[c-nsp] PE "Sprawl" - P/Core Router suggestions.

[CiscoNSP List]

Hi Everyone (Apologies in advance for the long post :) )


We have multiple POPs, of varying sizes, no true "core"....due to size initially(# of customer tails @ POPs), collapsed design was used to reduce capex/improve ROI.


Hardware currently used are ME3600's/ASR920's/ASR1Ks(LNS/Transit), and TOR switches 4900's, Nex3Ks


Primary service offering is L3VPN, and as we aggregate with a large number of carriers, customers can pick/choose tails to suit budget/bandwidth/sla's etc


Interpop connections are currently going into our ASR920's, and as they have a limited # of 10G ports(4), we are having to add more ASR920's, purely for 10G...not ideal, not scaleable, and increasingly difficult to manage.


So, looking to put a more modular(Hierarchical two-layer - "core" and "aggregation" ) design in place, that is easily replicable/templated/flexible.


Hardware (Cisco house) - Ive looked at so far:


ASR9001 for our larger POPs, but 10G port density on them is an issue...4 onboard, and they only support the 4 port 10G MPAs(2 line card slots, so 2 of these)....so total 12 x 10G?
ASR1K - I see they have released the 1001/2-HX with the 1002 having an EPA slot - So, 8 x 10G onboard, and with an EPA 10x10G a total of 18 x 10G ports - but as these are very very new, Im guessing very pricey?
NCS - Very new, and know very little about them - NCS5001/NCS5002 - 10G port density definitely not an issue(40 + 80)...but they are an "MPLS agg router"...So, potentially an option if we went BGP-free "core"?
Then we have the bigger "chassis" brothers of the ASR9K/1K and NCS...all being a lot more $, and taking up a lot more real-estate in the Rack..

ASR9001 - "looked" like an ideal candidate, but the limited number of 10G ports is an issue
ASR1K - 1002-HX - Looks fantastic, but I would imagine very big $ if fully populated with 10G ports
NCS - Unsure on these as they are very new, and docs on them are a little sparse...i.e. Could they be an option, if we went BGP-free in the core?
Other Options?


Then for our smaller pops (that have 2-4 ASR920's(PEs) - Core/Agg box for these is quite a challenge...we would still need something with 10x10G ports to give us scale(PEs) and also for Interpop....any suggestions here would be greatly appreciated :)


For our "larger" POPs, where we will see 6+ (ASR920's) PEs - Dual 10G connectivity to the 2 Core/Agg routers will quickly burn lots of ports (As well as the needed Interpop connections) - Are mini PE "rings" an option...i.e. maybe 4 x ASR920's, east-west connected, with just 2 having 10G to the core/Agg?


Appreciate any suggestions/comments/recommendations  - Cheers