[j-nsp] m7i performance

[sthaug at nethelp.no]

> The other RE option to consider is the RE-800, if you can afford it.
> This gives more CPU grunt than the old RE-5.0, and also comes with 1.5GB
> of RAM by default.

Yes. We only buy RE-850 for our M7i routers these days.

> > > - From performance view, how much does a M10i differ from m7i?
> > 
> > M7i is 3.2 Gbps full duplex for its 4 PIC slots, plus up to 1 Gbps
> full duplex for the FIC (onboard) slot. So up to 4.2 Gbps, plus whatever
> you can push through the builtin tunnel PIC.
> > 
> > M10i is 6.4 Gbps full duplex for its 8 PIC slots. If you need a tunnel
> PIC, it counts against these 6.4 Gbps.
> > 
> 
> While this may be the theory, I'm not convinced of this in practice. The
> M7i has exactly the same CFEB board as the M10i, and the REs available
> are the same, so I think that the actual performance should be pretty
> similar. 
> 
> The difference, of course, is that in the M7i you can only ever occupy a
> maximum of 6 of the 8 available PIC slots.

Precisely - which is why the M10i will give you a *bit* more than the
M7i, but certainly not double the capacity (which is easy to believe
given the marketing).

> The M10i's main advantage is its redundancy - there is a lot of peace of
> mind to be had from having 2 REs and 2 CFEBs available in critical
> systems.

Fully agree here. We find that M7i will cover our needs well in most
locations, and only in a few places do we need the M10i.

The M7i with RE-850 and onboard GigE is a really sweet little box.

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no