[c-nsp] 7304 impressions

[sthaug at nethelp.no]

> We're considering the platform as a replacement for several 7200s
> where higher capacity & higher density is desired (multiple OC3s,
> DS3s).  These are places on our network where the 7200s don't quite
> cut it anymore but the a 7600 or GSR is just too much.  So the 7304
> seems to fit the requirements nicely.
> 
> The 7304 seems to only support 12.2S trains. So software options are a
> little limited.   Impressions on stability, performance, anything else
> ?  We're leaning towards the NPE-G100 engine (this thing is G1 based,
> right?).  The 3.5 pps offered by the NSE engine is nice on paper, but
> I don't think I'd want to deal with PXF.

On the other hand, if you use the NPE-G100 you're basically back to the
same performance level as a 7206 with NPE-G1 (you still have the higher
port density of the 7304, of course).

Cisco claims 1Mpps for 7206/NPE-G1, and "better than 1Mpps" for the
7304/NPE-G100. Our own measurements indicate that the NPE-G1 tops out at
around 630k pps - which is slightly less than what you get from one
STM-1 with minimum sized packets.

If you're worried about DoS attacks I'd go with the hardware forwarding
platform.

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no