[c-nsp] Is a 6500 still the best choice?

[Justin M. Streiner]

On Tue, 26 Apr 2011, Leigh Harrison wrote:

> Main feature we use is MPLS and we need 10G port density, so I'm looking
> towards an ASR 9000, but then as we need Layer 2 services, I'm swayed
> back to the 6500E's.  They'll be used for both aggregation and direct
> access.

> I have been pondering the Nexus 7K's looking towards the future and 100G
> coming onto our network, but they lack the MPLS support at the moment.

> Is a 6500 still the best bang for your buck or does the lack of anything
> over 10G ports hold it back?

As others have mentioned, the lack of 10G port density, and the total 
bandwidth per slot are limiting factors.  For layer 2, something like the 
Nexus 5548 might be worth a look.  For layer 3, the Nexus7K is one option, 
though you might want to check with your account team on some near-term 
options that will be more rack and installer-friendly than a 7010 ;)
I'd imagine that MPLS support will be there eventually, but if it's a 
feature you need today, then that could be a problem.

ASR9K is worth a look for L3 aggregation, and future scalability beyond 
10G.

The 6500Es won't go away any time soon, depending on your needs.  Much 
like the 7200s before (and beside) them, the 6500 series is Cisco's Swiss 
Army knife.  Because of the wide variety of modules, and software loads, 
you can get a 6500 to do just about any feature you need.  Cisco has 
extended the lifetime of the platform numerous times, but in terms of 
fundamental capabilities (number of bits and packets it can move across 
its backplane), it's beginning to show its age.

jms