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

[bill fumerola]

On Sat, Nov 08, 2008 at 11:24:45AM -0800, Kevin Oberman wrote:
> > bill fumerola wrote:
> > > force10's cost advantage is chipped away at by the OP's IPv6 requirement.
> > 
> > Yes, IPv6 and MPLS are not currently supported (and they might be or
> > not, in the future) by Force-10. Pricewise that would lead to choosing
> > Cisco Cat6K with or without DFCs depending on throughput requirements.
> 
> I believe that this is half in error. IPv6 is supported, if not too
> well, in recent software, but MPLS support will require a new ASIC spin
> and I can't be sure when/if that will happen. IPv6 support was designed
> into all of the F10 ASICs produced in the past three or four years, but
> the software support was slow in arriving.

i'm half in agreement with half in error.

last time i asked, on the F10 platforms that mattered there were two
line cards you could buy and if you wanted IPv6 (or a realistically sized
IPv4 table distributed to the line card), you needed the more expensive
of the two.

so, i only said it impacted the "cost advantage". any advantage in price
over the 6500/7600 platform was reduced when pricing out w/ the more
expensive line cards. that was for new - discount%. start looking in the
used market availability of the cat6k platform (chassis, sups, line
cards) v. the force10 E-series.

> There is a lot I like about the F10 hardware, but the routing software
> is still immature compared to other vendors and the lack of MPLS
> capability makes them a non-starter when we look at hardware.

MPLS wasn't a requirement for the company/at the time i inquired, but
the fact that it couldn't be added w/o a forklift upgrade certainly left
a bad taste in my mouth. f10 would do well to realize they're being
lapped by the modern offerings of their competitors.

-- bill