[c-nsp] Best ATM switch, BPX woes

[Chris Cappuccio]

Everyone hates ATM, so there are all these cheap switches out there.  Really
cheap.  And I happen to need one....

I want to talk DS3 and OC3 to:

1. Cisco 7xxx series (PA-A3)
2. Public ATM network
3. Various ATM DSLAMs
4. Other ISPs who buy DSL services from us and the public ATM network
5. maybe VoATM DLCs
6. maybe VoATM port on a Softswitch
7. and maybe OC3 or OC12 to 6400UAC in the future

So, we'll have heavy traffic patterns that eat up card buffers!

Of course, the point of the switch is to allow us to distribute the DSLAMs
and public ATM network to our routers and other ISP routers, and possibly
consolidate remote DSLAM links and DLC links on the same trunks.  (Or maybe
we will use VoIP DLCs, but I'd rather have something that can reliably emulate
TDM down to the voice channel... I'd rather not be known as the provider that
you can't make a modem call with)

Today, I am using some old StrataCom BPX-15 boxes, which are the same
as the early Cisco BPX 8600's with the 800Mbps back plane and BCC-3-32
cards.  Unfortunately, I also have old ASI T3 and OC3 cards in the box
today.  For whatever reason, even under relatively light traffic load,
the box simply cannot pass traffic without dropping cells.  I'm not sure
why it does this, and its statistics don't tell me enough.  I've had to
move customers off of it and on to temporary links direct between equipment.

Everything I've read about the old ASI cards says that they lack cell buffers,
and that the box does not perform well with traffic patterns that heavily
utilize specific paths through the switch cell matrix.  To make matters worse,
I can't upgrade the box because I can't find CWM / StrataView / SVLite anywhere.

To move back to the switched model, I need a switch that works.  I could
get a BPX 8620 with BCC-4 cards and newer BXM T3/OC3 cards, but I also have an
opportunity to get a new-in-box Alcatel/Xylan OmniSwitch 9 port with
recent software on it.

I am querying the list to see if anyone has:

1. Any idea why my BPX-15 sucks (Software 8.2.04!)?
2. Any idea if the OmniSwitch 9wx is decent/reliable in an ISP environment
with constant heavy traffic demands between specific ports ?
3. Any other recommendations on a switch to look at????
4. Should I just get a 6400 UAC now and use the switch capability on
the back of it?
   4a. Can it switch from what appears to be a front OC12 port to the back
       DS3 ports?
   4b. Will the switch on the 6400 UAC handle heavy constant load between
       ports without making the switching matrix into a blocking, cell
       dropping piece of crap ?
5. Anything else I'm missing ?
6. A copy of svlite :)

-c