[j-nsp] EX4550 or QFX5100 for Core

[Nelson, Brian]

I have 2x QFX5100-96s for an L2 core in a VC. Primary function is
mitigating exuberant computer research traffic; I have some unique
firewalls on every interface uplink to an EX2200/4200. Twice a year we
also push 8.5Gbs for 180 minutes to image systems on an EX4200 stack; no
other traffic notices the load.

No problems; but I am not using any L3 protocols --yet. All the cool
kids keep emphasizing I should implement EVPN with the MX router. I
don't see the business justification yet.

Brian Nelson

On 08/03/2018 09:43 AM, Giovanni Bellac via juniper-nsp wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> we have migrated our core (8-10x Racks, BGP default route, LACP to the ToR, VLAN, L3, nothing fancy) to a VC of 2x 4200-24T with 12.3R12-S9. 12.3R12-Sx is a recommend version for EX4200. We have had a kernel panic (no JTAC) and I am not confident with this old setup anymore.
>
> Our older stack of 2x 4200-24T with 12.3R6.6 has done its job for years without any problems.
>
> (PS: We have first migrated to 15.1R7-S1 on the new VC - it was terribly buggy - Guys, 15.1 is a JTAC recommend version... I have the feeling and of course reading the mailinglists that Juniper has no inhouse testing anymore ? Note to me: RTFM(ailinglist) first.)
>
> So, we want something new with JTAC support. We need (1/10G)-Base-T, VLAN, L3, nothing fancy, but stable. We have 3k ARP entries.
>
> Option 1) 2x EX4550
>
> Option 2) 2x QFX5100
>
> We want to keep simplicity in and therefore want to use VC. We are pushing some Gbit/s from Rack-to-Rack (backups) and to our two upstreams around 500-600Mbit/s.
> QFX5100 hardware seems to be MUCH better than EX4550 hardware. The ARP table size, hash table size etc. on EX4550 is relatively small.
> I have read (mailinglists, reddit) that VC is not a good idea on QFX5100 (bugs, bugs, bugs).
>
> Can somebody with these devices in the network can give me some up to date insights?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> Kind regards,
> Giovanni
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