[c-nsp] Entering into MPLS

[John Lyons]

Hi Shawn,

I hope you don't mind me being picky but this is a common problem 
and I think it needs correcting. You mention "L2 MPLS" & "L3 MPLS"
services, there are no such things. The services you're looking for 
are "L2 VPN" or "L3 VPN" services. MPLS may or may not be used to 
deliver these services but there are other viable alternatives to 
deliver these such as L2TPv3 etc.

Unfortunately the marketing machine has taken hold of MPLS and
misused it badly creating a situation where customers ask for 
"MPLS services" rather than what they actually need.

John

> We current are a smaller company reaching the brink of the enterprise
> level. We currently have a data center at our head quarters, and 30
> remote sites connecting with either a managed ADSL connection, or
> through an VPN tunnel through the Internet. We are currently going to
> move to an MPLS network. 5 remote sites have 10 users and are going to
> be connected to the MPLS network via an ADSL or T1
> 
> 15 remote sites only have 10 - 20 users and will have a 10 MB fiber
> connection to the MPLS
> 
> 8 remote sites have 30 users and will have a 10 MB fiber connection to
> the MPLS
> 
> 2 remote sites have 50 and 70 users and will have a 10 MB fiber
> connection to the MPLS
> 
> 1 site has 250 users and will have a 100 MB fiber connection to the MPLS
> 
> And HQ will have 250 users and have a 100 MB fiber connection to the
> MPLS
> 
>  
> 
> We are also implementing VoIP in all the offices so we need some form of
> QOS
> 
>  
> 
> We were looking at three options for MPLS
> 
> Option 1: layer 3 MPLS and share our routing info with our carrier
> 
> Option 2: layer 3 MPLS, and using GRE routes so we do not need to share
> routing info
> 
> Option 3: layer 2 with QoS support
> 
>  
> 
> What size of routers do we need in our data center, and other main site?
> 
> Does GRE have much performance impact? And if so, do we need to go with
> a larger router if we use GRE?
> 
> We are going to use integrated services routers in the remote sites to
> support SRST, so we were thinking to go with 2801's for smaller shops,
> to 2851's for the larger sites.
> 
> For the main site and data center, we were thinking of either 3845 or
> 7204vxr.
> 
> Would the 3845 do the trick? Or would we need to move up to the 7204vxr?
> 
> How exactly can we size our routers correctly? Do most people just
> usually go with experience? Or use some form of specs? And what specs
> should I be looking for?
> 
>  
> 
> Any suggestions or comments?
> 
>  
> 
> Thanks for your help
> 
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