[c-nsp] Some advice on switches....

[Peter Rathlev]

On Wed, 2009-05-13 at 14:44 +0200, Chris Knipe wrote:
> What I am wondering, is how close to EOL is the 6500 series?  Those
> switches has been around for quite a while, and I see that certain
> models are already at EOL.  What could I possibly look at?

I sincerely hope that they don't EoL the 6500 as such in the near
future. :-) I think you can count on it being around for at least
several years to come. Both hardware and software development is still
happening (VSS, SXI as examples) and I think they make plenty of money
from it.

As others mention the 6500 might not be the best for the job. A Sup32
limits you to 32 Gb/s total, much lower than e.g. the 3560 backplane. A
Sup720 is faster but makes the system somewhat more expensive.

> If I am to look at a 6500 (or another model), what kind of modules would  I
> need to look at?  I've seen lots of different modules for the 6500 already,
> but apart from the actual blades with the Ethernet ports, I'm a bit lost as
> to what is required.... 

Card type would depend on whether you need PoE and other things. Take a
look at this data sheet:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/product_data_sheet0900aecd8017376e.html
http://tinyurl.com/2uom4p

Something like WS-X6148A-45AF might be interesting.

Regards,
Peter