[c-nsp] Cisco Nexus as MetroE switch?

[Tom Hill]

On 01/11/15 08:04, Marian Ďurkovič wrote:
> Nowadays some other approaches are also available. For example you can use 1RU
> TRILL switches with 48 * 10G/1G SFP+ and 6 * 40G QSFP+ ports to do exactly what
> you're looking for - without the complexity of MPLS/VPLS or VXLAN+BGP and
> without ugly workarounds to e.g. achieve proper load-balancing over parallel links.

I don't know if you're referring to the part of the SIX slides
(referenced later in the thread) that said:

"Initial support for lab testing didn't support per-flow load balancing"

But I do know that other vendors whom have had problems with egress link
load-balancing for VPLS on Trident+, have also had the same issues with
TRILL (Extreme X670V, in my case) and thus, struggle to suggest TRILL.

But in all honesty, I don't think TRILL suits the use-case of Metro-E
aggregation - especially where E-LINE services are required (as per the
OP). To a point, fine-grained Labels would provide an equivalent service
separation to that of QinQ, but it isn't as segregated as the 'full'
encapsulation of AToM, VPLS, or PBB/SPB-M, and FGL wasn't possible in
Trident+ either (T2 only & above, I believe).

The last time I asked a vendor (Avaya) about E-LINE services over an
SPB-M domain (effectively multipath-capable PBB) some very puzzled
noises were made. This was ~3-4 years ago now, perhaps they've done
better, but I learnt not to ask too much of those implementations. :)

Concentrating on the original suggestion, however; it is possible Cisco
are referring to the use of MP-BGP EVPN for signalling VXLAN instances:

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/guide-c07-734107.html#_Toc414541674

You can probably get away with that for E-LINE infra, but it's pretty
complex vs. say, N7K/Cat6800 & AToM. :)

> We have TRILL infrastructure in production for more than one year in the Slovak
> internet exchange (visit www.six.sk for details) as well as in Bratislava MAN of
> SANET.

Even if it was a bit off-topic, I do like that SIX have done something
differently, and I'm very glad that it works for you - TRILL does
present a very neat solution for IXPs, especially with regards to
flexibility in expansion. :)

-- 
Tom