[c-nsp] Recommended 7206 12.2(x)SB for MPLS?

[Vinny Abello]

Hi all,

	I'm wondering what 12.2(x)SB train people are using successfully for MPLS deployments on the 7206VXR platform. I currently have 12.2(28)SB6 on most of my 7206VXR's with NPE-400's. I know we're up to SB9 last I checked, but I haven't tested that yet. On SB6, when I started configuring "mpls ip" and "mpls traffic-eng tunnels" on interfaces with other routers and the LDP adjacency comes up, I notice a slight level of packet loss both to and through the router using that interface. I recall finding a bug on Cisco's web site (sorry, I don't have the ID handy) where having netflow enabled on an interface with MPLS IP enabled may prevent packets from being forwarded via CEF and I think SB6 is affected by that bug. I'm just curious what other people have found success with. I don't have any problems with 12.2(28)SB6 otherwise that are affecting me. I have one NPE-G2 running 12.2(31)SB5 on it that seems ok with MPLS from my experiments, but had some horrible problems with a handful 
of PA-MC-T3 cards where channels on cards and entire cards themselves just start failing and won't come back without a reboot (or reinserting the card which also happened to cause a reboot, doh!). A lot of my NPE-400's have one or more PA-MC-T3 cards so I'd like to avoid running into those issues. :)

Before someone suggests it, and although I've heard some people with positive results, I'd rather not run 12.4T if I don't have to. In my experiences at least, T trains are ok for a customer CPE when nothing else will do, but frightening in a core or edge scenario. I've been told that the S trains tend to receive more QA and tend to have all the latest features. I don't know if that's the case or not regarding the QA.

Any experiences people can share are appreciated.

Thanks!

-- 

Vinny Abello
Network Engineer
Server Management
vinny at tellurian.com
(973)300-9211 x 125
(973)940-6125 (Direct)
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