The China Education and Research Network Information Center has deployed the Juniper Networks (JNPR) T-series core routing platform in its next-generation China Education and Research Network (CERNET2).

CERNET2 is part of the larger nationwide China Next Generation Internet infrastructure and connects over 20 cities and 200 universities across mainland China.

The network leverages the T-series platform for what Juniper claims is unmatched reliability, scalability, and performance required to support one of the world's largest, purely Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) networks, including the first long-haul 40-Gbit/sec link between the major Chinese cities of Beijing and Tianjin.

"CERNET2, and especially its new 40-Gbit/sec link, represents one of the key segments of the CNGI network and is one of the largest deployments of IPv6 to date," reports Professor Jianping Wu, director of CERNIC. "CERNET2 is not dual-stack, and since it is critical that this pure IPv6 network perform with the highest levels of performance, security and reliability, we chose to deploy Juniper's T640. It is the industry's most proven multi-terabit scale platform, outperforming all other products in performance and reliability testing and providing a very rich IPv6 feature set," he adds.

The Juniper Networks says the T-series has been shipping since April 2002, with over 2000 units deployed in customer networks worldwide. The T-series leverages the feature- rich, highly stable, and resilient JUNOS operating system, which has been delivering production-ready IPv6 capabilities for over three years, claims the company. In addition to extensive fault-tolerance, the T-series has the ability to leverage Juniper Networks' multi-chassis TX Matrix technology, allowing service providers to scale to multi-terabit rates without the risks associated with new and unproven technologies.

"The T-series platform has now been selected for several of the most important and technologically advanced communications projects in China, demonstrating the country's demand for secure and assured networking solutions," notes Eric Yu, vice president of Greater China for Juniper Networks. "IPv6 is perfectly aligned with Juniper's vision of creating agile, open, and customizable next-generation networks, and it's exciting to see organizations like CERNIC take the lead in the deployment of these technologies."