[163810] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Network Vendor suggestions/reviews, Arista Networks, Dell Force10,
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Erik Bais)
Wed Jun 19 02:21:32 2013
In-Reply-To: <CC75EEBF17C7374EA8309102B7B10C84010AA27D2C@exchange.shenrons-house.local>
From: Erik Bais <ebais@a2b-internet.com>
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:21:06 +0200
To: Blake Pfankuch - Mailing List <blake.mailinglist@pfankuch.me>
Cc: "NANOG \(nanog@nanog.org\)" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
Hi Blake,
Purple is the new Green.=20
I would have a vote for Extreme Networks if you look for a high density, low=
latency, non blocking setup.
Their BD X8 could do 768 10G's per chassis (2304 ports per rack). Later this=
year the BD X8 will also do the new gen 100G.=20
Their switches are one of the fastest switches you can find for a datacenter=
setup, along with their TOR switch, the 48 port 10G 1U switch, the X670/X67=
0V.=20
=46rom a pricepoint in purchase but also in power consumption and management=
cost, Extreme Networks will be a clear winner.=20
If you are looking for options like certain sw features, Extreme works like a=
charm in a MPLS/ VPLS setup, MLAGG, OSPF and v6. They also put a lot of eff=
ort in SW API's like perl /XML interfaces for automation, which makes it gre=
at to script against.=20
Their CLI has a bit different structure vs Cisco IOS or the Juniper cli, but=
very easy to pickup.=20
We do a lot with Extreme in our own ISP network, I would recommend them in a=
ny Cisco 6509 replacement project.=20
Regards,
Erik Bais
Op 19 jun. 2013 om 01:53 heeft Blake Pfankuch - Mailing List <blake.mailingl=
ist@pfankuch.me> het volgende geschreven:
> Howdy,
> I have been working on a proposal for the organization I wo=
rk for to move into the 10gbit datacenter. We have a small datacenter curre=
ntly of about 1000 ports of 1gbit. We have traditionally been a full Cisco s=
hop, however I was asked to do a price comparison as well as features with o=
ther major alternative vendors. I was also asked to do some digging as far a=
s what "the real world" thinks about these possible vendors.
>=20
> We currently have 2 Cisco 6509's with 8 48 port cards Sup 3BXL, 2 Cisco 45=
06 with 5x 48 port card and Sup V's and 2 4900M switches providing 10gbit to=
a very specialized implementation. With all of our technology, we try to n=
ot be bleeding edge, but oozing edge. We need 5 9's or more of uptime yearl=
y so stability is preferable to cool features. We currently have single sup=
ervisors in all of our switches (not my decision) and it has bit us recently=
. Everything we are looking at needs to support NSF/SSO/VSS of some kind.
>=20
> What we have been looking to replace it with in Cisco world is Nexus 7004 C=
ore and Nexus 5596UP with 2200 series Fabric extenders for Dist/Access as we=
ll as 2200 Fabric Extenders within our Dell Blade Chassis. Realistically we=
will be under 800 ports of 10gbit (excluding Blades) which puts us in a tou=
gh spot from what I can find. Currently everything we have is EOR, however T=
OR would make more sense allowing us to switch to SFP+ twinax connectivity t=
o servers.
>=20
> With this in mind, I have a few questions...
>=20
> It was mandated that I look at a company "Arista Networks" and investigate=
possible options. I had not heard much about them, so I look to the expert=
s. Pro's and Con's? Real world experience? Looks to me they have a lot of=
cool features, but I'm slightly concerned with how new they might be, how r=
eliable it would be as well as their QA/bugfix history. Also 24x4 support a=
nd hardware replacement. Everything in our datacenter currently has a 2 or 4=
hour cisco contract on it and critical core components have a cold spare in=
inventory.
>=20
> Dell Force 10... I know Dell tries to get you to drink the Koolaid on this=
solution, I was a former Dell Partner and they even pushed me to get demo e=
quipment going... What's the experience with their chassis switches? Stabi=
lity? Configuration sanity? What do people like? What do people hate?
>=20
> Juniper. What do people like? What do people hate? Have the Layer 2 issu=
es of historical age gone away? Is the config still xml ish? It has been a=
bout 5 years since I worked with anything Juniper.
>=20
> Extreme networks. I know very little about them historically. What is go=
od, what is bad? Is the config sane?
>=20
> I would be happy to compile any information I find, as well as our sanitiz=
ed internal conclusions. On and off list responses welcome.
>=20
> If there is another vendor anyone would suggest, please add them to the li=
st with similarly asked questions.
>=20
> Thanks!
>=20
> Blake
