JCS1200 Chassis and T Series Core Routers as a Single Platform
The Juniper Networks JCS1200 Control System (JCS) chassis interconnected with up to three T Series routing chassis enables the control plane (route processing) and forwarding plane (packet forwarding) to be scaled independently within a single platform. The JCS1200 chassis houses up to 6 redundant Routing Engine pairs or up to 12 single Routing Engines running JUNOS Software. Matched with one or more Flexible PIC Concentrators (FPCs) on a T Series router, the selected Routing Engine pair (or single Routing Engine) forms a secure, virtual hardware router, or Protected System Domain (PSD). A PSD has the same capabilities as a separate, physical router with its own control plane, configuration file, routing tables, interfaces, and secure access.
Existing Juniper Networks technology already separates the tasks of the Routing Engine from the Packet Forwarding Engine on a single routing platform. Each component performs its primary tasks independently, while constantly communicating through a high-speed internal link. This arrangement provides streamlined forwarding and routing control and the capability to run Internet-scale networks at high speeds. Now, with Routing Engines located in a separate chassis, the JCS1200 platform provides a greatly expanded control plane capacity without sacrificing any forwarding slots in the T Series router. All memory-intensive processing occurs on the Routing Engines on the JCS chassis, whereas the FPCs on the T Series router are dedicated to efficient high-speed forwarding.