Line rate gigabit router/switch options

[Matthew Huff]

We have a pair of cisco 7204VXR routers connecting to STFI receiving market data. At peak periods micro-bursts of unicast and multicast data overrun the Ethernet fifo buffer due to the 7200 being a cpu based router. A 7600 router would be a good replacement but it isn't cost effective. We need BGP, rip, pim multicast and netflow. Since the connections are all metro Ethernet, Cisco has suggested looking at the 3750 switch platform that does BGP since all of the packets are hardware switched, but it doesn't due L3 netflow. I've been doing cisco for too long and was wondering what the cost effective options are with other vendors or even other possible cisco solutions.


----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.ox.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

[Paul Kelly :: Blacknight]

Hi Matthew,

The Juniper J6350 boxes are both cost effective and are claimed to do line 2Gbit/s of IMIX traffic I think.

We've several deployed between multitple DCs in Dublin and a load of J4350 at different layers. Stick 2GB of ram into each one and they'll go a long way.

Paul

Paul Kelly
Technical Director
Blacknight Internet Solutions ltd
Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated servers
IP Transit Services
Tel: [phone]
Lo-call: 1850 929 929
DDI: [phone]

e-mail: ***@blacknight.ie
web: http://www.blacknight.ie

Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd,
Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,
Sleaty Road,
Graiguecullen,
Carlow,
Ireland

Company No.: 370845

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:21 PM
Subject: Line rate gigabit router/switch options
We have a pair of cisco 7204VXR routers connecting to STFI
receiving market data. At peak periods micro-bursts of
unicast and multicast data overrun the Ethernet fifo buffer
due to the 7200 being a cpu based router. A 7600 router would
be a good replacement but it isn't cost effective. We need
BGP, rip, pim multicast and netflow. Since the connections
are all metro Ethernet, Cisco has suggested looking at the
3750 switch platform that does BGP since all of the packets
are hardware switched, but it doesn't due L3 netflow. I've
been doing cisco for too long and was wondering what the cost
effective options are with other vendors or even other
possible cisco solutions.
----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.ox.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

[Matthew Huff]

We currently have 7204VXRs with the NGE-G1 controller. That's rated at 1Gbit/s and we aren't running that high yet. What we are running into is micro-bursts that overrun the ethernet's fifo buffer due to the cpu routing (even though it's CEF based and cisco has verified the configuration). We need something that is hardware switched such as the cisco 7600/6500 or the Foundry line as some have pointed out.

As far as our netflow requirements are, we need to be able to determine average line rates for different protocols/ and different multicast channels (not realtime). We use Fluke Network's NetFlow Tracker and it works with sFlow, IPFIX, Netflow and other netflow like protocols, so it looks like almost any of the hardware suggested will work.


----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.otaotr.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Kelly :: Blacknight [mailto:***@blacknight.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 4:03 PM
To: Matthew Huff; '***@nanog.org'
Subject: RE: Line rate gigabit router/switch options

Hi Matthew,

The Juniper J6350 boxes are both cost effective and are claimed to do line 2Gbit/s of IMIX traffic I think.

We've several deployed between multitple DCs in Dublin and a load of J4350 at different layers. Stick 2GB of ram into each one and they'll go a long way.

Paul

Paul Kelly
Technical Director
Blacknight Internet Solutions ltd
Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated servers
IP Transit Services
Tel: [phone]
Lo-call: 1850 929 929
DDI: [phone]

e-mail: ***@blacknight.ie
web: http://www.blacknight.ie

Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd,
Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,
Sleaty Road,
Graiguecullen,
Carlow,
Ireland

Company No.: 370845

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:21 PM
Subject: Line rate gigabit router/switch options
We have a pair of cisco 7204VXR routers connecting to STFI receiving
market data. At peak periods micro-bursts of unicast and multicast
data overrun the Ethernet fifo buffer due to the 7200 being a cpu
based router. A 7600 router would be a good replacement but it isn't
cost effective. We need BGP, rip, pim multicast and netflow. Since the
connections are all metro Ethernet, Cisco has suggested looking at the
3750 switch platform that does BGP since all of the packets are
hardware switched, but it doesn't due L3 netflow. I've been doing
cisco for too long and was wondering what the cost effective options
are with other vendors or even other possible cisco solutions.
----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.ox.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

[Matthew Elmore]

I think a J series would be the way to go as well. Even the 4350
claims 1Gbps+ forwarding.

To give you an idea of cost, a J4350 will list about $5k J6350 will
list about $10.5k. The 8-port GigE PIMs list at $1800 per, 16-port
GigE PIM (dual height) at $3000. Of course, those are list prices...

M

Post by Paul Kelly :: Blacknight
Hi Matthew,
The Juniper J6350 boxes are both cost effective and are claimed to
do line 2Gbit/s of IMIX traffic I think.
We've several deployed between multitple DCs in Dublin and a load of
J4350 at different layers. Stick 2GB of ram into each one and
they'll go a long way.
Paul
Paul Kelly
Technical Director
Blacknight Internet Solutions ltd
Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated servers
IP Transit Services
Tel: [phone]
Lo-call: 1850 929 929
DDI: [phone]
web: http://www.blacknight.ie
Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd,
Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,
Sleaty Road,
Graiguecullen,
Carlow,
Ireland
Company No.: 370845

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:21 PM
Subject: Line rate gigabit router/switch options
We have a pair of cisco 7204VXR routers connecting to STFI
receiving market data. At peak periods micro-bursts of
unicast and multicast data overrun the Ethernet fifo buffer
due to the 7200 being a cpu based router. A 7600 router would
be a good replacement but it isn't cost effective. We need
BGP, rip, pim multicast and netflow. Since the connections
are all metro Ethernet, Cisco has suggested looking at the
3750 switch platform that does BGP since all of the packets
are hardware switched, but it doesn't due L3 netflow. I've
been doing cisco for too long and was wondering what the cost
effective options are with other vendors or even other
possible cisco solutions.
----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.ox.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

[Brant I. Stevens]

What about a 6524 switch? Or a Juniper EX 4200?

Post by Matthew Huff
We currently have 7204VXRs with the NGE-G1 controller. That's rated at 1Gbit/s
and we aren't running that high yet. What we are running into is micro-bursts
that overrun the ethernet's fifo buffer due to the cpu routing (even though
it's CEF based and cisco has verified the configuration). We need something
that is hardware switched such as the cisco 7600/6500 or the Foundry line as
some have pointed out.
As far as our netflow requirements are, we need to be able to determine
average line rates for different protocols/ and different multicast channels
(not realtime). We use Fluke Network's NetFlow Tracker and it works with
sFlow, IPFIX, Netflow and other netflow like protocols, so it looks like
almost any of the hardware suggested will work.
----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.otaotr.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]
-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 4:03 PM
Subject: RE: Line rate gigabit router/switch options
Hi Matthew,
The Juniper J6350 boxes are both cost effective and are claimed to do line
2Gbit/s of IMIX traffic I think.
We've several deployed between multitple DCs in Dublin and a load of J4350 at
different layers. Stick 2GB of ram into each one and they'll go a long way.
Paul
Paul Kelly
Technical Director
Blacknight Internet Solutions ltd
Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated servers
IP Transit Services
Tel: [phone]
Lo-call: 1850 929 929
DDI: [phone]
web: http://www.blacknight.ie
Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd,
Unit 12A,Barrowside Business Park,
Sleaty Road,
Graiguecullen,
Carlow,
Ireland
Company No.: 370845

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:21 PM
Subject: Line rate gigabit router/switch options
We have a pair of cisco 7204VXR routers connecting to STFI receiving
market data. At peak periods micro-bursts of unicast and multicast
data overrun the Ethernet fifo buffer due to the 7200 being a cpu
based router. A 7600 router would be a good replacement but it isn't
cost effective. We need BGP, rip, pim multicast and netflow. Since the
connections are all metro Ethernet, Cisco has suggested looking at the
3750 switch platform that does BGP since all of the packets are
hardware switched, but it doesn't due L3 netflow. I've been doing
cisco for too long and was wondering what the cost effective options
are with other vendors or even other possible cisco solutions.
----
Matthew Huff | One Manhattanville Rd
OTA Management LLC | Purchase, NY 10577
www.ox.com | Phone: [phone]
aim: matthewbhuff | Fax: [phone]

[Kevin Oberman]

Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:17:12 -0400
What about a 6524 switch? Or a Juniper EX 4200?

6524? Sounds like a bit of overkill to me.

As far as the EX4200, it might do the job in a bit, but, as of the
latest JunOS release, too many features are supported for us to use them
as full-function routers. Maybe in a release or two (late this year),
they will be ready. The hardware is most impressive.

Note that they will not handle full routes. I believe that they do about
12K routes, so they may be fine for you application. They do all of the
"standard" protocols, but they don't so MPLS yet. I'm not quite sure
when this will make it into JunOS.

I'm quite impressed with the potential of this box and, as a layer 2
switch, they run very well. Just some serious limitations for layer
3.

[Kevin Blackham]

If you don't need a full table or 10G, a sup32 6503 chassis bundle is
very affordable. 8 sfp and 1 copper port for about 9k after discount.

- Original message -

Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:17:12 -0400 > From: "Brant I. Stevens" <bra...

Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:17:12 -0400
What about a 6524 switch? Or a Juniper EX 4200?

6524? Sounds like a bit of overkill to me.
As far as the EX4200, it might do the job in a bit, but, as of the
latest JunOS release, too many features are supported for us to use them
as full-function routers. Maybe in a release or two (late this year),
they will be ready. The hardware is most impressive.
Note that they will not handle full routes. I believe that they do about
12K routes, so they may be fine for you application. They do all of the
"standard" protocols, but they don't so MPLS yet. I'm not quite sure
when this will make it into JunOS.
I'm quite impressed with the potential of this box and, as a layer 2
switch, they run very well. Just some serious limitations for layer
3.
--
R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
9BA3 14A4 EADA 927D EBB3 987B 3751