Multiservice IP/MPLS SDN Routers

The way organizations communicate and conduct business has changed dramatically in the past decade. Services such as high-definition video streaming, cloud services, and anytime/anywhere mobile connectivity not only consume an enormous amount of network capacity, but also create a greater degree of complexity for network operations. As a result, today's network planners are seeking solutions that provide the right mix of scalability, performance, programmability, and operational simplicity.

The Brocade® MLX® Series of high-performance routers, which includes Brocade MLXe Core Routers, is designed to meet these requirements and many others. Built with a state-of-the-art, sixth-generation, network processor-based architecture and terabit-scale switch fabrics, the Brocade MLX Series provides a rich set of high-performance Layer 2/3, IPv4, IPv6, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), wire-speed encryption, and Software-Defined Networking (SDN). As a result, these routers address the diverse needs in environments that include the data centers of service provider, enterprise, and public sector organizations; service provider transit and internet exchange Points (IXPs); research and education networks; enterprise and public sector campuses; and mobile 4G/Lte service providers.

Scalability Without Compromising Performance

The Brocade MLX Series is highly optimized for IP ethernet deployments, providing symmetric scaling with chassis options that include 4-, 8-, 16-, and 32-slot systems. These routers offer industry-leading wire-speed port capacity without compromising the performance of advanced software capabilities. For example, the Brocade MLXe-32 delivers data forwarding performance of 6.4 Tbps and a switch fabric capacity of 15.36 Tbps, enough capacity to future-proof networks for years to come.

However, true router scalability is measured not only in terms of packet forwarding performance, but also in the scalability of the hardware forwarding tables and maturity of the control plane. The Brocade MLX Series offers a flexible scale-as-you-grow model with hardware peak performance even in the case of a switch fabric card failure. In the highly unlikely case of additional fabric failures, the advanced architecture allows the system to continue operating in a graceful degradation mode, where the system tunes its performance to the remaining fabric capacity.

The advanced fabric architecture is complemented by comprehensive hardware redundancy for the management modules, power supplies, and cooling system. In addition, the Brocade NetIron operating system offers hitless management failover for IPv4 and IPv6 with Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), IS-IS and IP multicast Non-Stop Routing, and Border gateway Protocol (BGP) graceful Restart capabilities-as well as hitless (in-service) software upgrades to further enhance both system availability and overall network availability. With LDP graceful Restart, MPLS traffic loss is minimized if there is an interruption on the network. To maintain continuous operations in data centers and metro networks, the innovative Brocade Multi-Chassis trunking (MCT) feature provides fast link and node failover protection while simultaneously maximizing network utilization. For example, MCT supports active/standby redundancy for VPLS and VLL pseudowires, providing flexible options for redundancy in network designs that interconnect multiple data centers. For increased redundancy and functionality, dynamic Layer 3 routing over MCT is also supported.

• 100GBase-X
• 40GBase-X
• 10GBase-X
• 1000Base-X

• MLXe-8 Router Chassis
• 2 x Exhaust Fan Assembly Kits and Air Filter