[c-nsp] MPLS - 6500's

[Justin M. Streiner]

On Mon, 5 May 2008, Paul Stewart wrote:

> With a 6500 Catalyst, regular line cards, and Sup720-3BXL - what can you NOT
> do with MPLS on these chassis?  Is it "just" VPLS that requires an OSM card
> or a FlexWAN card for example?
>
> We are working on a project where MPLS may come into play .. VPLS would be a
> nice option to throw in but not 100% necessary.  Today, these are 6500's
> with Sup2/MSFC2 which I'm told are pretty much useless for anything MPLS
> oriented....

I'm not sure about MPLS limitations in the Sup2/MSFC2, but it wouldn't 
surprise me if they're pretty major since those engines are much more 
software driven and have substantially lower forwarding capabilities than 
the Sup720/3BXL.  The 3BXL does MPLS just fine, but I'm not running it in 
a 'true' service provider environment.  We run MPLS using LDP to 
distribute labels to some non-Cisco gear and terminate Martini tunnels and 
that seems to work pretty cleanly, although the hair-pinning needed to 
land a Martini tunnel is somewhat strange...

jms