[c-nsp] Downsides of combining P and PE functions into a single box

[Keegan Holley]

The real question:
>
> Are you selling customer links that are near to or equal to the size of
> your core links(s).
>

Why would anyone do this on purpose and not upgrade the core?  I understand
over-subscription but having your edge links the same speed as your core is
just asking for trouble.

>
> Anyone doing 10GE edge or looking at 100GE for customer-facing handoffs can
> save significant amounts of money by doing P/PE.  While there are tradeoffs,
> not having the cumulative cost of a packet being A+B+C and perhaps can be
> localized to a single device has value.  I'm surprised that Rolland doesn't
> see this as an optimization as it would be something the Arbor equipment
> could help you optimize.
>

Not sure how you save money by buying extra routers.  That's a pretty
aggressive discount structure.

>
> While some may see these cost savings as inelegant, the idea of a core will
> continue to come under these pressures.  Keep in mind the fraction of a
> chassis you must allocate for these edge <-> core links and core <-> core
> links.  These have real world costs.  There's a reason everyone didn't go
> out there and load-up on OC768 hardware and just stuck with N*10G.  The
> finances don't work out.
>

Cards are cheaper than entire routers in most cases especially at N*10 and
40G speeds.  Assuming you want chassis based, with redundant control planes
and whatever the vendor uses for fabirc blades.  I'm not saying everyone
should throw their core P routers into a dumpster, but I don't see how
having them saves money.  You also have to add the cost of service contacts,
power, fingers and eyes to keep them running, etc..  I think people who need
separate cores should have them.  However, I don't see how P routers save
money or reduce complexity.


>
> - Jared
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