[j-nsp] Cisco 7600 vs. M10i performance tests

[Simon Leinen]

> One interesting feature of the test setup is that, according to page
> two, the traffic was connected to 6 ports of a single Cisco 6724
> module, which is described as a '24-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switching
> Module (WS-X6724-SFP)', while, on the Juniper, it was connected to 6
> separate Gigabit PICs.

> Doesn't this mean that the Cisco was at least partly acting as a
> switch, not as a router?

Whether the Cisco 7600 routes or bridges between two ports is totally
orthogonal to whether these ports are a single line card or on two
different ones.  They just call this line card a "Switching Module" to
confuse you.  It's just a 24-port GigE line card with a fast backplane
(switching fabric) attachment.

There's also no performance difference between IPv4 routing and
bridging on that platform (IPv6 routing may be slightly slower, 20
instead of 30 Mpps or so).

> It would be interesting to see results with the traffic connected to
> ports on different modules in a Cisco!

I don't think it would make any difference performance-wise, but it
would make the Cisco setup more expensive (but then it would have even
more free ports :-).
-- 
Simon.