[j-nsp] The Switch is ON !!!

[Eric Van Tol]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: juniper-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net 
> [mailto:juniper-nsp-bounces at puck.nether.net] On Behalf Of 
> Sabri Berisha
> Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 10:56 AM
> To: Alexandre Snarskii
> Cc: Juniper-NSP Mailing list
> Subject: Re: [j-nsp] The Switch is ON !!!
>
> The specs say:
> 
> Layer 3 Features: IPv4
> 
> Max number of ARP entries: 16,000
> 
> Max number of IPv4 unicast routes in hardware: 12,000
> 
> Max number of IPv4 multicast routes in hardware: 2,000
> 
> Routing protocols: RIPv1/v2, OSPF, BGP, ISIS
> 
> 12k of routes would work 25 years ago for a service provider :)
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> -- 
> Sabri

Why would customer edge switches servicing the typical voice/data
customer require full routes?  Out of the hundreds of Ethernet circuits
that we've deployed using Cisco ME3400 switches, only 3 customers
require full routes - in that case, we multihop them to a peer with full
routes.  A <1% need for such capacity doesn't justify the cost of a
switch/router that can do a full table.  Maybe our customer base is
different than others, though.

That said, none of the metro ethernet stackable switches that I know of
(Foundry, Cisco ME-series, Telco Systems, MRV, etc.) have enough TCAM
and/or memory to take full routes, so I'm still not sure the point is
valid.

-evt