[nsp] recommendations

[Terry Baranski]

sthaug at nethelp.no wrote:

> (I see somebody suggested the 2691. Well, Cisco claims up to 
> 70k pps for the 2691, which in theory would give you 200 Mbps 
> with an average packet size of around 350 bytes. So - do you 
> believe Cisco's numbers, and is your average packet size more 
> than 350 bytes? I'm afraid I don't believe the 2691 is 
> sufficient here.)

I agree.  Note that Cisco's PPS numbers are for 64 byte packets, and PPS
tends to decrease as packet size increases per a handful of tests that
I've done and seen reported by others.

A 3725 can do 200Mbps with packet sizes greater than 256 bytes.  But the
test was under optimal conditions: a SmartBits spewing the packets, and
only IP routing & CEF enabled.  Coming up with the best recommendation
for a real-world scenario is impossible without knowing such things as
what potential performance-reducing features will be enabled (ACLs, NAT,
and so forth), the traffic profile (e.g., average packet size), and the
required stress resistance (e.g., DoS attacks) to name a few.

-Terry