Brocade Communications Systems 53-1002373-02 manual Brocade router overview, Router applications

	Chapter
Product Overview	1

Brocade router overview

Brocade routers provide high-performance routing to service providers, metro topologies, and Internet Exchange Points, offering the following benefits:

•Scalable multi-service IP/MPLS carrier Ethernet routers.

•100 Gbps Ethernet and 1 Gbps Ethernet wire-speed ports in a single router.

•Wire-speed IPv4, IPv6, and MPLS forwarding performance.

•Comprehensive IPv4 and IPv6 routing support based on Brocade Multi-Service IronWare.

•High-availability design with redundant management modules, switch fabric modules, power supplies and fans, supporting hitless failover, hitless software upgrades, and non-stop routing.

•Advanced, scalable Metro Ethernet Layer 2 services.

•Advanced Layer 2/Layer 3 VPN and multicast capabilities support residential triple-play and business services.

•Comprehensive hardware-based security and policies.

•Advanced QoS for differentiated SLAs.

Router applications

Brocade routers are commonly deployed in the following situations:

•Layer 2 metro networks

•Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Layer 3 Virtual Private Network (VPN) service provider networks supporting multi-VRFs and RFC 2547bis

•MPLS Layer 2 VPN service provider networks supporting both Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) and Virtual Leased Line (VLL)

Hardware features

This section describes the major hardware components of Brocade routers. The figures in this section show the router slots where you install modules and power supplies. For installation instructions for these devices, refer to the appropriate installation chapter in this guide for your model.

Brocade MLX Series and Brocade NetIron XMR Hardware Installation Guide	1
53-1002373-02