[c-nsp] 65xx or 76xx for 'Distribution Layer'?

[Drew Weaver]

                We're going to be transitioning our networking from a simple 2 stage network:

Internet -> router -> switch -> people

                To a more traditional style 3 stage network to allow more advanced services to happen between the edge and the aggregation layer:

Internet -> Router -> Router/Switch -> Switch -> People

I'm trying to get opinions on two things.


1)      From a speed/functionality standpoint would a 7600 or a 6500 be better in the Router/Switch (distribution) scenario?

2)      For our IGP (ospf) would it benefit us at all to have area 1 on the distribution layer and separate areas on each aggregation point? I've read both ways, that yes it does benefit you to do this and that no, it doesn't. (the idea is that the switches would each have their own area, and then the distribution layer would connect them all back to area 1).

Any thoughts?

The main reason for this switch is we want to be able to add things like IDS / DDOS mitigation, etc to our network and it seems like a wiser choice to aggregate all of the connections than to hang them off separately.

Thanks for any opinions ;-)

-Drew