[j-nsp] EX4550 or QFX5100 for Core

[Richard McGovern]

The copper optic warning is 100% based on physical limitations, nothing else. People have “forced” optics into places they should not go, with poor results.

If you need more than a few 10GE-BaseT ports, then yes your best approach would be QFX5100-48T. I would still recommend staying away from EX4550 at this time, as its life expectancy is much less than any new QFX model (that is non-3500/3600). 

At same time life expectancy of EX4550 is still greater than 5 years, so new QFX will be much longer. 

My 2 cents worth. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 7, 2018, at 10:17 AM, Thomas Bellman <bellman at nsc.liu.se> wrote:
> 
>> On 2018-08-07 14:21, Giovanni Bellac via juniper-nsp wrote:
>> 
>> Sorry, my first email was not clear enough that I require Base-T
>> (copper) ports.
>> QFX5110 etc. are looking great on paper, but with copper optics the
>> docs are saying:
>> ###
>> Caution
>> Do not place a copper transceiver in an access port directly above or below
>> another copper transceiver. Internal damage to the access ports and switch
>> can occur. For copper transceivers, we recommend either using the top port
>> row exclusively, or the bottom port row exclusively.
>> ###
> 
> Some TP transceivers are small enough that it isn't a problem.  But be
> careful, and verify, if you go down that route.
> 
> More importantly, 10 Gbit/s TP transceivers are not supported.  You can
> buy such transceivers from some third-party vendors, but they *are*
> violating the specifications for SFP+ ports, drawing more power than
> SFP+ ports are required to deliver.  It might work, as many switches
> can deliver more power than the spec requires, or it might not.  Or it
> might work for a few transceivers, but not if you fill all ports with
> such transceivers.
> 
> So, I agree, if you need 10Gbase-T, then the QFX5110 or EX4600 is not
> what you should look at.
> 
>> So the options are limited with EX4550-32T and QFX5100-48T...
>> Kind regardsGiovanni
> 
> There is also the EX4300-48MP, with 24 TP ports that do 10/100/1000
> Mbit/s, and 24 TP ports that do 1/2.5/5/10 Gbit/s.  There is also a
> slot for a module where you can get four SFP+ ports, two QSFP ports,
> or one QSFP28 ports, if you need a couple of fiber connections.
> 
> I'm assuming that the EX4300-48MP is cheaper than a QFX5100-48T, but
> I have never priced one, or used one.  (Note that I believe you need
> to buy an extra license to run OSPF, or use VRFs, on the EX4300, while
> that is included in the base license for QFX5100.  Both require extra
> license to run BGP or IS-IS.)
> 
> 
>    /Bellman
>