At the top end, the line cards increase per-slot bandwidth up to 520 Gbps and offer hardware support for as many as 128,000 subscribers.

The portfolio additions include five new line cards and modular port concentrators (MPCs), some of which target specific members of the MX Series family. They include:

  • The MPC6 for the MX2020 and MX2010 routers offers up to 520G of full duplex capacity per slot. It features two modular interface card (MIC) variants. A 24x10GbE SFP+ MIC supports up to 960 ports per rack, while the 4x100GbE CXP MIC provides up to 80 ports per rack. It will be available in the first half of 2014.
  • The 4.4-Tbps SCBE-2 switch fabric supports nondisruptive upgrade of the MX960 (from 2.3T to 5.3T, which 8.8T on the roadmap), MX480 (from 2.88T to 4.88T), and MX240 (960G to 1.6T) platforms. The SCBE-2 also will be available in the first half of next year.
  • The MPC5e for the modular chassis members of the MX portfolio supports up to 128,000 sessions/MPC (64,000@FRS). It delivers 260 Gbps of bandwidth. Juniper will offer two variants of the MPC5, one that features 24x10GbE SFP+ ports and another that offers 2x100GbE via CFP2 optical transceivers plus 4x10GbE SFP+ ports. The MPC5e will be available in the first half of next year as well.
  • The MS-MPC Services Card for modular chassis MX Series routers provides 60 Gbps of services capacity, which Juniper asserts is 3X the capacity of comparable cards. The cards also feature 2X the processor and services density, the company adds. It should be available by the end of this year.
  • The MS-MIC Services MIC for the complete MX Series line offers 9 Gbps of services capacity. It is currently shipping.

All of the cards run off the company’s Junos operating system and the programmable Junos Trio chipset. The new cards emphasize the investment protection the MX Series 3D routers provide, Juniper’s Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing Mike Marcellin told Lightwave. The company rounded up several customers to back this assertion.

“Over the years, we have deployed MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers to meet the demand of our ever-growing customer base, and we are pleased to see Juniper offer such significant capacity and performance upgrades that will provide us with long-term investment protection and service agility to flexibly address our evolving markets,” said Artur Binczewski, head of network department, PSNC, via a Juniper Networks press release.

“When we selected the MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers for our network, we expected the platform to evolve with our business and technical requirements,” added Hu Guoqiang, CTO, Chengdu Dr. Peng Telecom & Media Group Co. Ltd., via the same release. “We are pleased that Juniper is offering such significant capacity and performance upgrades that will provide us with long-term investment protection and service agility to flexibly address our evolving markets.”

For more information on routers and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.