Development of ME5210S MPLS router has been completed
12 August
2024
The development of the Eltex ME series of high-performance MPLS routers continues. The series involves models having different performances including both modular and fixed-ports designs.
These MPLS routers are used at the core and edge levels of large carriers’ IP/MPLS networks to organize reliable and high-speed communication channels between different network segments, in mobile operators' networks to build backbone transport networks, in corporate networks to interconnect companies’ headquarters with their remote branches, etc. You can find the information about the models included in the series
here.
The development of ME5210S, a fixed-port MPLS router that is an evolutionary continuation of the ME5200S model, has been completed. The new device is more compact, has better performance, supports PTPv2-based (IEEE 1588v2) time synchronization functionality and brings a range of functional enhancements.
Capacity and performance
ME5210S has a more powerful Control Plane processor and an enlarged memory capacity — up to 64 GB of a DDR memory, four times larger than ME5200S has.
Like other routers in the series, ME5210S is equipped with a packet processor for high-speed hardware switching and routing, and a TCAM processor implementing fast routing table operations. These facilities guarantee high switching and routing performance of the device. The packet processor has 720 MPPS switching performance and 8 GB of packet buffer memory, which makes it possible to handle network traffic bursts easily.
The new device has a 19", 1U form factor. It is half the height of its predecessor. Due to this, the device’s case depth has been increased from 500 to 560 mm.
Interfaces: 32 × 10 Gbps, 1 Gbps capable ports (SFP+), 6 × 100 Gbps, 40 Gbps capable ports (QSFP28). The device has two more 100G ports compared with the previous model. Interface splitting and aggregation modes are supported: splitting of a single QSFP28 interface to 4 × SFP28 or 4 × SFP+; aggregation of four SFP+ interfaces into single QSFP+.
Functions
ME5210S offers a comprehensive set of MPLS, QoS, Traffic Engineering functions for network resource utilization and load balancing optimization. It supports a full IPv4/IPv6 protocol stack, is able to track a lot of traffic flows and to upload accumulated statistics to an external system using Netflow/IPFIX. Thanks to this, the router can effectively solve a wide range of tasks in large corporate and carrier networks.
Key features:
- L2VPN/L3VPN, EVPN/MPLS, EVPN/VXLAN services;
-
Multiprotocol switching over MPLS tags: LDP, LDP FRR, mLDP, RSVP-TE, RSVP-TE FRR, LDPoRSVP, MPLS VPN (L2, L3), BGP for MPLS VPN and others;
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IPv4/IPv6 routing: static, IS-IS, OSPFv2/v3, RIPv2/RIPng, BGP (Route Reflector, FlowSpec for IPv4). Support for ACL, BFD, VRF and Inter-VRF routing functionality, Policy-based routing and more;
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Multicast: PIM-SM, PIM-SSM, IGMPv2/v3, MSDP, Anycast RP, NG MVPN;
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QoS: up to 8 queues per logical interface; Strict Priority (SP/PQ), Deficit Weighted Round-Robin (DWRR) queue types, WRED algorithm support; Ethernet-header based (802.1p), IP and/or MPLS header-based (MPLS TC, IP DSCP) and ACL-based traffic marking, Hierarchical QoS, queues-related traffic counters.
Accurate network time
PTPv2 (IEEE1588v2) network time synchronization function is critical for time-accurate applications such as cellular backbone networks, power-plants management networks, and more.
The following connectors are placed on the front panel of the device for time and frequency synchronization signals attachment: 1PPS In/Out — time synchronization input and output; 10 MHz In/Out — frequency synchronization input and output; ToD — Time of Day information input and output.
IEEE1588v2 time synchronization can work in conjunction with SyncE frequency synchronization to provide the service steadiness.
Fault tolerance
The ME5210S hardware design meets high reliability and fault tolerance requirements, making it a good choice for building mission-critical network infrastructures. The device is equipped with redundant power supplies and cooling fans, which ensure uninterrupted operation of the device even if any of the components fails. Hot-swappable power supplies and fans allow keeping network services operational during the device maintenance.
The software also implements fault tolerance features that include Graceful Restart for routing protocols and Non-stop forwarding.
The device is scheduled to go into mass production at Q4’2024. To learn more about the device, please contact Eltex Sales Department at
eltex@eltex-co.ru