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Juniper MPC Line Cards for MX Series Routers

Specifications for Juniper MPC1, MPC2, MPC3E, MPC4, MPC5, MPC7 and MPC10 Line Cards

Juniper MX Series routers are made for a wide variety of networking applications, from small-scale enterprises to network operators. Several MX Series routers feature a modular design, which allows you to configure each router to meet your specific needs.

Modular MX Series routers, including the MX240, the MX480, the MX960, the MX2008, the MX2010 and the MX2020, can be configured using several different Modular Port Concentrators (MPCs). Some MPCs are designed as fixed-configuration MPCs, while others allow you to mix and match interface types using Modular Interface Cards (MICs).

Each MPC line card, regardless of whether it’s designed as a fixed-configuration or modular line card, supports different Ethernet speeds, optical transceivers and is compatible with various modular MX Series routers.

This is why it’s so important to understand all the specifications of the equipment you already own when you start the used network equipment buying process. Otherwise, you could end up buying equipment that’s not compatible.

MX Series Router Specifications: MPC Slots and Capacity

All six modular MX Series routers are equipped to handle advanced networking applications – they all support at least 100G Ethernet – but each router has a limited number of MPC slots:

  • MX240: 2 MPC slots
  • MX480: 6 MPC slots
  • MX960: 12 MPC slots
  • MX2008: 10 MPC slots
  • MX2010: 10 MPC slots
  • MX2020: 20 MPC slots

In addition, each slot has a maximum capacity and per slot capacity. The maximum capacity for each router is as follows:

  • MX240: 3 Tbps
  • MX480: 9 Tbps
  • MX960: 12 Tbps
  • MX2008: 40 Tbps
  • MX2010: 40 Tbps
  • MX2020: 80 Tbps

The maximum per slot capacity of the MX240, MX480 and MX960 routers is 480 Gbps and the per slot capacity of the MX2008, the MX2010 and the MX2020 routers is 2 Tbps.

Fixed-configuration MPC Line Cards

The fixed-configuration MPCs that are compatible with MX Series modular routers fall under a few different classes: MPC4E, MPC5E, MPC7E and MPC10E, the newest, and highest-performing MPC for MX Series routers.

Juniper MPC4E Line Cards

This class is supported on the MX240, the MX480, the MX960, the MX2008, the MX2010 and the MX2020. The MPC4Es support SFP and CFP transceivers.

There are two models, which are listed below.

One thing to note about these cards is that on the MX480 router, only five of the six available MPC slots can be populated with MPC4Es, and on MX960 routers, only 10 of the 11 available MPC slots can be populated with MPC4Es. These limitations are due to power restrictions in default operating mode, which supports operation at 55 degrees Celsius.

However, if the ambient temperature is configured to between 25 and 40 degrees Celsius, all six slots on MX480 routers can be populated with MPC4Es and all 11 slots on MX960 routers can be populated with MPC4Es.

MPC5E Line Cards for MX Series Routers

MPC5Es are also supported on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2008, MX2010 and MX2020 routers. These devices support QSFP+ and SFP transceivers. This class has four models – more than any other class of fixed-configuration routers.

The MPC5E models are as follows:

  • MPC5E-40G10G: 6 built-in 40G Ethernet ports and 24 built-in 10G ports
  • MPC5EQ-40G10G: 6 built-in 40G Ethernet ports and 24 built-in 10G ports
  • MPC5E-100G10G: 2 built-in 100G Ethernet ports and 4 built-in 10G ports
  • MPC5EQ-100G10G: 2 built-in100G Ethernet ports and 4 built-in 10G ports

The MPC5EQ-40G10G and the MPC5EQ-100G10G are bundled with the Hierarchical Quality of Service (HQoS) feature, which prioritizes the delivery of services based on a variety of factors, including application, user, VLAN, and physical ports. The models that include the HQoS feature can support up to 1 million queues.

However, the non-HQoS MPC5E-40G10G and MPC5E-100G10G models can be upgraded with an add-on license to enable flexible queuing, which supports up to 32,000 queues.

Also, note that in order to use MPC5Es line cards with the MX2008, MX2010 and MX2020 routers, they must be plugged into adapter cards (ADCs).

Juniper’s MPC7E 10G and MPC7E (Multi-rate) Line Cards

There are two MPC7Es, the MPC7E-10G and the MPC7E-MRATE. Both are supported on MX240, MX480, MX960, MX2008, MX2010 and MX2020 routers.

The specifications for the two models are as follows:

  • MPC7E-10G: 40 built-in SFP+ ports that support 10G Ethernet
  • MPC7E-MRATE: 12 built-in QSFP+ ports that support up to 40G Ethernet (four of the ports support up to 100G Ethernet and are compatible with QSFP28 transceivers)

The primary difference between these two models is the supported Ethernet speed. While the MPC7E-10G supports only up to 10G Ethernet, the MPC7E-MRATE supports up to 100G.

In addition, the MPC7E-MRATE offers a greater level of flexibility. Since it’s designed as a multi-rate MPC, all 12 ports can be configured as either 10G or 40G Ethernet. And, even if the four 100G Ethernet ports are being utilized, the remaining eight can be set up as either 10G or 40G Ethernet ports.

Only the MPC7E-MRATE is available with HQoS included. But, just like the MPC5Es, both the MPC7E-10G and the MPC7E-MRATE can be upgraded with an add-on license to enable flexible queuing of up to 32,000 queues.

Note that the MPC7E-10G also has to be plugged into an ADC when it’s being used on the MX2008, MX2010 and the MX2020 routers, just like the MPC5E line cards.

Juniper MX Series MPC10E Line Cards

The MPC10Es are the newest and highest performing MPCs available for MX Series routers.

However, they only are compatible with MX240, MX480 and MX960 routers, which are the only MX Series routers capable of supporting Ethernet speeds greater than 100G.

Both the MPC10E-10C and the MPC10E-15C support up to 400G Ethernet.

The specifications for the two models are below:

  • MPC10E-10C: Eight multi-rate QSFP28 ports that support up to 100G Ethernet and two multi-rate ports that support up to 400G Ethernet
  • MPC10E-15C: 12 multi-rate QSFP28 ports that support up to 100G Ethernet and three multi-rate ports that support up to 400G Ethernet

In addition to delivering 400G Ethernet, the MPC10Es triple the chassis performance of MX240, MX480 and MX960 routers, taking the maximum capacity from only 480 Gbps per slot to as much as 1.5 Tbps.

All the ports on MPCEs can be configured for 10G, 40G and 100G Ethernet, in addition to 400G.

Juniper MPCs That Require MICs

The benefit of using MPC line cards that require MICs is that you’re able to mix and match multiple interface types on one MPC. Most of the Juniper MPC line cards that use MICs fall under one of three classes: MPC1, MPC2 and MPC3E. Each MPC supports up to two MICs.

The MPC1, MPC2 and MPC3E line cards are all compatible with the MX240, the MX480, the MX960, the MX2008, the MX2010 and the MX2020 routers. However, they must be housed inside an ADC in order to work with MX2008, MX2010 and MX2020 routers.

In addition, all three classes are interoperable with other MPCs and Dense Port Concentrators (DPCs) – the previous generation of Juniper line cards.

Note that although each MPC has its own specifications, the MICs ultimately determine the Ethernet speeds and port configurations.

Below is a breakdown of each class, including MPC1, MPC2 and MPC3E, that uses MICs.

Juniper MPC1 Line Cards

There are four MPC1 models, including the following:

These models support a total of 12 MICs, but not every model supports every MIC. The fastest Ethernet speed supported on a MIC that’s compatible with an MPC1 line card is 10G. It supports multiple optical transceiver form factors, including SFP+ and XFP.

MPC2 Juniper Line Cards

There are nine MPC2 models:

The MPC2 models support a total of 13 MICs, although every model does not support every MIC. There’s also one MIC, the MIC-3D-4XGE-XFP, that is supported on MPC2 line cards but not MPC1 line cards. It has four 10G Ethernet ports.

The maximum Ethernet speed supported on MPC2s is 10G, and – just like the MPC1 line card – it supports multiple optical transceiver form factors, including SFP+ and XFP.

Juniper MPC3E Line Cards

The MPC3E class of line cards supports MICs with more advanced specifications than either the MPC1 or MPC2 class of line cards.

There are three MPC3E models:

Between these three models, there are 19 compatible MICs. The MICs supported on MPC3E line cards support up to 100G Ethernet, and are compatible with several form factors, including CFP, CXP, SFP, SFP+ and QSFP+ optics.

In addition to 100G Ethernet, MPC3Es support MICs that deliver 1G, 10G and 40G Ethernet.

Miscellaneous MPCs (Fixed-configuration and Modular)

There are several other Juniper MPC line cards made for modular MX Series routers, including fixed-configuration line cards and modular line cards. Those MPCs are as follows:

  • MPC-3D-16XGE-SFPP: fixed-configuration MPC with sixteen 10G Ethernet ports.
  • MS-MPC-128G: multiservices modular physical interface card (PIC) concentrator.
  • MX10003-LC2103: supports one multi-rate MIC and includes a fixed six-port PIC.
  • MX2K-MPC6E: modular MPC available in four models, each with two MIC slots.
  • MX2K-MPC8E: modular MPC available in one model that supports two MIC slots.
  • MX2K-MPC9E: modular MPC available in one model that supports two MIC slots.

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