Juniper QFX5200 Series
The Juniper QFX5200 leverages the Broadcom Tomahawk ASIC to provide dense 100GbE capability in a fixed platform form-factor, optimized for high-bandwidth web-scale spine interconnects.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Ports | 32x 100G QSFP28 |
| Total Buffer | 16 MB |
| Architecture | 4 distinct buffer pipes |
Buffer Architecture
Due to the internal design of the Tomahawk chip, the 16 MB packet buffer is not a fully unified shared pool. Instead, the Tomahawk ASIC subdivides its data pathways into four distinct cross-points or "pipes".
- Each pipe gets access to 4 MB of packet buffer memory
- Each of these 4 MB segments serves exactly eight 100GbE front-panel ports
Understanding this memory division is critical for avoiding microburst drop scenarios, as heavy traffic across a single 8-port cluster can deplete the 4 MB slice even if the rest of the switch sits idle.