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Re: 10GE router resource

  • From: Robert Boyle
  • Date: Thu Mar 27 08:10:12 2008


At 04:33 AM 3/27/2008, Tore Anderson wrote:
> Hands up those of you running Cat6500's in service provider
> environments.

*hand*

Actually, not quite yet, but I'm considering purchasing a pair of
Cat6500's (with Sup720 PFC3CXL) for a new colo I'm setting up, bundling
them together with VSS.  They'll terminate a few transit links and links
to other colos, in addition to functioning as distribution/access
switches for the data center itself.

Are you saying that there's something about the Cat6500's that makes
them unsuitable for such usage?  I'd sure like to hear more about that
before I go ahead and buy them, if so.

Cisco wants you to pay 4 times as much for the 7600 which is the same platform except the cards are vertical instead of horizontal. (If you have a NEBS chassis, then that's not even a differentiator.) Oh, there is also a ROM/PROM/Flash chip in the chassis which tells IOS that you are on a Catalyst and not a 7600 so the newer 7600 IOS code supposedly won't work. This is the "code split" which they did about a year? ago. The Catalyst works great as a core router, but Cisco says that's the job for a 7600, not a 6500. I don't know if there are any other differences, FlexWAN card support? But for most of us, the 6500 works great and does everything we need. That's what the OP was referring to I believe.


-Robert



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