[j-nsp] Why should I *not* buy an MX?

[sthaug at nethelp.no]

>   I've done L2VPN (Kompella), L2Ckt (Martini), VRF, full BGP routes,
> LDP, RSVP-TE on an MX960, and it all seems to 'work' so far.

VPLS (BGP based), Martini, VRF, full BGP routes, LDP for Martini, IPv6,
RSVP-TE on MX240 and MX480. It all seems to "just work" here too. Found
one netflow bug (ifIndex field being set to 0 sometimes in the netflow
export).

>   My biggest complaint about the MX line so far is the comparitively
> rediculous cost.  At $100k for a 20-port E-Q-model Gig SFP line card
> for an MX480 (minus any heavy discounting), you can buy a fully
> populated box with twice the ports and all the functionality (minus
> Kompella-stuff) from other vendors, like Foundry's MLX or XMR lines
> (which, like any vendor, come with their own surmountable
> limitations).  Makes for a tough sell sometimes.

Funny. We've bought our MX boxes as *routers* not switches (and we have
no plans to use them as switches), and find the price/performance quite
good - much better than for instance M320 (which we also have).

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no