[c-nsp] Question on GSR

[Bulgaria Online - Assen Totin]

Hi all,

I seek your advise on the subject, described below. I'll try to keep
it as short as possible. Thanks in advance to all who decide to reply.

I'm running a network core to which several MAN networks are
connected. Several of them still run at 100 Mbps, but the main is
already at full 1 Gpbs and the second gigabit is under way. All the
MANs are fiber optics, terminated to a Cisco 3750G which is used as a
switch only and which sets DSCP markers for further traffic management.

The traffic management is done by a 7200/NPE-G1, which is running out
of CPU resources (we have reached > 1.5 Gbps at the peak moments) and
I'm looking for a suitable replacement. A GSR caught my eye, but I'm
not familiar with this series and thus not sure whether it will be
able to achieve what I need. My core router has to be able to:

1. use VLAN dot1q sub-interfaces
2. provide SNMP access to the counters for each dot1q sub-interface
3. match TOS/DSCP in ACL
4. apply rate-limits (or better, traffic-shape groups if available) to
dot1q sub-interfaces (output traffic)
5. support BGP (40-50 small sessions, up to 1,000 prefixes each)
6. do CEF
7. do Netflow exports

The GSR I noted consists of:

* Cisco 12008 chasis
* GRP-B router processor with 512 MB RAM
* GSR12000 3-port GE line card (a second one to be added later)

As far as I get it, this configuration should be able to deal with
several gigabits of traffic without problems. However, I see that the
latest available IOS is something like 12.0(28). Would it support all
the features I need? (E.g., I've had a case when a 36 or 72 series
router refused to report sub-interface counters via SNMP before IOS
12.something.)

I'm aware that these routers are no longer in production, but their
parameters and price seem attractive enough when compared with a
new, say, 76xx device. (I haven't had the chance to play with a 76xx,
but taking in account that it uses Supervisors and many interfaces
from 65xx,  does it really have full traffic management
capabilities like 72xx/75xx? When my 3750G arrived, I was quite
surprised how many things I'm used to in routers are actually missing
in it.)

All your ideas/considerations are mostly welcome.

WWell,

Assen Totin
Development Manager

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