[c-nsp] VSS or not for edge routing?

Tue May 3 11:02:11 EDT 2011

Hi,

We are a small hosting shop that is planning to implement two 6509 with SUP720-10G-3CXL as edge routers and distribution switches in a collapsed design. We have two full BGP feeds and a limited number of VLANs. A really basic setup. The old school would be to use iBGP, OSPF, HSRP, STP. After looking into VSS, I'm quite tempted to get rid of most of these things and just let the VSS have two eBGP sessions and run a MEC from each access switch.

To be honest, I feel more on top of things using all the abbreviations above, but it would be really nice to get rid of STP. :) I have not seen any configuration examples where VSS is used in combination with BGP though. Anyone here that are doing this?

What are your experiences when it comes to VSS stability and maintainability (failovers (SSO), software upgrades (eFSU), adding line cards and such)? Can I trust it? Any opinions are welcome.

/Mattias