switch for server farm

[ivannepriakhin8505]

hi guys,

I have to choose server farm switch but i dont have enough experince for that.

My environment : 10 servers in VCenter cluster, brocade SAN switch for storage

Tech spec:
- 10G
- standart L3 switch
- non stoping Upgrade
- may be MPLS for connect DC to Campus
- MC-LAG \ vPC for stack from two devices

My exprince its Cisco 3850, 2960, Juniper vSRX, Extreme X670

roughly i choosed: Cisco 3524-x, Juniper QFX5100 and Juniper EX4600

But not clear about Cisco 3524-x

 - non stoping Upgrade
 - MPLS

My questions:

1. I can upgrage Cisco 3524-x without downtime ?
2. What about MPLS , datasheet silent about that ?

If you have aproximately same configuration please give me advice about choise equipment.

If you found my options not enoght convinced please make a point what I else need to pay attention and what model would you preferred.

[Sergiu.Daniluk]

Hi @ivannepriakhin8505 

Nexus 3500 is an Ultra-Low Latency switch family. Normally these are the switches used in banking and trading environments.

MPLS is not supported on this platform. 

I would suggest to go for a Nexus 9000 platform. Here is a list of MPLS features and platforms which supports the feature:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus9000/sw/92x/label-switching/b-cisco-nexus-9000-series-nx-os-label-switching-configuration-guide-92x/b-cisco-nexus-9000-series-nx-os-label-switching-configuration-guide-92x_chapter_010.htm... 

9300-EX family is the one which supports most of the MPLS features, however, if you find that you can choose FX platform (which is the 3rd gen hardware), I would suggest to go for FX.

You can use this as reference from h/w capabilities:

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/nexus-9300-10GbaseT-switches-comparison.html 

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/switches/nexus-9000-series-switches/nexus-9300-10GE-fiber-switches-comparison.html  

On the other side, one very important thing: none of the platforms supports ISSU (in-service upgrade / non-disruptive upgrade) when MPLS feature is enabled on the switch. 

A non-disruptive ISSU with MPLS features

None

None

None

Let me know if you have any questions.

Stay safe,

Sergiu