[c-nsp] NPE-400 vs. NPE-G1

[Chris Cappuccio]

> In the used market, it looks like an NPE-400 runs about $3K, the
> NPE-G1 about $9K.  Cisco claims 1Mpps on the G1, 400Kpps on the 400. 
> Neither seems to beat a Juniper M5 on forwarding, nor DoS mitigation. 
> But the M5 is even more pricey, and their gigabit adapters seem to be
> made out of gold.  The G1 packs 3 GigE ports in that base $8K price.
> 

Get the NPE-G1, not the 400.  The G1 is more than twice as fast as the 400
in my real-world experience, probably due to the much larger CPU cache.
(When we get to use the second CPU core, that'll be even better)

And, it sounds like you are going to use the gigabit interfaces anyways,
which pretty much pays for itself if you don't even consider the speed
differences.

> I guess what I'm looking for is some real-world feedback on the G1. 
> I'm curious about how much traffic one can comfortably pass through
> it, and if trying to do any QoS/shaping on the metro-ethernet
> customers would severely impact performance.
> 

Every feature you turn on is going to cut your forwarding packet-per-second
capability considerably.  Think of each major feature as cutting it in half.
The first major feature is just having the router turned on.  That cuts you
from 1Mpps down to a more realistic 500Kpps.  Then, you go down from there.

If you are looking at Juniper, you won't ever run out of capacity in your
current scenario.  Just be careful that the juniper hardware supports
the features you want to use (make sure you get hardware capable of the QoS
features you want, make sure it can do PPPoA/PPPoE/ATM Ethernet bridging, etc)

If the decision comes to Juniper vs Cisco, keep in mind that you can get
an M20 in a redundant configuration, and the 7200s are obviously non-
redundant. 

> Also I'm still looking for any off-list used/refurb dealer
> recommendations.  So far all I had was one dealer touting themselves
> as "very good".  Not quite what I had in mind. :)
> 

$9K is a good price on a new NPE-G1.  Used they might be a little cheaper,
but they're in demand right now.  Just go with whoever meets your business
terms and, of course, someone you are comfortable with.  Call around, and
even look on ebay to find them, they're everywhere.  

--
"Don Rumsfeld has been chewing on my ankles." -- Dick Cheney