[c-nsp] Fwd: Alternantive to REB(route bridge Encapsulation)-2nd try

[Lamar Owen]

[Going OT to a degree; not going to continue thread past this post.]

On Monday 18 August 2008 13:16:27 Pete wrote:
> With all due respect, how much enterprise feature value were you
> HONESTLY expecting from these core backbone routing platforms?  Have any
> of these devices STOPPED doing what they do/did best?

I appreciate the point of view. Using a tool only for the purpose for which it 
was designed is certainly a valid worldview, perhaps even for the majority of 
service providers and enterprises out there, especially if you have a support 
contract.

But at the same time understand that if someone is asking about using router X 
for something (whether it was designed for that or not is irrelevant) they'd 
like to hear experience in doing that thing, not that router Y is a better 
choice.  If I want to know (and I ask) which router is the better choice, 
then answering Y is a good useful response.  

And, yes, I am of the view that many tools have uses of which the designers 
never thought, or for which the designers did not design (or for which the 
marketers didn't market).  Like, for instance, the RSM internal router on a 
stick card for the Catalyst 5000.  These actually do NAT at a very good rate; 
with a VIP piggyback on the RSM they can make superb border routers with a 
good firewall set and, like I said, NAT.  Just wish a 12.0S had been released 
for the RSM; it is, after all, a 7500-series RSP2 on that card.  And why the 
RSFC isn't able to run something past 12.1 is a crying shame, given the 
hardware heritage of the card (I know why it was crippled, I just don't agree 
with non-technical reasons to cripple what the device can do).

As to the suitability of these old core platforms for edge 'stuff' I'll just 
comment that just getting APS on an OC3 connection is enough of a task; but  
I happen to need layer 2 transparency over this connection, incidentally, for 
VMware VMotion.  With APS. (which knocks out any ATM solutions for the 7500 
(or 7200/7400 for that matter!).  Just need to have VLAN continuity through 
the OC3, that's all.  Getting the 'edge' feature set and APS for an OC3 
together has been a challenge for me, without blowing my equipment budget for 
the next five years, that is.  And I already had the hardware in hand that 
I'm using, saving several tens of kilobucks.

What I do find useful are things like the revelation that 3845's have issues 
with L2TP due to odd ethernet issues.  Or that PXF being enabled on 7400 or 
7200 NSE-1 causes artifact A in certain situations. Or that an OC48 POS 
liencard is required for 12000 to do this sort of thing.  Or that, no, 
feature navigator is wrong, you really can't do that with IOS x.yS(z).  

Just looking for people's experience, not new equipment recommendations.  
Cisco support for these particular routers is not an option at this point for 
these routers; can't afford it.

Now when I can afford something new, I'll ask about that.

And if I can help by sharing my experience with a future questioner, I will do 
so. And, I do find most of the information I glean here very useful; Gert in 
particular has been a real jewel, and my rant isn't directed at Gert at all, 
just a general rant of sorts.

I personally don't agree with this whole EoS/EoL 'programmed obsolescence' 
thing, even though I do understand the reasoning.
--
Lamar Owen
Chief Information Officer
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
1 PARI Drive
Rosman, NC  28772
http://www.pari.edu