Re: GSR, 7600, Juniper M?, oh my!

[Richard A Steenbergen <ras () e-gerbil net>]

On Tue, Jan 06, 2004 at 01:11:25PM -0500, bcm wrote:
> Hello all,
>
>     I'm faced with a difficult decision.  I work for a large multi-node
> regional ISP (and Cisco shop).  In our largest nodes we've found the Cisco
> 7500 series routers to be at the end of their useful life due to the
> throughput generated by POS OC-3 feeds and 10,000+ broadband users whose
> traffic needs to be moved out of the node.  Short of building a farm of
> 7500's the need to upgrade seems clear.
>
>     But where to go?  The Cisco GSR platform seems a logical choice, but
> their new 7600 series units are attractive for their cost.  Juniper may also
> have a place at this end of the processing spectrum.  I'd also like to
> ensure that the new platform supports doing CAR and ACLs at line rate, given
> the client base.
>
>     I wanted to see what other operators in this situation have done, so I
> would appreciate anyone's input or insight into the pros and cons of these
> platforms or any other ideas as to how I can grow beyond the Cisco 7500.

7500s? In 2004? Throw those things in the trash where they belong. It's 
always amazing to me how many people will cling to obsolete things for 
years just because it is what they know.

Even a Juniper M5 will do 16 OC3's with line rate filtering and
forwarding. There are probably a dozen design considerations based on 
requirements you haven't described, but if you're doing primarily sonet, 
7600 isn't really the way to go.

-- 
Richard A Steenbergen <ras () e-gerbil net>       http://www.e-gerbil.net/ras
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