Nortel 4526FX User manual

Test highlights for Nortel
ERS 4500 switches in an
eight-high stack configuration:
• Exceptional stack performance up
to 320 Gbps of switching capacity
when tested with frame sizes of 64
through 1,518 bytes
• 100% throughput performance
across 160 10/100/1000BaseT
ports handling Ethernet frame
sizes of 64 through 1,518 bytes
• Zero frame loss when handling 238
millions packets per second
• Low latency and jitter that is
absolutely critical for handling
voice over IP (VoIP) traffic
The Ethernet Routing Switch
4500 Series
The Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch
(ERS) 4500 Series is a stackable, scalable
and economical solution that provides
the resiliency, security and convergence-
readiness required by application-driven
and constantly changing enterprise
networks. The series delivers flexible
Ethernet switching with Power over
Ethernet (PoE) models for simplified
network deployments — helping to
drive lower total cost of ownership.
All five ERS 4500 models can operate as
standalone units or be stacked together
and managed as a single entity. Models
can be mixed and matched within a
stack to meet various performance
requirements including Ethernet, Fast
Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. All
models feature front-mounted USB
ports, RS232 consoles and Redundant
Power Supply (RPS) capabilities.
Product Information
Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series showcases 320 Gbps
stack-bandwidth performance
In April 2007, Nortel conducted tests to evaluate the switching performance of the Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch
(ERS) 4500 portfolio — a series of scalable, reliable and secure networking switches that can stack together, creating a
single managed entity of either Fast Ethernet switches, Gigabit Ethernet switches or a combination of both.

Test configuration
Within a state-of-the-art lab environ-
ment a combination of eight ERS 4500s
were interconnected together to form a
stack of 8 units. The test bed consisted
of four 4548GT and four 4548GT-
PWR ERS 4500s.
Each switch has two stack connectors
— one going up and the other down.
Unit number 1 was connected to unit
number 8 through a stack cable. The
eight-switch stack was connected to four
Spirent 6000 series chassis test tools.
From the Spirent test tools, a total of
160 10/100/1000BaseT ports were
connected to the stack of eight
Nortel ERS 4500 ports. A total of 20
10/100/1000BaseT connections were
made between each ERS 4500 and the
Spirent test tool. Port-pairing tests were
run on all 160 ports using the Spirent
SmartFlow application.
Results and analysis
320 Gbps stack performance
While running traffic at full line rate
across 160 10/100/1000Base-T ports,
engineers measured the stack perform-
ance across all 160 10/100/1000
Gigabit Ethernet ports at Ethernet
frame sizes of 64, 128, 256, 512, 1,024,
1,280 and 1,518 bytes. Tests verified
that ERS 4500s in an eight-switch stack
configuration provide superior perform-
ance by recording 320 Gbps full-duplex
switching capacity for all Ethernet frame
sizes of 64 through 1,518 bytes.
100 percent throughput
performance in an eight-switch
stack configuration
For the next series of tests, engineers
configured the Spirent tool to test for
zero frame loss tolerance. While running
traffic at full-line rate across 160
10/100/1000BaseT ports, engineers
2
Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 — the evolution
of redundant self-healing stacking
• Multi-switch stacking with support for up to eight ERS 4500 units in a stack
• Built-in HiStack stacking ports with a stacking cable included in each switch
• Load-balancing and fail-over protection with Distributed Multi-Link Trunking
(DMLT) and 802.3ad
• Automatic Unit Replacement that automatically reconfigures any replaced unit
• Resilient stack IP management ensures continued operation even if the base unit
fails
• Efficient stack resiliency including simultaneous bi-directional stacking traffic on
each stacking port
• Intelligent traffic forwarding using Nortel's advanced stacking architecture to
determine the shortest path for optimal traffic flow across the stack
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Ethernet frame sizes (bytes)
Performance (Gbps)
ERS 4548GT/4548GT-PWR
64 128 256 512 1,024 1,280 1,518
Figure 2. Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series switching capacity test
results (eight-switch stack configuration)
Figure 1. Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series test network setup
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports
20x 10/100/1000Base-T
Spirent Test Tool Ports

3
measured the stack performance across
all 160 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
ports with Ethernet frame sizes of 64,
128, 256, 512, 1,024, 1,280 and 1,518
bytes. Tests verified 100 percent
throughput for all Ethernet frame sizes,
clearly demonstrating the superior
performance of ERS 4500s configured
in an eight-switch stack.
Zero frame loss performance
in an eight-switch stack
configuration
In this test, engineers sent a total of
238 million 64-byte frames per second
from the Spirent test tool across 160
10/100/1000BaseT ports in a port-
pairing test configuration. Engineers
verified that the stack consisting of eight
ERS 4500s dropped absolutely no
packets — demonstrating, once again,
the stellar performance of the ERS 4500
Series in this configuration.
Low jitter and latency in a
standalone switch configuration
Within the same configuration, engineers
measured the average latency and its
standard deviation — a statistical
method of calculating how much the
latency of a set of received packets varies
from the mean. Engineers measured the
average latency and jitter for Ethernet
frame sizes of 64, 128, 256, 512, 1,024,
1,280 and 1,518 bytes. Latency was
measured using the “cut-through”
method. Tests yielded impressive results
of between 8 and 24 microseconds of
average latency, and the same for stan-
dard deviation. These results demon-
strate that ERS 4500s in an eight-switch
stack configuration deliver very low
latency and standard deviation.
In summary
When put to the test, an eight-stack
configuration of 4548GT 4548GT-PWR
Ethernet Routing Switches demon-
strated superior performance of 320
Gbps full-duplex switching capacity for
all Ethernet frame sizes of 64 through
1,518 bytes. When the same configura-
tion was tested for zero frame loss toler-
ance across all 160 ports at the same
frame sizes, tests verified the highest
possible throughput — 100 percent.
The same exceptional performance was
achieved when 238 million 64-byte
frames per second were sent across the
stack with no packets being dropped.
Finally, tests demonstrated that the ERS
4500 Series delivers the low latency and
jitter required for enterprises running
VoIP and other converged applications
across the network.
100
75
50
25
0
Ethernet frame sizes (bytes)
Throughput (%)
ERS 4548GT/4548GT-PWR
64 128 256 512 1,024 1,280 1,518
Figure 3. Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series throughput (%) test results
(eight-switch stack configuration)
25
20
15
10
5
0
Ethernet frame sizes (bytes)
Jitter (usec)
ERS 4548GT/4548GT-PWR
64 128 256 512 1,024 1,280 1,518
Figure 4. Nortel Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 Series Jitter (usec) test results
(eight-switch stack configuration)
Ethernet Routing Switch
4500 Series highlights
Scalable — Accommodates stacking
of up to eight units for a maximum of
400 ports per stack
Flexible — Includes Fast Ethernet and
Gigabit Ethernet models with
100BaseFX fiber connectivity*
Resilient — Offers fail-safe stacking and
link aggregation (802.3ad/MLT/DMLT)
for improved resiliency and bandwidth
aggregation
Convergence-ready — Includes Power
over Ethernet models and Quality of
Service support to ensure timely
arrival of delay-sensitive data
Dynamic power management —
Enables ports to be configured for
priority — low, high and critical — for
improved PoE control
* The 100FX SFP is only supported on ERS
4526FX, ERS 4550T and 4550T-PWR.

Dimensions
•Width: 438.2mm (17.25 in)
•Height: 1RU 43.7mm (1.72 in)
•Depth: 368.3mm (14.5 in)
Ethernet Routing Switch 4500 models
• 4526FX: 24 100BaseFX ports plus 2 combo 10/100/1000
SFP ports, HiStack ports and RPS slot
• 4550T: 48 10/100 BaseTX ports plus 2 combo 10/100/1000
SFP ports, HiStack ports and RPS slot
• 4550T-PWR: 48 10/100 802.3af PoE ports plus 2 combo
10/100/1000 SFP ports, HiStack ports and RPS connector
• 4548GT: 48 10/100/1000 BaseTX ports and 4 shared SFP ports,
plus HiStack ports and RPS slot
• 4548GT-PWR: 48 10/100/1000 802.3af PoE ports and
4 shared SFP ports, plus HiStack ports and RPS connector
Technical specifications
• Resilient stacking: up to 8 units
• Stacking ports: 2 built-in HiStack ports per switch
• Total stacking architecture: 320 Gbps
• Individual switch architecture: 48.8 - 184 Gbps
PoE specifications
• 802.3af compliant with Power classification support
• Maximum DTE Power AC 320 watts
• Maximum DTE Power AC + RPS 740 watts
• Max power consumption: 150W - 470W
Environmental specifications
• Operating temperature: 0 to 50 degrees C
• Peak noise level: 37.2 - 43.3 dBA
• Thermal rating: 222-850 BTU/hr
• Calculated MTBF: 214,542 - 305,192 hrs
Product specifications
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world’s most critical information. Our next-generation technologies, for both service
providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and
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For more information, contact your Nortel representative, or call 1-800-4 NORTEL
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Copyright © 2007 Nortel Networks. All rights reserved. Information in this docu-
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errors that may appear in this document.
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