Juniper QFX5100 Series

Chapter 3. Performance and Scaling

One of the more challenging tasks of a network architect is to ensure that a design put forth meets the end-to-end solution requirements. The first step is identifying all of the roles in an architecture; this could be as simple as defining the edge, core, aggregation, and access tiers in the network. Each role has a specific set of responsibilities in terms of functionality and requirements. To map a product to a role in an architecture, the product must meet or exceed the requirements and functionality required by each role for which it’s being considered. Thus, building an end-to-end solution architecture is a bit like a long chain: it’s only as strong as the weakest link.

The most common method for ascertaining the product capabilities, performance, and scale are through datasheets or the vendor’s account team. However, the best method is actually testing by going through a proof of concept or certification cycle. This requires that you build out all of the roles and products in the architecture and measure the end-to-end results; this method quickly flushes out any issues before moving into procurement and production.

This chapter will walk through all of the performance and scaling considerations required to successfully map a product into a specific role in an end-to-end architecture. Attributes such as MAC address, host entries, and IPv4 prefixes will be clearly spelled out. Armed with this data, you will be able to easily map Juniper ...