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

[Chris Knipe]

Hi,

> > You might want to look at 4500 Series switches, rather than 6500.
> > If 2960's were sufficient for your requirements (no advanced routing,
> > Netflow, NBAR, etc) then 4500 is closer to an apples-to-apples
> > comparison than 6500.
> > 4500 will generally be cheaper than 6500, especially when taking
> > maintenance/Smartnet into account (though YMMV).
>
> For a classic non-E chassis and/or traditional supervisor blade (Sup-IV
> or less), you're dealing with a 6Gbps/slot backplane limitation.  You
> may be OK with your 10/100 blades, but some of the classic 10/100/1000
> ones such as the WS-X4448 you are as much as 8:1 oversubscribed onto
> that 6Gbps/slot.  The 2960 backplane is smoking hot in comparison (but
> you're still limited in uplink b/w).
>
> The E-series chassis with a hot supervisor will get you 24Gbps/slot.

Thank you all for the input.  I would definitely agree 4500 too rather than
6500.  The main purpose of this deployment is for Triple Play services,
IPTV, Telephony, as well as Data.  IGMP Multicast is critical for the IPTV
and almost all 10/100 Ethernet ports will be running at least 3 VLANs.  A
single switch will also make that much easier in my opinion...

I've spend a bit of time on Cisco.com now, and I just want everyone to give
this a once over and ensure that there isn't anything I missed before I send
this off to suppliers for costing - if I can ask that someone also just
check for compatibility, I would appreciate it.  I am not sure at this stage
about the NetFlow Services Card, whether or not it would be compatible with
the Supervisor.  I've worked allot with the smaller fixed configuration
Ciscos, but this is going to be all new to me in terms of size...

Cisco Catalyst 4510R-E Chassis:
1 x WS-C4510R-E
 Cisco Catalyst E Series 4510R Switch (10-slot chassis), fan, no power
supply; redundant supervisor capable
2 x PWR-C45-1400AC
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series 1400W AC power supply (data only)
1 x S45EIPB-12240SG(=)
 Cisco IOS Software for Supervisor Engine 6-E (IP Base image)
1 x WS-X45-Sup6-E
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 E Series Supervisor Engine 6-E, 2x10GE (X2) or 4x1GE
(SFP), Console RJ-45,USB
1 x WS-X45-Sup6-E/2
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Redundant Supervisor Engine 6-E, 2x10GE (X2) or 4x1GE
(SFP), Console RJ-45,USB
1 x MEM-C4K-FLD128M
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Cisco IOS Software-Based Supervisor Engine, Compact
Flash memory, 128-MB option
1 x WS-F4531(=)
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 NetFlow Services Card

Cisco Catalyst 4510R-E Line Cards:
5 x WS-X4148-RJ(=)
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 10/100 Module, 48 ports (RJ-45)
1 x WS-X4424-GB-RJ45(=)
 Cisco Catalyst 4500 24-port 10/100/1000 Module (RJ-45)


Thank you all for your time and feedback,

Regards,
Chris.