Products

Force10 Networks is the pioneer in resilient Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching and routing. The Force10 E-Series switch/routers provide best-in-class resiliency, unmatched scalability, line-rate performance and full L2 switching and IPv4/IPv6 routing. Based on revolutionary system architecture that combines fully distributed hardware and modular software, the E-Series switch/routers ensure predictable application performance, increase network availability and reduce operating costs.

• Patented multi-processor design delivers best-in-class resiliency and security
• Up to 1,260 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 224 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports per chassis, enabling unprecedented network scalability
• Innovative Force10 ASICs and E-Series architecture deliver non-blocking, line-rate forwarding with access control lists (ACLs) across all line cards
• Fault-tolerance simplifies maintenance and maximizes system availability
• Robust Force10 FTOS™ software delivers full functionality Layer 2 (L2) switching and Layer 3 (L3) routing for applications spanning the LAN, MAN and WAN

The Force10 E-Series architecture delivers line-rate performance, cost-effective scalability, and robust L2 switching and L3 routing:

With the power of the E-Series architecture, the Force10 E-Series delivers breakthrough resiliency at performance levels never before realized. The Force10 E-Series architecture is the result of patented technological innovation in switch fabric, backplane, ASIC and system control plane design.

Separate System Control Plane

The E-Series architecture includes distinct data and control planes. The system control plane is augmented with three processors on each route processor module (RPM). The first processor handles Layer 2 control protocols, the second, Layer 3, and the third, management functions. This patented architecture allows faults to be contained while protecting other parts of the system. For example, it protects against spanning tree loops and DoS attacks providing unparalleled resiliency.

Designed to meet the needs of Internet-scale networks, the E-Series system control plane supports millions of routing table entries, up to 512K IPv4 forwarding table entries, and thousands of ACLs on every line card. The RPM’s innovative control traffic rate limiting and filtering functionality empowers network administrators to suppress harmful DoS attacks and prevent flooding of unwanted traffic onto the network. And dedicated 100 Mbps switched paths from the RPMs to every line card eliminate sluggish forwarding table updates that could otherwise jeopardize network stability.

Distributed ASIC-based Forwarding

The Force10 ASICs, along with advanced TCAMs on every line card, give absolutely predictable line-rate forwarding for every packet regardless of the number, type or complexity of features enabled across the chassis. Unlike low-performance, processorbased forwarding architectures, there is no “slow-path” or software-based forwarding in the E-Series. The Force10 ASICs look up and act upon all information related to forwarding and applying policy to a packet before the entire packet is received, independent of table lengths, IP address prefix lengths or packet size. This hardware forwarding enables the E-Series to provide the deterministic low latency and jitter required by VoIP and streaming media applications.

Non-blocking 1.6875 Tbps Switch Fabric

The E-Series switch fabric provides nonblocking connectivity along with advanced
queuing, multicast and jumbo frame support. The E600/E1200’s cost-effective N:1
redundant switch fabric design reduces SFM sparing costs while providing 56.25 Gigabits per second of non-blocking bandwidth to each line card slot.

Passive Copper Backplane

The E-Series architecture’s reliable and cost-efficient backplane is the industry’s first high speed, nonoptical backplane to scale to 5 Tbps data rates in a single 1/2 rack E1200 switch/router chassis. Unlike optical backplane interconnect systems or active copper backplanes, the E-Series backplane has no single point of failure and eliminates costly electrical-optical-electrical conversions. The resulting system simplicity afforded by the backplane means bulletproof reliability and minimum cost — available on all three platforms. The massive backplane capacity of E-Series chassis bought today also translates to enough bandwidth per slot (E600 and E1200) to support 40 and 100 GbE standards when they become available.

Fault Tolerance and High Availability

The E-Series architecture supports redundancy, availability and serviceability features to maximize network uptime. All key systems in the E-Series are redundant, including the RPMs, SFMs and power. All memory systems are ECC/parity protected. System-wide environmental monitoring and persistent configuration synchronization enable FTOS to detect, report and correct faults with a minimum of system interruption. In addition, serviceability features include hot-swap of all key components, cable management, and front-side access to all cabling and cards minimize mean time to repair.

To simplify network operation and maintenance, the E300, E600 and E1200 allow hot-swap of all key components and share the same switch fabric modules (SFMs) and FTOS software. In addition, the E1200 and E600 share common line cards and route processor modules (RPMs).

The Force10 E-Series sets a new standard for high performance switch/routers with unmatched scalability to 1,260 Gigabit Ethernet or 224 Ten Gigabit Ethernet ports per chassis, consistent performance with ACLs on all ports, and full L2 switching and L3 routing. These groundbreaking products simplify network applications from server/ cluster consolidation, grid computing, campus backbones, next-generation Internet Exchanges, and Metro Ethernet services.

The Force10 E-Series E1200/E600 provides 56.25 Gigabits per second per slot and the E300 delivers 25 Gigabits per second per slot. All deliver predictable line-rate performance with any combination of features enabled, deterministic low latency and jitter, robust L2/L3 functionality, and the resiliency to thwart denial of service (DoS) attacks. Built upon the powerful and cost-effective Force10 architecture, the E-Series sets the industry standard both for resiliency and performance.

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• E1200

• 1.6875 Tbps non-blocking switch fabric
• 1/2 rack chassis
  (19" rack width)
• 1 billion packets per second
• 14 line card slots
• 1+1 redundant RPMs
• 8:1 redundant SFMs
• 1+1 redundant DC power entry modules (E1200/E1200i-DC)
• 2+1 and 2+2 redundant AC
  power supplies (E1200i-AC)

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• E600

• 900 Gbps non-blocking switch fabric
• 1/3 rack chassis (19" rack width)
• 500 million packets per second
• 7 line card slots
• 1+1 redundant RPMs
• 4:1 redundant SFMs
• 3+1 and 2+2 redundant AC power supplies
• 1+1 redundant DC power entry modules

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• E300

• 400 Gbps non-blocking switch fabric
• 1/6 rack chassis
  (19" rack width)
• 196 million packets per second
• 6 line card slots
• 1+1 redundant RPMs
• 1:1 redundant SFMs
• 3+1 and 2+2 redundant AC power supplies
• 1+1 redundant DC power entry modules

Highest Ethernet Density

The Force10 E-Series delivers unparalleled Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet port densities. The E600/E1200 support 90 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 16 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports per line card slot and up to 7 and 14 line card slots per chassis respectively. The E300 supports 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports or eight 10 Gigabit Ethernet port per line card slot and up to six line card slots per chassis.

High Density Interfaces

Line-Rate Performance

With three custom Force10 ASICs and advanced ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) on every line card, the Force10 E-Series provides line-rate, non-blocking forwarding performance across all ports, even with all features enabled simultaneously. These features include:

• Extended ACLs for packet filtering and policy routing
• Multi-field packet lookup and classification for QoS
• Packet metering and marking for rate limiting and policing
• Congestion control using WRED and WFQ

Full L2 Switching and L3 Routing

Force10 ASICs, E-Series architecture and FTOS software work in unison to give robust L2 switching and L3 routing functionality to the E-Series with the scalability and security required for applications spanning the LAN, MAN and Internet-connected WAN. The Force10 E-Series L2 and L3 features include:

• RIP, OSPF, IS-IS and BGP IPv4 unicast routing protocols
• PIM-SM, PIM-DM, SSM and MSDP IPv4 multicast routing protocols
• OSPF, IS-IS and BGP IPv6 unicast routing protocols
• Prefix-based distributed forwarding table on every line card
• Forwarding table support for up to 512K IPv4 and 32K IPv6 routes
• VLAN redundancy, Rapid Spanning Tree and VLAN stacking

FTOS, the Force10 Operating System, is the operating system that runs on Force10 switch/router product lines. FTOS is based on NetBSD, with application code developed and maintained by Force10 software engineers. A hardware abstraction layer (HAL) is used to make FTOS applications portable across product lines, without having to rewrite the application software for each platform.

• Separate OS and application functions limit application scope and provide inherent platform stability
• Memory protection prevents processes from corrupting each other
• Preemptive process scheduling prevents processes from monopolizing the CPU
• Application processes for each Layer 2 and 3 protocol, as well as management functions, security services and other FTOS features

FTOS is a distributed, multi-processor operating system customized for highavailability and fault tolerance. FTOS delivers an extensive range of high performance L2 switching and L3 routing features including robust IP routing control plane, hardware and software fault tolerance, highly granular traffic management and accounting, industry standard command line interface (CLI), and system diagnostics.

FTOS Provides:

• Stable, scalable L2 switching and L3 routing in a protected environment
• Fault tolerance with modular processes allocated to multiple system processors
• Simplified management with SNMP and an industry-standard CLI
• Full suite of debug and Syslog capabilities

FTOS Key Features

• 4,096 VLANs
• 16M VLANs with VLAN stacking
• Up to 896K MAC addresses per system
• Link aggregation
• 802.1p prioritization
• Resilient ring protocal (FRRP)
• STP (802.1D), MSTP (802.1s), RSTP (802.1w)
  and PVST+

• Robust protocols: RIP, OSPF, IS-IS and BGP
• Multicast with IGMP, PIM-DM, PIM-SM, PIM-DM, SSM, MBGP and MSDP
• Full Internet route table support
• VRRP
• Dual stack IPv4 and IPv6 forwarding
• Graceful restart of OSPF, BGP and PIM

• Congestion control with WRED and WFQ
• QoS for L2 and L3
• Egress rate shaping, ingress rate policing
• Committed access rate support — two-rate, three-color model
• Port mirroring

• Ping, Traceroute, Telnet
• RADIUS, TACACS+, SSH, SCP
• FTP, TFTP client
• DNS client, BootP/DHCP relay
• Accounting and statistics
• SNMPv1/v2/v3 HP OpenView support
• RMON
• Out-of-band console/AUX and FE management ports
• GUI-based EMS

The New Standard of Scalability and Performance

From server/cluster consolidation and grid computing to campus backbones, next-generation Internet Exchanges and Metro Ethernet services, the breakthrough Force10 E-Series ensures predictable application performance, increases network availability and reduces operating costs. The Force10 E-Series provides an unprecedented combination of resiliency, scalable performance and full-featured routing and switching.