Build a High Availability, Robust and Reliable Network, meet the challenge of Virtualization

The ZyXEL XGS Series of L3 switches enable enterprise and SMB businesses to deploy high availability networks to meet the need to migrate to a virtualized and consolidated solution. The evolution to the virtualized network meets the increasing demands in server utilization and availability within the business today. The XGS4700 Series compliments the network infrastructure of virtualization as both Series deliver not only robust, reliable enterprise-class L2/L3 switch features but are also designed to accomplish high-availability routing for better utilization of network bandwidth.

The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series consists of two models: XGS-4728F and XGS4700-48F. The XGS-4728F offers 24 dual-personality 1000BASE-T copper/SFP fiber ports, 2 built-in 12G Gigabit CX4 stacking interfaces and 1 open slot for the optional 10G Gigabit EM-422/412 uplink module which supports up to 2 10G transceivers. The XGS4700-48F offers 48 SFP Gigabit Ethernet ports plus 2 open slots for 2 10G Gigabit EM-422/412 uplink modules which support up to 4 10G transceivers.

High-performance IPv6 and IPv4 routing

The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series provides businesses with a smooth migration path from IPv4 based networks to a full IPv6 infrastructure, providing investment protection for future network upgrades when a larger installation of connected devices is required. The XGS4700 Series utilizes the latest design technology to provide wire speed communication and full-dynamic IP routing features such as RIP, RIPv2 and OSPF as well as special features such as equal-cost, multi-path routing (ECMP) which load balances network traffic across multiple paths through the network that have the same costing. Packets can be delivered to the same device through different routing paths by designating the equal costs. Businesses can adopt basic static routing technology such as RIP and RIPv2 for small network routing applications or advanced routing protocols such as OSPF and ECMP for load balancing. These protocols are a critical part in the creation of fully resilient scalable networks.

Optional 10G Gigabit uplink capability

The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series offers wire speed 10G Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports for campus networks or service providers to deliver high-bandwidth applications for congestion relief and smooth data delivery. With the 10 optional 10G Gigabit modules (CX4 and XFP interfaces), customers can easily integrate new elements into the existing networks and increase bandwidth at critical points of the network without having to go to the additional cost of purchasing whole new network switches.

Intelligent QoS for mission critical applications

In order to ensure the quality of multiple services on a converged network, adopting advanced traffic control technologies to manage different types of traffic flows is critical and necessary to businesses. The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series supports intelligent QoS features to regulate network traffic for the best performance. Taking advantage of Class of Service (CoS) and Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) support, network designers and administrators can easily classify and enable traffic prioritization for critical business applications such as VoIP and video conferencing. In addition, the XGS4700 Series also provides advanced bandwidth control with 64 kbps granularity and 8 hardware priority queues to bring better bandwidth administration to network operators.

High-level security for ultimate network protection

The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series works with an intelligent 3-tier security mechanism that offers complete data and management protection via a wide range of security features to protect subscriber data and deter unauthorized users through effective traffic administration. The 802.1X Authentication and Port Security features provide the ability to stop unauthorized users from accessing the network, while Limited MAC Number by Port limits the total number of devices connected to a switch port, and thus significantly reducing the risk of unknown access from massively deployed wireless networks or hubs. To serve specific users such as guests or visitors to the business, the 802.1X Guest VLAN feature allows them to access the Internet via the Guest VLAN without entering the business’s internal network. The multilayer (L2/L3/L4) ACL suite of the XGS4700 Series has sophisticated rule-based control mechanisms that can be easily deployed based on actual network environments via a Web GUI or command-line interface to prevent illegitimate access. The rules can be defined to deny packets according to source and destination of MAC addresses, IP addresses or TCP/UDP ports.

Robust and high-availability system design guarantees non-stop operations

The ZyXEL XGS4700 Series supports the VRRP routing protocol for resilience within the network to avoid the failure of transmission. The optional DC power source, called BPS, protects the device from internal AC power supply failures, while the IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation reduces network downtime by providing more packet paths and bandwidth aggregation to critical devices. The Gigabit connectivity not only gives superb transmission bandwidth, but also allows users to set up Gigabit aggregation for secured critical transmission. The IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) also allows immediate recovery from failed links by sending packets via a backup link path. In addition, the XGS4700/XGS4500 Series supports CPU protection to provide the switch CPU with automatic protection against malicious network traffic trying to shut down the switch, which ensures priority/mission-critical tasks to be handled without interruption. The CPU protection feature enables the optimization of switch resources and  also strengthens network protection considerably.