Nortel BayStack 5510-24T, BayStack 5510, BayStack 5510-48T, BayStack 5000-SRC, BayStack 5000-SSC Specifications

T

he way in which businesses use LANs is changing and the performance requirement at the

edge of the network is becoming more demanding. IP Telephony and other collaborative
applications are driving more traffic to the edge of the network. As file sizes continue to grow,
users need more bandwidth. Quite simply, the convergence of voice, video, data, and storage
enables users to do more from their desktop. Enterprises need to be able to address today’s
increased demands and still prepare for the unknown demands of tomorrow. By re-assessing
how they’re using the wiring closet, they can achieve both goals, and be assured that their
investments will be protected for a long time to come.

Part of the Nortel Networks BayStack* 5000 series, BayStack 5510 Switches are 1 rack unit high
stackable 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Layer 3 routing switches that are designed to provide
high-density Gigabit desktop connectivity for mid-size and large enterprise customers’ wiring
closets. BayStack 5510 Switches offer a scalable and resilient solution, providing exceptional
security features and support for enhanced convergence while minimizing capital and opera-

tional expenses. The BayStack 5000 family
of switches represents the next generation in
innovation and performance in a stackable
solution.

BayStack 5510 Switches are available in
two models—the BayStack 5510-48T
Switch (Figure 1) and the BayStack 5510-24T
Switch. Power over Ethernet versions of the
switches are planned for release in the future.

Highest-density Gigabit desktop switching

The BayStack 5510-48T Switch features 48 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 ports for desktop
switching and two built-in SFP (Small Form factor Pluggable) GBIC ports for uplink. Port 47
and Port 48 offer configuration flexibility by allowing the network administrator to configure
each port as either 10/100/1000 or make use of the built-in SFP GBIC. As many as eight
BayStack 5510-48T Switches can be stacked to achieve up to 384 10/100/1000 ports for
highest-density desktop switching.

Product Brief

BayStack 5510 Switches

BayStack 5510 Switch benefits

• Up to 384 ports of Gigabit desktop
connectivity in an 8-rack unit high design—
the highest density in the industry

• Industry-leading Gigabit Ethernet perform­ance with innovative stacking using FAST
stack (Flexible Advanced Stacking
Technology)—providing up to 640 Gbps

• High-performance switch fabric of
160 Gbps assures wire-speed operation
with no packet loss

• Hardware-based Layer 3 routing at wire­speed and across the stack

• Intelligence at the network edge with
Quality of Service (QoS)

• Cost-effective plug-and-play stacking with
built-in stacking ports

• Up to 16 built-in SFP GBIC uplink ports
in a stack

• Flexible stacking across BayStack 5000
series switches—a stack is managed as a
single entity with a single IP address

• Unmatched resilient connectivity and
stackability for minimal network downtime

• Secure access and data traffic protection

high-

performance

gigabit connectivity

Figure 1. The BayStack 5510-24T Switch

(top) and 5510-48T Switch (bottom)

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The BayStack 5510-24T Switch offers 24 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 ports for desktop
switching and two built-in GBIC ports for uplink. Port 23 and Port 24 offer configuration
flexibility as either a 10/100/1000 or a built-in SFP GBIC port. Both BayStack 5510-24T and
5510-48T switches may be combined in a single stack for maximum flexibility.

Innovative FAST stacking design

Nortel Networks innovative FAST (Flexible Advanced Stacking Technology) stacking design
of the BayStack 5510 allows for simultaneous bi-directional traffic flow on each stacking port
(Figure 2).In a full stack, this design yields up to 640 Gbps—the highest stacking bandwidth
in the industry today.

Switch fabric architecture offering non-blocking wire-speed performance

The BayStack 5510 Switches have a high-performance Layer 3 switching fabric with a
maximum of 160 Gbps forwarding bandwidth and wire-speed performance. The forwarding rate
for the BayStack 5510-48T is 71.4 Mpps (million packets per second) and for the BayStack
5510-24T is 35.7 Mpps

Layer 3 IP routing

The BayStack 5510 Switch architecture supports wire-speed Layer 3 IP routing across the
stack with static and local route support.

The BayStack 5510 switches support high-performance wire-speed IP routing between
VLANs. IP routing with static routes at the edge improves the network performance as the
packets do not have to go to the core and the routing takes place within the switch or stack.

The BayStack 5510 Switches support the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
Relay feature that provides the system with the ability to relay DHCP requests to the DHCP
server and eliminates the need for a DHCP server on every subnet. It forwards a request for
an IP address from a client to a DHCP server across subnets.

Software feature enhancements are planned to include support for routing protocols such as
Routing Information Protocol (RIP v1/v2)†.

Compact form factor

The BayStack 5510 Switches are offered in a
compact one-rack unit high design. An eight
unit stack provides up to 384 10/100/1000
ports. This allows for significant space and
cost savings in the wiring closet.

Unit replacement feature

In the unlikely event that a switch fails in a
stack, the affected switch can easily be
replaced without disrupting the stack.
Using the unit replacement feature, the
configuration of the failed switch may be
copied from a server to the new switch. The
switch can then be put back in the stack and
the stack is rebuilt automatically without
service interruption.

Up to 16 built-in GBIC ports in a stack

BayStack 5510 Switches have two built-in
SFP GBIC ports for dedicated uplink
connectivity to network core switches such as
the Passport* 8600. This doubles the uplink
bandwidth as GBIC ports are not required

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

80 Gbps

640 Gbps

Max. stacking

bandwidth for

the stack

80 Gbps

stacking bandwidth

per switch

40 Gbps

40 Gbps

Downstream traffic

Upstream traffic

40 Gbps

40 Gbps

40 Gbps40 Gbps40 Gbps40 Gbps

40 Gbps40 Gbps40 Gbps

Figure 2. Innovative FAST stacking architecture—supporting up and downstream traffic

As shown here, a unit
can simultaneously
have traffic flow to
each adjacent unit at
40 Gbps full duplex.

Nortel Networks unique FAST stack-

ing design supports an optimal data

flow across the stack using a shortest

path algorithm.

Most vendors today employ a traditional

ring architecture, meaning that a packet

travels on the ring in only one direction. For

example, in a stack of eight switches, if a

packet needs to go from unit 2 to unit 3,

it can get there in a single hop. But if a

packet needs to go from unit 3 to unit 2,

then it has to traverse from 3 to 4, 4 to 5,

5 to 6, and so on until it reaches unit 2.

This requires seven hops.

Nortel Networks FAST stack design uses

the shortest past algorithm, which means

that the packet would traverse directly

from unit 3 to unit 2 in a single hop.

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for stacking purposes. Using the proven Distributed Multi-Link Trunking (DMLT)
resiliency feature, up to 16 GBIC ports are available for pure uplink connectivity in a full
stack—among the highest in the market.

BayStack 5510 Switches have also been architected to support future technologies such as
10 Gigabit uplinks.

Plug-and-play stacking with built-in stacking ports

BayStack 5510 Switches have built-in stacking ports for faster, plug-and-play stacking. This
is more cost-effective as cascade modules are not required. This stacking design frees up both
of the uplink ports for dedicated connectivity to the backbone. For ordering convenience,
BayStack 5510 Switches are available in models with or without a cascade cable (1.5 foot). In
addition, cascade cables are also available in different lengths—1.5 foot, 10 feet and 5 meters
(16.4 feet)—to cover a variety of stacking needs.

Recessed stacking connectors for
higher reliability

BayStack 5510 Switches are designed with
recessed stacking connectors that save
premium closet space and protect the
integrity of the stack from accidental contact

.

BoSS (BayStack operating system
Switching Software)

BoSS for BayStack 5510 Switches is a
single software image that allows BayStack
5510-48T, BayStack 5510-24T, and future
BayStack 5000 series switches to stack
together. BoSS for BayStack 5510 Switches
is specific to this next generation of stack­ing switches, with a software image that
supports this new architecture. Earlier
BayStack switches support a different
version of BoSS—although all share the
same core software.

Simplified network operations

BoSS simplifies network operations by reducing the number of steps required for switch soft­ware updates. With BoSS, only a single image needs to be downloaded from Nortel
Networks support site for all BayStack 5510 Switch types. Loading the image to different
switches is also considerably simplified. The image is loaded only to the base unit of the stack
which automatically loads it to other switches in the stack.

BoSS v4.0 features

Newly released BoSS version 4.0 is downloadable from the Web for free and includes support
for the following new features:

• IP routing with static routes, ARP, and DHCP relay

•Security features including Secure Shell Protocol (SSHv2) and Secure Sockets Layer
(SSL) for the Web Management interface (HTTPS)

•Generation of ASCII configuration files

•QoS Queue-Set and Buffering configuration

•Custom autonegotiation advertisements

•Optivity* Policy Services

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Multi-Link Trunking

Multi-Link Trunking (MLT) enables group­ing of links between the BayStack 5510 and
another switch or server to provide greater
bandwidth with active redundant links.
Nortel Networks unique Distributed Multi­Link Trunking (DMLT) feature allows
trunked ports to span multiple units of the
stack for fail-safe connectivity to mission­critical servers and the network center (Figure

4).BayStack 5510 Switches have been archi­tected to support up to 32 trunks per switch
or stack, with each trunk consisting of up to
eight members per trunk. Each trunk can
provide bandwidth of up to 16 Gbps.

The Split Multi-Link Trunking (SMLT)
feature of Passport 8600 eliminates single
points of failure in the network and allows
wiring closet switches, such as the BayStack
5510, to have multiple active connections
to the network core (Figure 5). All links from
a distributed multi-link trunk can be active
simultaneously. This allows customers to
load-balance their network, double the band­width, and use all the ports they have paid for.

By combining the reliability of the Passport
8600 with the BayStack 5510’s resilient
trunking features—including DMLT, MLT,
and bi-directional FAST stacking, Nortel
Networks has created the next generation of
flexible networking solutions. BayStack 5510
Switches are architected to support SMLT
and Inter Switch Trunk (IST) in the future.

Integrated Time Domain Reflectometer (TDR)

†

For advanced resiliency, the BayStack 5510 is architected to include an integrated TDR. This
feature will simplify troubleshooting of the physical cable plant, enabling IT managers to
quickly identify the failing mechanism and isolate to the source of the problem, helping
ensure maximum uptime of the network. Through remote and non-invasive diagnosis of
cabling issues such as cable opens, cable shorts or impedance mismatch in the cable and
report, within one meter, the distance of the fault. The switch can detect and report these
issues without unplugging cables and plugging in expensive cable testers. (Feature supported
with future software release.)

Redundant power and UPS support

With connectivity to the BayStack 10 Power Supply Unit (PSU) paired with a –48V DC-to­DC converter module, BayStack 5510 Switches deliver redundant power supply (RPS)
support crucial in mission-critical environments. Nortel Networks 800-watt BayStack 10
Power Supply Unit allows up to four failed network devices to simultaneously receive RPS
support. In addition to the RPSU support, Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) capability is
provided cost-effectively in the same BayStack 10 chassis.

IPv6 filtering and classification support for future applications

BayStack 5510 Switches are able to identify, prioritize, classify, and redirect IPv6 traffic to a
router. These switches can address the need for larger addressing and tighter security as the
networks grow.

Jumbo frame support for larger file applications

Jumbo frame support of up to 9,216 bytes is provided on each port for applications requiring
large frames such as graphics and video applications.

Quality of Service (QoS)

The QoS features of the BayStack 5510 Switch allow users to not only utilize bandwidth
more efficiently, optimizing existing network resources and capabilities, but also provide
packet classification and marking at the edge of the network, simplifying the QoS deploy­ment at the aggregation and core of the network. By classifying, prioritizing, policing, and
marking LAN traffic (based on DiffServ, Code Point, and 802.1p), networks can offer reliable
connectivity and required bandwidth for mission-critical applications, such as IP Telephony, to
specific groups, users, and individual devices.

For each of these applications, advanced QoS features support Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF), the standard DiffServ QoS architecture—a packet classification based on the
content of IP packet header fields (voice, video, data)—as well as traffic policing.

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