Networking and applications

High-Density 10 GE Access

The CE6800 provides the industry’s highest performance in a 1U TOR. The switch provides forwarding performance of 1,080 Mpps and supports L2/L3 line-speed forwarding.

The CE6800 provides the industry’s highest 10 GE port density in a 1U TOR with a maximum of 72 x 10 GE ports, meeting the requirements for high-density 10 GE server access. In addition, four 10 GE optical ports that have consecutive numbers can be aggregated into one 40 GE port, which improves networking flexibility while lowering customer Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

The CE6800 has a maximum of six 40 GE QSFP+ ports. Each QSFP+ port can be used as four 10 GE SFP+ ports, providing a flexible network. CE6800 switches can work with CE12800 switches through the 40 GE QSFP+ ports to build a non-blocking network platform.

Highly Reliable, High-Performance Stacking

The industry’s first 16-member stack system

A stack system of 16 member switches has a maximum of 768 x 10 GE access ports that provide high-density server access in a data center.

Multiple switches in a stack system are virtualized into one logical device, making it possible to build a scalable, easy-to-manage data center network platform.

A stack system separates the control plane from the data plane. This eliminates the risk of single-point failures and greatly improves system reliability.

Vertical Virtualization Simplifies Management

The CE6800 supports Super Virtual Fabric (SVF), which can virtualize multiple homogeneous or heterogeneous physical switches into one logical switch to simplify network management and improve reliability.

SVF implements vertical extension of heterogeneous switches and virtualizes multiple leaf switches into remote cards of the spine switch, making it easier to install cables in equipment rooms and manage devices. The CE6850 functions as the spine switch and the CE6810 as the leaf switch.

Huawei’s SVF is the first in the industry to implement local forwarding of leaf switches. When horizontal traffic is the mainstream traffic in a data center, SVF improves forwarding efficiency and reduces network delay.

Large-Scale Routing Bridge, On-Demand Scaling

The CE6800 supports the IETF Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) protocol and can be used on a large Layer 2 TRILL network with GE/10 GE servers. A TRILL network can contain more than 500 nodes, enabling flexible service deployments and large-scale Virtual Machine (VM) migrations.

The TRILL protocol uses a routing mechanism similar to IS-IS and sets a limited Time-to-Live (TTL) value in packets to prevent Layer 2 loops. This significantly improves network stability and speeds up network convergence.

On a TRILL network, all data flows are forwarded quickly using Shortest Path First (SPF) and Equal-cost Multi-path (ECMP) routing. SPF and ECMP avoid the sub-optimal path selection problem in STP and increase link bandwidth efficiency to 100 percent.

The CE6800 supports TRILL-based Layer 2 equal-cost paths, greatly improving links’ load balancing capabilities. The network has a fat-tree architecture that enhances expansion.

Virtualized Gateway Achieves Fast Service Deployment

The CE6800 can work with a mainstream virtualization platform. As the high-performance, hardware gateway of an overlay network (VXLAN), the CE6800 can support more than 16M tenants.

The CE6800 can connect to a cloud platform through an open API to provide unified management of software and hardware networks.

This function implements fast service deployment without changing the customer network. It also protects customer investments.

Converged Enhanced Ethernet, Data, Storage, and Computing Traffic over One Network

CE6800 series switches support Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), which permits storage, data, and computing services to be transmitted on one network, reducing the costs of network construction and maintenance.

CE6800 series switches support centralized FCoE/FC gateway deployment, which makes network O&M simpler.

Various CE6800 features ensure lossless transmission: Priority-based Flow Control (PFC), Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) and Data Center Bridging eXchange (DCBX). These features ensure low latency and zero packet loss for FC storage and high-speed computing services.

Fast VM Migration, Policy Mobility

The CE6800 works with Huawei’s Agile Controller to permit network policies to be dynamically deployed on the CE6800. Agile Controller also supports online VM migration.

Agile Controller delivers network policies through high-speed RADIUS interfaces. Its online VM migration is 10 to 20 times the rate of other industry platforms, enabling large-scale VM migrations.

Agile Controller is based on open APIs and is compatible with all major virtualization platforms including VMware.

Programmable Network Device, Flexible Customization

The CE6800 uses the Open Programmability System (OPS) embedded in the VRP8 software platform to provide programmability at the control plane.

The OPS provides open APIs. APIs can be integrated with mainstream cloud platforms (including commercial and open cloud platforms) and third-party controllers. The OPS enables services to be flexibly customized and provides automatic management.

Users or third-party developers can use open APIs to develop and deploy specialized network management policies to implement extension of fast service functions, automatic deployment, and intelligent management. The OPS also implements automatic operation and maintenance, and reduces management costs.

The OPS provides seamless integration of data center service and network in addition to service-oriented, Software-Defined Networking (SDN).

Zero-Configuration Deployment, Automatic O&M

The CE6800 supports Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP). ZTP enables the CE6800 to automatically obtain and load version files from a USB flash drive or file server, freeing network engineers from on-site configuration or deployment. ZTP reduces labor costs and improves device deployment efficiency.

ZTP provides built-in scripts for users through open APIs. Data center personnel can use the programming language they are familiar with, such as Python, to provide unified configuration of network devices.

ZTP decouples configuration time of new devices from device quantity and area distribution, which improves service provisioning efficiency.

Flexible Airflow Design Saves Energy

Flexible front-to-back/back-to-front airflow design

The CE6800 uses a front-to-back/back-to-front airflow design that isolates cold air channels from hot air channels. This design meets heat dissipation requirements in data center equipment rooms.

Air can flow from front to back, or back to front when different fans and power modules are used.

Redundant power modules and fans can be configured to ensure uninterrupted service transmission.

Clear Indicators, Simple Maintenance

Clear indicators

Port indicators clearly show port status and port speeds. The 40 GE port indicators can show the state of all the 10 GE ports derived from the 40 GE ports.

State and stack indicators on both the front and rear panels enable operators to maintain the switch from either side.

CE6800 series switches support remote positioning. Operators can turn on remote positioning indicators on the switches they want to maintain, so that they can find switches easily in an equipment room full of devices.