NetEngine (NE20E-S) Series Universal Service Routers are high-end network products developed for transportation, finance, electricity, government, education, and enterprise networks. They serve as aggregation nodes for IP backbone networks, core nodes on small and medium enterprise networks, edge nodes on campus networks, and access nodes on small and medium education networks.

NE20E-S routers run on the Versatile Routing Platform (VRP) operating system and use Huawei-developed NP chips and hardware-based forwarding and non-blocking switching technologies. They have the following features:

• Line-rate forwarding, carrier-class reliability, excellent scalability, a well-designed Quality of Service (QoS) mechanism, and strong service processing capabilities
• Layer 2 Virtual Private Network (L2VPN), L3VPN, multicast, Multicast VPN (MVPN), Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) Traffic Engineering (TE), and QoS for carrier-class transmission reliability
• Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE), IP Security (IPSec), Network Address Translation (NAT), and NetStream Support for IPv6 and smooth transition from IPv4 to IPv6

They can be deployed at the access and aggregation layers of IP/MPLS networks and work with other NE routers to provide an all-around network solution to satisfy service requirements in the future.

Product appearance

Product characteristics

Advanced VRP platform

NE20E-S routers use the latest VRP8 platform, which is also used by the NE5000E core router. The VRP uses the Resilient Distributed Framework (RDF), with separated management plane, service plane, data plane, and monitoring module to increase system flexibility, reliability, manageability, and expandability.

The VRP system is mature. So far, more than 4 million sets are running on live networks. Its rich features and stability have proven themselves through a wide variety of applications.

Huawei-developed chips for flexibility

NE20E-S servers use built-in NP chips developed by Huawei to give them a flexible programmable architecture. Microcode programming can be used for new service deployment, without replacing hardware, to save money. In addition, this architecture shortens the technological innovation cycle and speeds up new service launches.

Leading-edge design conserves energy

Huawei NE20E-S routers use a leading-edge design to lower power consumption and provide better environmental protection. NE20E-S routers are only 8.6 inches (220 mm) deep and have a low height of 2U to reduce installation space. They can be used where the ambient temperature is between -40^oF and 149^oF (-40^oC and 65^oC).

Comprehensive access and aggregation

The NE20E-S series supports various interfaces (E1/CE1, POS, CPOS, GE, 10 GE, and 40 GE). High-density fixed ports for access and aggregation WAN services and Ethernet Multi-Service Transmission Platform (MSTP) aggregation services, satisfying a wide range of service requirements.

Powerful service processing

The NE20E-S provides several types of powerful service processing:

• Routing: The routers support several routing protocols, such as Routing Information Protocol (RIP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS), Border Gateway Protocol version 4 (BGP4), and multicast routing. They also support plain and cipher text authentication and fast convergence. These features keep networks stable and secure in complex routing environments
• Service carrier: The NE20E-S series can deploy L2VPN, L3VPN, and MVPN at the same time, if necessary. They also support TE, selective 802.1Q-in-802.1Q (QinQ), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and NetStream. NE20E-Ss can provide access for traditional and newly emerging services to satisfy multiple service environment needs
• Multicast: NE20E-S routers support IPv4/IPv6 multicast protocols, such as Protocol Independent Multicast-Sparse Mode (PIM-SM), PIM-Source Specific Multicast (PIM-SSM), Multicast Listener Discovery v1 (MLDv1), MLDv2, Internet Group Membership Protocol v3 (IGMPv3), and IGMP snooping. The routers can carry video services, such as Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and satisfy multicast service requirements on any network

All-around reliability

NE20E-S routers provide 99.999% multi-level reliability at the equipment, network, and service levels for carrier-class service. Reliability protection levels include:

• Equipment: NE20E-S routers provide redundant backup for key components. The components support hot swap and hot backup. The NE20E-S series uses technologies, such as Non-Stop Routing (NSR), Non-Stop Forwarding (NSF), and In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) to ensure uninterrupted service forwarding   
• Network: Network-level reliability comes from IP Fast Re-Route (FRR), Label Distribution Protocol (LDP) FRR, VPN FRR, TE FRR, hot standby, fast convergence of Interior Gateway Protocols (IGP), BGP, and multicast routes, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), trunk load balancing and backup, hardware-based Bi-directional Forwarding Detection (BFD) of 3.3 ms, MPLS OAM, and Ethernet OAM. The NE20E-S routers provide an end-to-end protection switching speed of 200 ms with no service interruption
• Service: Huawei provides service-level reliability for L2VPNs and L3VPNs with VPN FRR, E-VRRP, VLL FRR, Ethernet OAM, and PW redundancy. These technologies ensure stable and reliable service operation with no service interruption   

Flexible Virtual System (VS) technology

A physical router can be divided into multiple logical routers with resources separated between them. Services can be deployed on different VSs to form a multi-service network with service separation. VSs enhance security and reliability.

Huawei IP Hard Pipe technology

IP Hard Pipe is a Huawei IP network-based access technology. It works with MPLS TE and HQoS and reserves hardware resources for dedicated bandwidth on leased line services to minimize delays and provide high reliability.

IP Hard Pipe hardware isolates soft and hard pipe bandwidths so they cannot be pre-empted. A hard pipe is similar to a Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) rigid pipe. IP Hard Pipe’s IP Flow Performance Measurement (FPM) measures the service quality of flows and uses NMS and uTraffic to display the results. Real-time operating status makes IP leased line services controllable, manageable, and visible.

OAM technologies that are easy to deploy and maintain

Detection packets can be sent periodically or manually to check network connectivity for fault locations and diagnosis. P2P Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM), E2E Connectivity Fault Management (CFM), E2E Y.1731, and their combinations provide a complete Ethernet OAM solution.

An RFC 2544-compliant flow test monitors offline performance. RFC 2544 defines a set of standard methods for evaluating network performance using different networking scenarios with different packet formats. During a test, a device simulates network packets and sends them to itself so it can measure performance.

RFC 2544 tests are done before service provisioning and no tester is needed. Customers can use RFC 2544 tests before service cut-over to evaluate whether network performance indicators are ready.

NE20E-S routers support Huawei-developed IP FPM to measure IP network performance. IP FPM directly measures IP service packets and monitors service changes online for fast fault locating. It provides highly-accurate measurements and can be flexibly deployed with no impact on services.