I need opinion and recommendation on choosing between 6509 or stay with CSS.
We currently have CSS11506 and CSS11503 for our intranet/extranet/internet and CSS11503 for the lab running in bridge mode. The support responsibilities for these are handled by web infrastructure and separate from the networking department.
We are researching to implement GSS on the Internet for site redundancy in the future.
For the following reasons, it is being considered to redesign the web farm to use 6509 with CSM and SSL modules:
1. Web servers and the CSS are connected by network switch, ports are running out on the switch and 6509 will provide more ports on a single unit.
2. Routing issues - since the web servers are configured to use the CSS as their gateway, it will be more difficult for network engineers to troubleshooting routing issues. Using the 6509 will turn this design to router mode and allow the network team to handle the routing through the 6509.
3. Using 6509 will also produce a cleaner design by plugging the web servers directly to the ports on 6509. Picturing two cables must be run for each VLAN. This should also help with the one-arm vs. two-arm problem because each server will be in a dedicated port and thus on its own VLAN, shouldn’t it?
Here are some questions I have thought of. I know many of these are broad topic and most will not be answered fully but I appreciate any comment. Please throw in other concerns:
· Which, CSM or CSS, is preferred for web farm for load balancing, SSL off loading, and redundancy by the experts and Why?
· Which one is recommended or perhaps pushed, if not for the cost, by Cisco for this type of implementation and why? .
· Which, CSM or CSS, has more weight within Cisco as far as support and development.
· What is the future for CSM and CSS? I know CSS was arrow-point at once, so is there a plan or possibility that the CSS might be integrated with Cisco’s native, running the same software that CSM is running, or the reverse? This conversation talked about some relevance but it didn’t get all the questions answered. http://forum.cisco.com/eforum/servlet/NetProf?page=netprof&CommCmd=MB%3Fcmd%3Ddisplay_location%26location%3D.eeab081
· Which software, CSM or CSS, is more mature as far as feature set and stability? What about flexibility when special configuration is needed to make things work?
· Since 6509 is expensive, box redundancy is not in the plan. Any comments about not having a redundant 6509 vs. having a redundant CSS, and vs. having redundant CSM and SSL within the same 6509? Is the 6509 chassis/back-plane so stable that it rarely fails?
· How does the Global Site Selector (GSS) work with CSM vs. CSS? Will both work with all features that GSS offers?
· Anything else anyone would like to warn me about?
Thanks in advance for your contribution to the discussion!
