[c-nsp] nexus 5548 versus C4900M

[Garry]

On 21.11.2012 08:55, Holemans Wim wrote:
> We have a service cluster build around a C4900M : it concentrates a mix of 10G (intercampus) connections and 1G connections (some backup lines and central services such as DNS, VPN servers,...)
> This works fine but to be able to connect all these, I had to add the 20 port 10/100/1000 UTP card and the extra 8x 10G card (with X2 convertor to provide for fiber SFPs). At the time that seemed a good and reasonable priced solution. This C4900M only does L2 traffic for the moment but will do some minor static (500Mb) IPv4 L3 routing in the near future.
>
> Now I have to create a new, similar  service cluster. The first idea was to copy the setup but as we are also looking at Nexus for our datacenter, I noticed the Nexus 5548UP. This gives you out-of-the-box 32 1G/10G ports and costs (based on the prices I have seen) 25% less than the above C4900M configuration.
> Anyone has a reason why we should stick to the C4900M (or maybe similar C4500 solution) and not put a Nexus in place, apart from the obvious differences between IOS and NXOS for management ?
> I think, when adding the L3 card to the Nexus, the 25% price difference will disappear but are there any limits you see (arp table, mac address table size, buffering, IPv6 support..) that would take the Nexus out of the picture ?
We have a dual-5548P/L3+quad-2248 setup at a customer site, with some 20 
2960 switches (1G and 10G versions) for access switches ... apart from 
some initial problems the setup is very nice and performing well ... 
when the project was initially looked at, the original setup (only one 
5548 + 2 2248) was about half of what a comparable setup with required 
interface cards would have been with a 6500, except that the Nexus 
delivers the 960Gig L2 forwarding non-blocking, which the 6500 setup 
wouldn't have been able to do at the time, as its 10G cards are 
oversubscribed. 4500 series setups will be cheaper than a 6500 solution, 
but you will not have the performance of the Nexus, and I doubt that the 
price difference would be in favor of the 4500 ...

In general, I reckon your choice depends on the actual usage - as a 
datacenter/campus switch, the Nexus has a definite price- and 
performance-advantage. If you will need to do non-ethernet ports, a 
modular switch/router like the Catalyst 4500/6500 will be the better 
choice ...

-garry