Overview:
The past several decades in networking have been defined by static, closed networking solutions designed for the clientserver era. Aruba is introducing the Aruba 8400 campus core and aggregation switch, a game-changing solution offering a flexible and innovative approach to dealing with the new application, security and scalability demands of the mobilecloud and IoT era.
The 8400 provides industry-leading line rate 10GbE/40GbE/100GbE connectivity in a compact 8 slot chassis. Together with the compact 1U Aruba 8320 Switch Series, the 8400 rounds out Aruba’s Mobile First switching portfolio with an enterprise core and aggregation solution that ensures higher performance and higher uptime.
The 8400 is based on the new ArubaOS-CX, a modern software system for the enterprise core that automates and simplifies many critical and complex network tasks, delivers enhanced fault tolerance and facilitates zero-service disruption during planned or unplanned control-plane events. The key innovations in ArubaOS-CX are its micro-services style modular architecture, REST APIs, Python scripting capabilities, Aruba Network Analytics Engine and Aruba Virtual Switching Extension (VSX)
ArubaOS-CX is based on a modular architecture that allows individual process re-startability and upgrades. Its REST APIs and Python scripting enables fine-grained programmability of the switch functions and its unique Aruba Network Analytics Engine provides the ability to monitor and troubleshoot the network easily.
Aruba’s new virtualization technology, Aruba VSX, takes advantage of the ArubaOS-CX modern architecture, and delivers best in class high availability required by campus core and aggregation solutions.
The Network Analytics Engine framework is made up of a time series database and associated REST APIs.
The time series database may be used to store configuration and operational state. Customers can use ArubaOS-CX REST APIs, Python scripting capabilities and time series data to write software modules for trouble shooting problems. The time series data may also be used to analyze trends, identify anomalies and predict future capacity requirements.
Key Features
- High performance 19.2 terabits per second switching (1.2Tbps/slot) capacity
- Carrier-class high availability with Aruba Virtual Switching Extension (VSX), redundant management, power, and fabric
- ArubaOS-CX enables automation and programmability using built-in REST APIs and Python scripts
- Intelligent monitoring and visibility with Aruba Network Analytics Engine
- Advanced Layer 2/3 feature set includes BGP, OSPF, VRF, and IPv6
- Compact 8U chassis with high density, line rate 10GbE/40GbE/100GbE connectivity
Features and Benefits:
Product architecture
- ArubaOS-CX
- Modular, Linux based and built with OVSDB to support a database-centric operating system.
- Distributed architecture with separation of data and control planes.
- Includes independent monitoring and restart of individual software modules, and enhanced software process serviceability functions.
- Allows individual software modules to be upgraded for higher availability.
- Aruba Network Analytics Engine A first of a kind built-in framework for monitoring, troubleshooting and capacity planning. NAE provides automatic base-lining to automatically generate thresholds for alerts which eliminates manual configuration of thresholds.
Performance
- High-speed fully distributed architecture
Provides up to 19.2 Tbps switching capacity with up to 7.142 billion packets per second (BPPS) for throughput; all switching and routing is performed in the line modules; meets the demands of bandwidth-intensive applications today and in the future
- Scalable system design
Provides investment protection to support future technologies and higher-speed connectivity
Connectivity
- High-density port connectivity
Supports up to 8 line modules; a 32-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet with MACsec in hardware (not software), an 8-port 40 Gigabit Ethernet, and a 6-port 40/100 Gigabit Ethernet module.
- Jumbo frames
Allows high-performance backups and disaster-recovery systems; provides a maximum frame size of 9K bytes
- Packet storm protection
Protects against unknown broadcast, unknown multicast, or unicast storms with user-defined thresholds
Quality of Service (QoS)
- Powerful QoS feature
Supports the following congestion actions: strict priority (SP) queuing and Deficit Weighted Round Robin (DWRR)
Resiliency and high availability
- High availability for campus core
Aruba Virtual Switching Extension* (VSX) is a high availability technology solution designed using the best features of existing HA technologies such as Multi-chassis Link Aggregation (MC-LAG) and Virtual Switching Framework (VSF). Aruba VSX enables a distributed and redundant architecture that is highly available during upgrades inherently by architecture design. High availability is delivered through redundancy gained by deploying two chassis in the core with each chassis maintaining its independent control yet staying synchronizing information via the ArubaOS-CX unique database architecture.
- Redundant and load-sharing fabrics, management, fan assemblies, and power supplies
Increases total performance and power availability while providing hitless, stateful failover
- All hot-swappable modules
Allows replacement of modules without any impact on other modules
- Separate data and control paths
Separates control from services and keeps service
processing isolated; increases security and performance
- Passive design system
All active chassis components are field replaceable for
increased reliability
- Bidirectional Forward Detection (BFD)
Enable sub-second failure detection for rapid routing
protocol re-balancing
- VRRP
Allows groups of two routers to dynamically back each
other up to create highly available routed environments
- Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD)
Monitors link connectivity and shuts down ports at both
ends if unidirectional traffic is detected, preventing loops
in STP-based networks
- IEEE 802.3ad LACP
Supports up to 128 LAGs (Link Aggregation Groups), each
with eight links per LAG; and provides support for static or
dynamic groups and a user-selectable hashing algorithm
- Multiple internal power supplies
Provides high reliability, requiring only two power supplies
to support a fully populated Aruba 8400 and adding two
more gives the solution N+N power redundancy
Virtual private network (VPN)
- Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)
Enables tunneling traffic from site to site over a Layer 3 path
Management
- Management interface control
Enables or disables each of the following interfaces depending on security preferences: console port, or reset button
- Industry-standard CLI with a hierarchical structure
Reduces training time and expenses, and increases productivity in multivendor installations
- Management security
Restricts access to critical configuration commands; offers multiple privilege levels with password protection; ACLs provide SNMP access; local and remote syslog capabilities allow logging of all access
- SNMP v2c/v3
Provides SNMP read and trap support of industry standard Management Information Base (MIB), and private extensions
- sFlow® (RFC 3176)
Provides scalable ASIC-based wire speed network monitoring and accounting with no impact on network performance; this allows network operators to gather a variety of sophisticated network statistics and information for capacity planning and real-time network monitoring purposes
- Remote monitoring (RMON)
Uses standard SNMP to monitor essential network functions and supports events, alarms, history, and statistics groups as well as a private alarm extension group
- TFTP and SFTP support
Offers different mechanisms for configuration updates; trivial FTP (TFTP) allows bidirectional transfers over a TCP/ IP network; Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) runs over an SSH tunnel to provide additional security
- Debug and sampler utility
Supports ping and traceroute for both IPv4 and IPv6
- Network Time Protocol (NTP)
Synchronizes timekeeping among distributed time servers and clients; keeps timekeeping consistent among all clock-dependent devices within the network so the devices can provide diverse applications based on the consistent time
- IEEE 802.1AB Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP)
Advertises and receives management information from adjacent devices on a network, facilitating easy mapping by network management applications
- Dual flash images
Provides independent primary and secondary operating system files for backup while upgrading
Layer 2 switching
- VLAN
Supports up to 4,096 port-based or IEEE 802.1Q-based VLANs; and supports MAC-based VLANs, protocol-based VLANs, and IP-subnet-based VLANs for added flexibility
- Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) tunneling
Transmits STP BPDUs transparently, allowing correct tree calculations across service providers, WANs, or MANs
- Port mirroring
Duplicates port traffic (ingress and egress) to a local or remote monitoring port; supports 4 mirroring groups, with an unlimited number of ports per group
- STP
Supports standard IEEE 802.1D STP, IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) for faster convergence, and IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP)
- Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
Controls and manages the flooding of multicast packets in a Layer 2 network
- Rapid Per-VLAN spanning tree plus (RPVST+)
Allows each VLAN to build a separate spanning tree to improve link bandwidth usage in network environments with multiple VLANs
Layer 3 services
- Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
Determines the MAC address of another IP host in the same subnet; supports static ARPs; gratuitous ARP allows detection of duplicate IP addresses; proxy ARP allows normal ARP operation between subnets or when subnets are separated by a Layer 2 network
- UDP helper
Redirects UDP broadcasts to specific IP subnets to prevent server spoofing
- Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
Simplifies the management of large IP networks and supports client; DHCP Relay enables DHCP operation across subnets
- Domain Name System (DNS)
Provides a distributed database that translates domain names and IP addresses, which simplifies network design; supports client and server
Layer 3 routing
- Static IPv4 routing
Provides simple manually configured IPv4 routing
- Open shortest path first (OSPF)
Delivers faster convergence; uses link-state routing Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), which supports ECMP, NSSA, and MD5 authentication for increased security and graceful restart for faster failure recovery
- Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)
Delivers an implementation of the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) utilizing path vectors; uses TCP for enhanced reliability for the route discovery process; reduces bandwidth consumption by advertising only incremental updates; supports extensive policies for increased flexibility; scales to very large networks
- IP performance optimization
Provides a set of tools to improve the performance of IPv4 networks; includes directed broadcasts, customization of TCP parameters, support of ICMP error packets, and extensive display capabilities
- Static IPv6 routing
Provides simple manually configured IPv6 routing
- Dual IP stack
Maintains separate stacks for IPv4 and IPv6 to ease the transition from an IPv4-only network to an IPv6-only network design
- OSPFv3
Provides OSPF support for IPv6
- Equal-Cost Multipath (ECMP)
Enables multiple equal-cost links in a routing environment to increase link redundancy and scale bandwidth
Security
- TAA Compliance
The Aruba 8400, a TAA compliant product, with the ArubaOS-CX uses FIPS 140-2 validated cryptography for protection of sensitive information
- Access control list (ACL)
Supports powerful ACLs for both IPv4 and IPv6; ACLs are used for filtering traffic to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the network, or for controlling network traffic to save resources; rules can either deny or permit traffic to be forwarded; rules can be based on a Layer 2 header or a Layer 3 protocol header
- Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS)
Eases security access administration by using a password authentication server
- Terminal Access Controller Access-Control System (TACACS+)
Delivers an authentication tool using TCP with encryption of the full authentication request, providing additional security
- Management access security
Aruba OS CX provides for both on-box as well as off- box authentication for administrative access. RADIUS or TACACS+ can be used to provide encrypted user authentication. Additionally, TACACS+ can also provide user authorization services
- Secure shell (SSHv2)
Uses external servers to securely log in to a remote device; with authentication and encryption, it protects against IP spoofing and plain-text password interception; increases the security of Secure FTP (SFTP) transfers
Multicast
- Multicast VLAN
Allows multiple VLANs to receive the same IPv4 or IPv6 multicast traffic, lessening network bandwidth demand by reducing multiple streams to each VLAN
- Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM)
Defines modes of IPv4 multicasting to allow one-to-many and many-to-many transmission of information; supports PIM, Sparse Mode (SM)
- Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
Utilizes Any-Source Multicast (ASM) to manage IPv4 multicast networks; supports IGMPv1, v2, and v3
Additional information
- Green initiative support
Provides support for RoHS and WEEE regulations
Warranty and support
Specifications:
Line modules and slots
- Supports a maximum of 256 10GbE (SFP/SFP+) ports,
or 64 40GbE (QSFP+) ports, or 48 ports 40/100GbE
(QSFP28) combination.
- Eight slots for line modules
Module VoQ
- 1.5GB for JL363A and JL365A
- 3GB for JL366A
Additional ports and slots
- 2 Management Module slots
- 3 Fabric Module slots
- 4 Power Supply slots
Power supplies
- 4 power supply slots
- 2 minimum power supply required for a fully loaded
chassis (or with 8 Line Modules)
Fan tray
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions: 17.4(w) x 26(d) x 13.8(h) in.
(44.1 x 66.0 x 35.1 cm) (8U height)
- Weight
- Empty configuration weight: 76 lbs (34 kg)
- JL376A weight: 164 lbs (74 kg)
- Full configuration weight: 241 lbs (109 kg)
Mounting and enclosure
- Mounts in an EIA standard 19-inch rack or other
equipment cabinet (hardware included); horizontal
surface mounting only
Reliability
Environment
- Operating: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) with 5% to 95%, non-condensing
- Non-Operating: -40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F) with 5% to 95%, non-condensing
- Max Operating Altitude: Up to 10,000ft (3.048 Km)
- Max Non-Operating Altitude: Up to 30,000ft (9.144 Km)
- Acoustics
- Sound Power (LWAd) 7.3 Bel
- Sound Pressure (LpAm) (Bystander) 55.6 dB
Electrical characteristics
- Frequency: 47-63 Hz
- AC voltage: 90 – 140/180 – 264 VAC
- DC voltage
- Current: 16 A
- Power output: 2750 W
Safety
- EN 60950-1:2006 +A11:2009 +A1:2010 +A12:2011
+A2:2013
- IEC 60950-1:2005 Ed.2; Am 1:2009+A2:2013
- IEC62368-1, Ed. 2
- IEC60825:2007 (Applies to products with lasers)
- UL60950-1, CSA 22.2 No 60950-1
- UL62368-1 Ed. 2
