[c-nsp] Real life and worst-case performance of Cisco and Juniper?

[E. Versaevel]

Hi Rick,

We have been in a similar situation last year.
Originaly we had 7206 VXR NPE-G1's as both access routers and core routers, however maintaining a full bgp table on the core routers
became a bit to much for the 7206's and we wanted more interfaces for our access network (and needed to expand the access network).

In the end we went for the 7606/RSP720 as a core router(s) and moved the `core` 7206's to the access network .

First of all because our entire network is Cisco which means our support staff wouldn't have to learn a new router OS.
Next to that we've tested a M7i which performed flawlessly and I personally like the JunOS config style (tested mpls/ldp/ospf/bgp only, no ip
vpn/virtual routers/BBA etc just plain packet forwarding).
However we have a policy that every access device needs 2 direct connections to the core routers which means we need quite a few interfaces.
Interface pricing on the Junipers is ridicules imho, 18k$ for a single gigabit ethernet connection, for a fraction of that you would get a 24x SFP
module for the 7600 series... (add to that that we have a few STM-1 connections which are even more expensive)


Kind regards,

Erik

Rick Ernst schreef:
> I'm looking at a network refresh and both Cisco and Juniper are on the
> radar.  We are currently almost all-Cisco.  The two platforms we are
> looking at are the Juniper M10i and the Cisco 7606/Sup7203BXL.
> 
> Our bandwidth needs are pretty modest; currently less than 500Mbs amd our
> packet consumption is about 75,000pps.  I'm currently projecting over 1Gbs
> in about a year.  Our existing gear (7200/7500/RSM) handles the load
> fairly well, but memory on the VIPs, RSMs, and older RSPs can't handle a
> full table.  We also need to be able to absorb high pps DDoSes.
> 
> Juniper seems to essentially claim that "you get whatever the platform is
> spec'd for, regardless of packet size/type" at ~4-8Gbs.  Cisco claims
> 720Gbs (full-duplex?) and about 40Mpps on the 720 with DFC.
> 
> Our border/core pretty much just moves packets, so I'm not too worried
> about the packet handling at that level.  A large portion of our customer
> traffic is rate-limited/policed (hundreds of ethernet connections).
> 
> Does anybody have any "Yeah, Juniper really does that" stories, or
> experience with how packet manipulation impacts the Sup720 performance? 
> Essentially, what could the Sup720 handle if every packet hit the CPU? 
> Does the architectural difference between the Sup720 and 7200/7500 at
> least somewhat mitigate CPU impact with CAR/policing?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> _______________________________________________
> cisco-nsp mailing list  cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> https://puck.nether.net/mailman/listinfo/cisco-nsp
> archive at http://puck.nether.net/pipermail/cisco-nsp/



Erik Versaevel