[c-nsp] Recommended P Nodes

[Gordon Bryan]

Hi All,

I'm currently researching the feasability of various Cisco devices to perform as a true P node in an MPLS core and was wondering what people are using out there in the field at the moment.

Ideally I'd go for an ASR but I'm sure they are too pricey for our current budget and I think a lot of their enhanced features would be lost in the core if performing purely as a P node.

Current thought process is steering me towards hardware-based platforms such as the 7600/6500 with Sup720-3BXL as they'll be mainly responsible for labelling/unlabelling/shifting packets and I'm keen on the performance that these boxes deliver. Plus their scalability to 10Gb and beyond is another tick in the box. Anyone using these models in the core?

I've also had a look at the ME3800X/ME3600X switches and they seem quite attractive due to their price point and forwarding performance. However these devices seem to be aimed more at the access/distribution layer so I'm not sure how they would perform in the core. Again, if anyone has any relevant experience I'd be interested to hear.

Any and all advice/pointers/guidance much appreciated as i'm still at the early stages of planning

Thanks in advance

Gordon