With automated computation and trading essential to financial services profitability, the level of dependence on high-speed computation and market data feeds from a variety of sources is increasing. At high scale, every microsecond and nanosecond of latency count for profit or loss. Juniper Networks Transactional Production Data Center Network Solution, including the QFX3500, EX8216, MX Series, and SRX5000 line of products, offers one of the most scalable 10GbE wire-rate data center solutions on the market.

1. SOLUTION BRIEF
Transactional Production Data
Center Network Solution
Ultra-fast network infrastructure delivering line-rate data with the highest
levels of security and assurance
Juniper’s transactional data center solution provides an ultra-fast, simplified network
infrastructure offering the ability for businesses, primarily in the financial services
Challenge industry, to deliver line-rate data with the high levels of security and assurance.
With automated computation and
The Challenge
trading essential to financial services
Organizations that rely on high-performance, high data rate computation for their
profitability, the level of dependence
business success are required to build a complex network using a variety of technologies
on high-speed computation and
to support the performance needed by their compute infrastructure. Today’s solutions
market data feeds from a variety of
do not offer the simplicity and the functionality required to keep up with the advances in
sources is increasing. At high scale,
compute infrastructure technology. Supporting transaction, market data, and algorithmic
every microsecond and nanosecond of
trading applications at the network level involves a variety of technical requirements
latency count for profit or loss.
that are difficult to meet. Typically, the compute infrastructure solution comprises a
Solution full stack of elements from the applications through platform drivers to the physical
Juniper Networks Transactional networking devices. Compute solutions assume very predictable performance across
Production Data Center Network the cluster of devices. Today’s multitier network infrastructure solutions do not support
Solution, including the QFX3500, the predictability and low latency required to successfully implement trading platforms,
EX8216, MX Series, and SRX5000 line algorithmic trading applications, and market data distribution systems. Hence a new
of products, offers one of the most approach is in order.
scalable 10GbE wire-rate data center Latency is obviously an important consideration in the transactional compute space,
solutions on the market. since the speed at which market data is delivered from the source to the trader or system
helps enable more timely decisions. And, the speed at which the decisions arrive over the
Benefits
network to the target exchange impacts the relative advantage of the request. But latency
• 10GbE wire-rate switching
is not the only consideration. The variance between different transaction round trip times
technology
makes a big difference as well. Jitter contributes to the overall value of the platform or
• Advanced security functionality trading system, since a low jitter infrastructure translates to a predictable and fair trading
• No compromise transaction system delivering the same high-performance experience to all clients.
compute With performance characteristics being so critical for successful utilization of
• Full high availability computation systems, and with the financial impact so clearly aligned with network
performance, organizations are looking first and foremost for the performance attributes
of the solution, but still need a solution that is scalable (to allow for future growth),
simple to operate (to be managed by existing IT staff), and secure (to avoid any unwanted
interruption to the business).
In short, a high-speed, secure, easy to operate, no compromise network infrastructure is
what today’s transactional data center demands.
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2. The Juniper Networks Transactional Data Center foundation of the Juniper Networks QFabric™ product line, offers
Network Solution an extremely scalable, easy to manage and fast network fabric.
The QFabric solution offers connectivity to over 6,000 10GbE
Juniper’s transactional data center package offers organizations
attached servers into a single tier of networking connectivity
an industry leading high-performance networking data center
all managed as a single device and with maximum port to port
infrastructure based on 10GbE connectivity to servers, network
latency of under 5us. The QFabric solution for transactional
attached storage and storage area networks, 10GbE+ stateful firewall
environments is intended for the most demanding transactional
services gateways, and state-of-the-art edge connectivity devices.
data centers and truly benefits organizations that have minimal
This solution offers a powerful 10GbE server access and is 1GbE connectivity footprint in the intended data center facilities.
ideally suited for financial services firms striving to optimize their The QFabric solution is available today, and is primarily aimed at
Ethernet connectivity across clusters of transactional and market organizations that need only the highest levels of performance
data systems that require rich L3 functionality or large scale L2 and scalability.
connectivity. Utilizing Juniper Networks® Junos® operating system
This solution brief will describe the long-proven two tier
in the core of the network significantly enhances operational
networking based solution which is based on the QFX3500, the
flexibility and reliability by simplifying operations and adopting a
EX8200, the SRX Series and MX Series systems. The two tier
modular operating system.
network solution sets the foundation to migrating the data center
Juniper offers a variety of solutions to build transactional data to a single tier while protecting the investment in the QFX3500 -
centers. Currently available are single tier and 2-tier based network when 10GbE connectivity is the majority of data center servers.
infrastructure solutions. The single tier based solution, built on the
SRX Series
Inter-POD Security
Inter-DC Security
COLO Hosted MX80
Trading POD
MX Series 3D Up-to 40 Servers
Inter-POD Connectivity 2 x 10GbE
Inter-DC Connectivity
QFX3500 QFX3500
10 Active Server per EX2500
2 x EX2500 per server rack
28 Server Racks per POD
Over 500 Svr POD w/ 1:2.5 O/S
Server Rack Server Rack
EX8216 EX8216
Virtual Chassis Virtual Chassis
4 x 10GbE 4 x 10GbE
QFX3500 QFX3500 QFX3500 QFX3500
10GbE 10GbE 10GbE 10GbE
Server Rack Server Rack Server Rack Server Rack
Figure 1: Tansactional Data Center Network infrastructure
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3. The transactional data center network solution is built on the
foundation of Junos OS. This significantly improves the overall OpEx
involved in maintenance of the data center network infrastructure,
as well as support of emerging business applications.
Implementing Juniper’s transactional data center solution,
organizations will be able to support the latest available trading
MX Series
and transactional application infrastructures. The solution offers Transactional Inter-POD Connectivity
support for a variety of multicast applications using the Junos Data Center Inter-DC Connectivity
SRX Series
OS L3 functionality suite on the Juniper Networks EX8200 line of
Inter-POD Security
Ethernet switches. It supports virtual private LAN service (VPLS) Inter-DC Security
across multiple locations to transparently connect application Qfabric – Intra-POD
Connectivity over
nodes and offer seamless high availability using the Juniper
6,000 10GbE
Networks MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers. Additionally, ports
the solution offers spanning-tree free topology with full high
availability using Virtual Chassis technology.
The 2-tier transactional data center comes in two sizes—small
footprint for colocation deployments where size and power draw
are critical; and high density 10GbE where two network layers
support the largest possible number of 10GbE servers for larger
scale compute requirements. 10GbE 10GbE
The network layout offers an inverted U shape uplink connectivity
scheme that enables full uplink utilization and redundancy with
active/passive server network interface card (NIC) connections.
We recommend installing two Juniper Networks QFX3500
Ethernet Switch devices on top of each server rack such that
Server Rack Server Rack
40 10GbE attached servers can be connected with redundant
interfaces to both top-of-rack switches. Each top-of-rack switch
will connect up to two EX8200 switches using eight uplinks in Figure 2: Transactional Data Center with QFabric Architecture
a single Link Aggregation Group (LAG) configuration of eight
Features and Benefits
members, where 4 members connect to each EX8200. The
EX8200 switches should not be populated beyond seven-eighths • Over 1,000 10GbE servers per POD for modular scalability and
of the available ports with downlinks such that one eighth of the optimal control, supporting 15 server racks.
ports remain available for Virtual Chassis interconnections. With • QFabric readiness at the rack with scalability up to 6,000
this configuration where all top-of-rack uplinks are active, we 10GbE ports
connect 40 servers to the core with 16 10GbE uplinks, effectively
• Up to 120 Gbps firewall performance (per box) for maximum
rendering a 1:2.5 oversubscription ratio with fully non-blocking
throughput capacity at the POD
hardware. With a pair of Juniper Networks EX8216 Ethernet
• Up to 30 Gbps IPS performance providing application specific
Switches, the total number of downlinks will be 224, rendering 14
context recognition and security processing
server racks connected with 40 servers in each. (Reserving one-
eighth of the ports) which sums up-to 1120 servers in a single Point • Full Junos OS automation and instrumentation throughout
of Delivery (POD). The MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers can the network
interconnect PODs and locations, or even serve as the datacenter • 1:2.5 uplink oversubscriptions (non-blocking access and core)
core in a seamless manner such that all locations and PODs are
• 128,000 Mcast routes per POD
similar operationally, and connectivity is maintained at Layer 2 or
Layer 3 as desired. Obviously, the bandwidth characteristics across • Deep buffers for reliable recovery of downlink saturation.
PODs will change by implementing QFX3500 as ToR Ethernet • IPv6 Support
switches, customers are securing racks to be completely QFabric • Advanced Routing and Virtualization Support with up-to
ready and will be able to enjoy a smooth migration to a complete 8,000 VPLS instances
QFabric based system.
• QoS and ACL Line rate performance
• Up-to 1M MAC Addresses
• Under 12us latency any port to any port (microsec)
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4. Solution Components Summary
Software Hardware Product Service and Support Juniper Networks offers powerful solutions for high-performance
Product Offering transactions, market data, and algorithmic trading applications.
Junos Space • X Series
M Professional Services Juniper’s transactional data center network solution offers a
device (network core · ssessment and
A unique combination of performance and functionality at very
management and edge) Analysis Services attractive price points, allowing businesses to enjoy the benefits of
• thernet
E • X8200 line
E · lanning, Design and
P a lowest latency and highest resiliency transactional network.
Design (network core) Testing Services
• Network Activate • FX3500
Q · mplementation and
I Next Steps
• irtual Control
V (server access) Optimization Services For more information regarding Juniper Networks Data Center
• ecurity Design
S • RX Series for
S Juniper Care infrastructure solutions check out the following URL:
security services
vGW Virtual • unos Space Service
J www.juniper.net/datacenter, and contact your local Juniper partner.
including:
Gateway Now automated remote
• AppSecure support For more information regarding the design of the Juniper data center
• AppTrack · roduct maintenance
P
network please refer to:
(multiple Service levels www.juniper.net/us/en/local/pdf/design-guides/8020010-en.pdf.
through 24x7) e-support
To find a Juniper partner in your area please view the following list
• hone support
P
of resources:
Juniper Care Plus
www.juniper.net/us/en/partners/locator.
· etwork environment
N
availability focused For more information on the SRX Series please see:
· unos Space Service
J
www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/security/srx-series.
Insight remote service For more information on the EX Series please see:
automation
www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/switching/ex-series.
· xpert-to-Expert access
E
· ersonalized account
P
For more information on the QFX Series please see:
focused Services www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/switching/qfx-series.
· dvanced Services for
A For more information on the MX Series please see:
customized product/
www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/routing/mx-series.
system performance
tuning for more information about Junos Space please refer to:
Juniper Care Experts www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/software/junos-
· Resident Engineers platform/junos-space.
· Resident Consultants For more information on Juniper services please see:
Education Services www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services.
· Knowledge transfer
· unos and Juniper
J About Juniper Networks
Technical Training Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From
· uniper Networks
J devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers,
Certification Program Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that
transform the experience and economics of networking. The
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information can be found at www.juniper.net.
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