[c-nsp] ASR902 vs ME3800X

[Eric Van Tol]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cisco-nsp [mailto:cisco-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of
> CiscoNSP List
>
> Significant difference to the ME3600 (Which is 44Mb?) - Would like some
> real-world feedback from anyones thats used these(ASR920s)....any issues
> with micro-bursts/drops?(You would have to assume yes?)

We currently have two ASR920s in the field and have not seen any drops (yet).  One is a stub node on a lit VPLS hub from a transport provider and one is participating in a metro ring with a 1G backbone, each with a few operational customer ports on them.  We're using the 12xGE-2x10GE-FIXED ASRs at the moment, but are looking at other models for different types of deployments.

I did quite a bit of testing in our lab prior to deployment, mainly to see if there was feature parity with the ME3600.  Configuration and feature-wise, they were nearly identical, at least with regard to what we provide or plan to provide.  It did take me some time to figure out how to get an "SVI" onto it, as I've never worked with IOS-XE and the documentation for the ASR920 is/was just terrible/incomplete.

The price can't be beat as a low-cost ME 'switch'.  They won't work for everyone, but we're satisfied *so far*, but our deployments are not as high capacity as others on this list.

Someone else had mentioned the Juniper ACX5048.  I drooled over that when I first saw it, but then I noticed the environmental limitations - 32° to 104° F.  That would work well in most colo or CO deployments, but most of our deployments are within telephone closets with little to no airflow or AC.  I suppose I understand why the operating temp is so low, just a bit disappointed.

-evt