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Fabric Plane Management

Configuring Fabric Redundancy Mode for Active Control Boards on MX Series Routers

An MX960 router can support three Enhanced Switch Control Boards (SCBE2s or SCBEs)—two planes on each SCB and make up a total of six fabric planes. MX240 and MX480 routers can support up to two SCBE2s or SCBEs—four fabric planes on each SCBE make up a total of eight planes. However, the MX240 and MX480 routers have only six active planes. The remaining two are redundant.

MX2020 routers can support eight Switch Fabric Boards (SFBs) or 24 fabric planes. The MX2020 chassis provides redundancy and resiliency. All major hardware components including the power system, the cooling system, the control board and the switch fabrics are fully redundant.

MX10004 supports six SFBs. Each SFB with the switch fabric is connected to the line cards and the Routing and Control Board (RCB). Three SFBs provide reduced switching functionality to an MX10004 router. Six SFBs provide full throughput. Each MX10004 SFB has four connectors. Each connector matches up with a line card slot, eliminating the need for a backplane. The MX10004 power system and the Routing Control Board (RCB) provide redundancy and resiliency.

The MX2010 and MX2020 routers support 8 SFBs and two control boards. MX2010 and MX2020 routers provide redundancy and resiliency. All major hardware components including the power system, the cooling system, the control board and the switch fabrics are fully redundant.

The MX2020 router has 20 dedicated line card slots.The host subsystem consists of two Control Boards with Routing Engines (CBREs) and eight Switch Fabric Boards (SFBs).

An MX10008 devices has six Switch Fabric Boards (SFBs). MX10K-LC2101 has six Packet Forwarding Engines (PFE). Each PFE has 24 connections to the fabric (24 planes, or 4 connections per SFB).

The MX10008 has two models of SFBs: the JNP10008-SF and the JNP10008-SF2. SFBs installed must be of the same model type in a running chassis. On both SF and SF2 models, the SFB has eight connectors that connect to one of the eight line cards.
Note:

The MPC7E-MRATE and MPC7E-10G MPCs are supported only on MX-SCBE2.

You can configure the active control board to be in redundancy mode or in increased fabric bandwidth mode. You can enable increased fabric bandwidth of active control boards for optimal and efficient performance and traffic handling by configuring the active control boards to be in redundancy mode. To configure redundancy mode for the active control board, use the redundancy-mode redundant statement at the [edit chassis fabric] hierarchy level:

When you configure this option, all the FPCs use 4 fabric planes as active planes, regardless of the type of the FPC.

To configure increased bandwidth mode for the active control board, use the redundancy-mode increased-bandwidth statement at the [edit chassis fabric] hierarchy level:

In increased fabric bandwidth mode, MX Series routers will use 6 active planes. MX240 and MX480 routers will also use 2 spare planes in addition to the 6 active planes.

Increased fabric bandwidth mode is enabled by default on MX routers with Switch Control Board (SCB). On MX routers with Enhanced SCB—SCBE, regardless of the type of MPC or DPC installed on it, redundancy mode is enabled by default.

Note:

Fabric mode cannot be changed dynamically for MX-Series devices. Please reboot the MX device after switching the fabric mode.

Configuring this feature does not affect the system. You can configure this feature without restarting the FPC or restarting the system.

See also: MX-Series Switch Control Board (SCB) Description

Example: Configuring Fabric Redundancy Mode

Requirements for Configuration of the Fabric Redundancy Mode

This example uses the following hardware and software components:

  • Junos OS Release 12.3 R2 or later for MX Series routers

  • A single MX480 router with MPC4E

Overview

This example provides information about configuring the fabric redundancy mode on an MX480 router with MPC4E. You can configure the MPC4E to function in redundant fabric mode or increased bandwidth mode. If you do not configure the mode, the MPC4E, by default, functions in redundant fabric mode. In redundant fabric mode, the number of active fabric planes is 4. If you configure the MPC4E to function in increased bandwidth mode, the number of active fabric planes increases to 6.

See also: 32x10GE MPC4E and 2x100GE + 8x10GE MPC4E.

Configuring Increased Bandwidth Mode

Procedure

Step-by-Step Procedure

In this example, you configure increased bandwidth mode on an MX480 router with MPC4E. The existing fabric mode on the MX480 router is redundant fabric mode. To configure the fabric mode, perform the following tasks:

  1. Verify the existing fabric mode of the router by using the show chassis fabric mode command.

  2. View the number of active fabric planes by using the show chassis fabric summary command.

    Type 4 and Type 5 MPCs refer to MPC 4 and MPC5 line cards, respectively.

  3. In configuration mode, go to the [edit chassis] hierarchy level and set the fabric mode to increased-bandwidth as follows:

Results

In redundant fabric mode, the number of active fabric planes is 4 while the number of spare planes is also 4. In increased-bandwidth mode, the number of active planes is 6 while the number of spare planes is 2.

Note:

Fabric planes 1 and 5 and fabric planes 3 and 7 use shared physical links. So, among fabric planes 1 and 5, only one plane can be active. Similarly, among fabric planes 3 and 7, only one plane can be active.

Verification

To verify that the fabric mode of the MX480 router with MPC4E, perform the following tasks:

Verifying the Fabric Redundancy Mode of the Router

Purpose

To verify that the fabric redundancy mode of the MX480 router with MPC4E has been modified to increased-bandwidth.

Action

To view the fabric mode of the router, use the show chassis fabric mode command.

Meaning

The MX480 router with MPC4E is functioning in increased bandwidth mode.

Verifying the Number of Active Fabric Planes

Purpose

To verify that the number of active fabric planes is 6.

Action

To view the number of active fabric planes, use the show chassis fabric summary command.

Type 4 and Type 5 MPCs refer to MPC 4 and MPC5 line cards, respectively.

Meaning

Number of active planes on the MX480 router with MPC4E is 6 (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6) while the number of spare planes is 2.

Fabric Plane Management on AS MLC Modular Carrier Card

The Application Services Modular Line Card (AS MLC) provides high application throughput and storage space, and is designed to run services on the MX240, MX480, and MX960 routers. The AS MLC consists of the following components:

  • Application Services Modular Carrier Card (AS MCC)

  • Application Services Modular Processing Card (AS MXC)

  • Application Services Modular Storage Card (AS MSC)

The AS MCC plugs into the chassis and provides the fabric interface.

An MX960 router can support three Switch Control Boards (SCBs) or six fabric planes. The AS MCC supports six fabric planes. An MX240 or MX480 router can support upto two SCBs or two fabric planes. The AS MCC at any time can provide connectivity to only six of the eight fabric planes. Fabric planes 1 and 5, and 3 and 7 use shared physical links. So between fabric planes 1 and 5 only one plane can be active. Similarly between fabric planes 3 and 7, only one plane can be active.

This behavior impacts the output of fabric-related monitoring commands on MX240 and MX480 routers with AS MCCs.

The show chassis fpc pic-status command displays the output for an MX480 router with an AS MCC:

In the show chassis fpc pic-status command output, Slot 1 and 5 are AS MCC, PIC 0 is the AS MSC, and PIC 2 is the AS MXC.

The show chassis fabric fpcs command displays the output on an MX480 router with an AS MCC.

In the show chassis fabric fpcs command output, FPC 5 is the AS MCC.

The show chassis fabric plane command displays the output on an MX480 router with an AS MCC.

In the show chassis fabric plane output, FPC 5 is the AS MCC.

The term Unused in the output for the show chassis fabric fpcs and show chassis fabric plane command indicates that one fabric plane from each pair that share physical links (1 and 5, and 3 and 7) is inactive.

See Junos OS System Basics and Services Command Reference for more information.

Fabric Plane Management on MX304 Routers

The SFB on MX304 router supports the following functionalities:

• Fabric Hardening: Controls bandwidth degradation and prevents null route.

• Fabric Fault Management: Supported per plane. Fabric fault management per plane results in increased granularity, to identify, isolate, and repair faults.

Fabric Hardening Support and Plane Management on MX304 Routers

Fabric plane management incudes fabric hardening, that is the process to control bandwidth degradation and prevent a null route for data transmission.

MX304 routers have only one built-in SFB and line card MIC, MX304-LMIC16-BASE. The SFB has two PFEs. Each PFE supports 18 fabric planes (or sub-channels).

Table 1: LMIC support for SFB
LMICs Switch Fabric Boards Supported Packet Forwarding Engines (PFEs) Fabric Planes Fabric Redundancy
MX304-LMIC16-BASE 1 SFB 2 PFE 36 No
For details, on the fabric resiliency support, see Fabric Plane Management on MX304 Routers.
Table 2: Fabric Plane Management on MX304 Routers
Failure or Fault Default Action Configurable Action
All planes of a PFE come down (due to training failures, destination timeouts or combination of both). Affected PFE is disabled. Log only, FPC offline, FPC restart, FPC restart and then offline.

Multiple PFEs lose all 18 planes (number of PFEs are less than 50% in the chassis)

Affected PFEs are disabled. Log only, FPC offline, FPC restart, FPC restart and then offline.
Combination PFEs are at fault. Affected PFEs are disabled. Log only, FPC offline, FPC restart, FPC restart and then offline.
All 18 planes are offlined or more than 50% of the PFEs in the chassis have faults. SFB restart and FPC restart. If the attempt fails, PFEs are disabled. Ignore SFB restart, Ignore FPC restart.
SFB Fatal error SFB reset– attempts 3 times before giving up. None

The following key CLI commands are available for fabric hardening:

  • set chassis fpc slot-number fabric bandwidth-degradation percentage—Configures the FPC to take a specific action once bandwidth degradation reaches a certain percentage to avoid causing a null route in the chassis.

  • set chassis fabric degraded detection-enable—Enables detection of an FPC with degraded fabric.

  • set chassis fabric degraded action-fpc-restart-disable—Disables line card restarts to limit recovery actions from a degraded fabric condition.

  • Use the commands show chassis fabric reachability detail to see if any fabric hardening actions are taken.

  • Use command show chassis fabric degradation to check bandwidth information.

  • Use show chassis fabric summary extended and show log chassisd for log information.

Limitations

• MX304 routers have only one built-in SFB and one FPC. Hence there is no fabric redundancy support.

• SFB offline and online is not supported. The command request chassis sfb slot 0 {offline| online} is not supported. You can control the operation of the specified fabric planes by using the command request chassis fabric plane plane_number {offline| online}.

Fabric Plane Management on MX10004 and MX10008 Devices

Fabric Plane Management on MX10004 and MX10008 Devices

The MX10004 router has four slots and MX10008 router has eight slots for the line cards that can support a maximum of 768 100-Gigabit Ethernet ports (4x100), 192 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports, 192 100-Gigabit Ethernet ports, or 192 400-Gigabit Ethernet ports with line card slots 0-7 that combine Packet Forwarding Engine (PFE) and Ethernet interfaces enclosed in a single assembly.

There are two models of SFBs: the JNP10004-SF or JNP10008-SF and the JNP10004-SF2 or JNP10008-SF2. SFBs installed must be of the same model type in a running chassis. On both SF and SF2 models, the SFB has eight connectors that connect to one of the eight line cards.

MX10004 and MX10008 devices support the following line cards:

  • MX10K-LC2101—The MX10K-LC2101 line card provides a maximum bandwidth of 2.4Tbps and has six Packet Forwarding Engines (PFEs), each providing a maximum bandwidth of up to 400 Gbps.
  • MX10K-LC480—The MX10K-LC480 line card is a Cx;7 configuration MPC with 48 ports. Each port supports a speed of 10 Gbps or 1 Gbps, providing the line card a maximum bandwidth of 480 Gbps. The MX10K-LC480 has two PFEs, each providing a maximum bandwidth of up to 240 Gbps.
  • MX10K-LC9600—The MX10K-LC9600 is a fixed configuration 24-port line card, which provides a line rate throughput of 9.6 Tbps. The line card has twenty-four QSFP-DD ports, each capable of supporting a maximum speed of 400 Gbps.
    Note: In a MX10008 router if you want to install MX10K-LC9600 line card you must install all the six JNP10008-SF2s to achieve 153.6Tbps (bi-directional) switching capacity. The MX10K-LC9600 line cards. are not compatible with the JNP10008-SFs. For details, see MX10008 Hardware Guide.
    The line card has 12 Packet Forwarding Engines, each providing a maximum bandwidth of 800 Gbps.

This topic discusses the fabric plane management on these line cards.

The following Table 3 provides information about Line Card support on SFB and SFB2.

Table 3: Line card support on SFB and SFB2

Line Cards

Switch Fabric Boards Supported

Packet Forwarding Engines (PFEs)

Fabric Planes

Fabric Redundancy

MX10K-LC2101

SFB and SFB2

6 PFE

24 (SFB), 12 (SFB2)

Yes (5+1 for SFB and SFB2)

MX10K-LC480

SFB and SFB2

2 PFE

24 (SFB), 12 (SFB2)

Yes (5+1 for SFB and SFB2)

MX10K-LC9600

SFB2

12 PFE

12

Not supported because MX10KLC9600 requires all six SFB2s to support the line rate.
Note:

When one SFB2 fails, the line rate is achieved with 10 planes.
Note:

MX10004 and MX10008 devices with SFB2 support interoperability of line cards.

MX10004 and MX10008 SFB2s support the following:

  • Fabric fault handling: Fabric fault handling is supported per plane. Fabric fault handling per plane results in increased granularity, which helps identify, isolate, and repair faults. If an SFB has a single faulty plane, the other three planes can continue to operate. There is no need to take the entire SFB offline. For example, if a plane encounters a training failure error, the line card isolates that faulty plane; while the other planes continue to operate. Also, any cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors on any link on the SFB are indicated on the plane, not on SFB.
  • Fabric hardening: Fabric hardening is the process of controlling bandwidth degradation to prevent null route. The following key CLI commands are available for fabric hardening:

  • set chassis fpc slot-number fabric bandwidth-degradation percentage—Configures the FPC to take a specific action once bandwidth degradation reaches a certain percentage to avoid causing a null route in the chassis.

  • set chassis fabric degraded detection-enable—Enables detection of an FPC with degraded fabric.

  • set chassis fabric degraded action-fpc-restart-disable—Disables line card restarts to limit recovery actions from a degraded fabric condition.

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