[c-nsp] ASR902 vs ME3800X

[Mark Tinka]

On 24/Mar/15 12:05, Adam Vitkovsky wrote:
> It would be great if Waris could chime in to shed some light on what 
> are the plans with ME platform.

On the back of a discussion I had a few years ago, it looks like 
everything Metro-E is switching over to IOS XE. That means the 
ME3600X/3800X don't have a bright future. Likely due to SDN'y things.

>
> Have you folks quoted the low density models or the high density 
> models (ASR-920-24SZ-M/ASR-920-24SZ-IM) please?
> As I can see how the low density models can be dirty cheap as they 
> remind me of the ASR901.

I'm quite horny for the 4-port ASR920. It's a viable option for a 2nd 
level of rings which would typically be based on Layer 2 switches. Not 
having to deal with Layer 2 issues in a Metro-E ring is the unending 
goal in life, so the 4-port ASR920 might just be the deal.

However, a lot of that will depend on how much it can hold in FIB, and 
if there is feature parity with the 12- and 24-port units.

>
> So the ASR-920-24SZ-M 1RU fixed unit has 24GE and 4x10GE.

This where I need a 48-port version to go with those 4x 10Gbps uplinks. 
Otherwise, what a waste of some good uplink capacity.


> And the ASR-920-24SZ-IM 1.5RU modular unit has the expansion slot 
> where one can put single xfp card or 2 port xfp/sfp+ card or T1/E1 card.
> But since the switching capacity of the box is 64Gbps I don't see how 
> the expansion slot would bring me any benefit.

For the Metro-E network, I'm not keen on anything larger than 1U unless 
it packs a ton of ports.

Anyone seen Juniper's ACX5096 box:

http://www.juniper.net/us/en/products-services/routing/acx-series/acx5000/

Now that's 96x customer-facing, multi-rate (1Gbps/10Gbps) ports, for the 
Metro-E network. I'm salivating over this box, but can't get it yet 
because it has some fundamental things that need to be fixed. Then I'm 
all over it (including it's little brother, the ACX5048).

Mark.