[c-nsp] Cisco Nexus as MetroE switch?

[James Jun]

> 
> Looked at the usual suspects e.g. Cisco ME3600X/ME3800X, ASR920, as well as
> Juniper EX4550 and QFX5100.

Except for the low 10g port density, I'd say ASR 920 is quite awesome.

> 
> Is anybody else out there using these in such a role, or able to comment on
> the suitability of such a switch?

You're right in the N9K is most definitely data center switching and I wouldn't
use it for carrier ethernet deployment.  That being said, N7K (ie. Nexus 7700)
will do MPLS, albeit with an additional license.


Have you looked at the new developments to ASR 900 Series (902/903 and the new 907)?

Cisco recently released RSP3 and 8x10GE and 1x100GE IMA cards.  RSP3 and 8x10GE IMA
pricing aren't too shabby.  If you fully load an ASR 902 with 8x10G IMAs, that'll give
you some serious port density in 2U with extensive feature-rich MetroE features.  Plus,
you get much better port buffers on the 90x series that bring them closer to having
real routers than on typical data center switches (10G going to 1GE subscriber interface
on EX4550 is just plain awful).

James