MPLS on SUP720-Base?

[pavlosd]

Hi all,

we have a 7606 router with SUP720-Base and FlexWANs. Is MPLS supported on this engine, or we need to upgrade in order to make it work. We are interested for Layer 3 VPNs and Traffic Engineering. Attached is the Module Description.

Are there any limitations?

[romccallum]

i might be wrong here but I think that the PFC3A is not supported within the respect of MPLS. I think you need the PFC3B or better still the 3BXL.

[pavlosd]

That's what I was told as well by our support, but I was looking at a more safe and checked answer.

[Harold Ritter]

You 6500 can support MPLS without a Sup720 3BXL but you then need a FlexWAN or OSM card.

Hope this helps,

[romccallum]

Harry, doesnt the PFC3A (or B cant remember which one it is bit its defo one of them) render your shiny new sup7203BXL dead? At present without the 3bxl all the mpls forwarding and clever stuff is done on the line cards i.e. OSM/Flexwans. With the 3bxl this give the processor card the power to hold all this clever stuff and forwarding (at a much much much higher rate i think). Im sure i was told somewhere that if you did have the 3bxl and the PFC(a or b) to throw those daughter cards in the bucket as they only hinder your device not help it.

[Harold Ritter]

It is the PFC type that determines what type of Sup720 you have. In other words, if the PFC you have is PFC3BXL then the Sup is a Sup7203BXL.

It is the PFC3B (or 3BXL) really that allows you to support MPLS on the Sup itself. The PFC3B and 3BXL are functionally the same. The only difference is that the 3BXL has more memory.

Hope this helps,

[pavlosd]

Thank you all. I think I got the message. I have to go with the upgrade...

[pavlosd]

I noticed that the commands for mpls do exist under SUP 720 PFC3A. Does this means that MPLS will work but with no Hardware Accelaration (Bringing BOX Throughput to Lower Limits) or that even that commands will be enabled will not work or will work with "uknown" results?

Moreover by looking at OSM cards, seem to mention that enable MPLS on SUP-2 but do not mention SUP720. Is that the case?

[Harold Ritter]

The fact that the MPLS commands are available if a PFC3A is installed doesn't mean that it will work. With the PFC3A, you would require an OSM or FlexWAN card for it to work. The PFC3B on the other hand support MPLS without assistance from an OSM or FlexWAN.

Hope this helps,

[dprescott]

Is this correct - VPLS is only support via the OSM modules but because you need to bind to a physcial interface and cannot bind to a virtual interface?

We are alos noticing the EoMPLS can be built off a VLAN interface from a 3750-ME but you cannot do the same on a 6500/7600???

[Harold Ritter]

It is correct to say that the VPLS function is not performed on the PFC3B ASIC but rather on the OSM card. It is therefore required to use an OSM card as an uplink to the core if you want to deploy VPLS.

I think you can use a VLAN interface as an endpoint for the EOMPLS pseudowire on the 6500/7600. What version of code are you running?

Hope this helps,

[pavlosd]

I have another question where i got a bit confused, I asked our local support if the SUP720A (PFC3A) could be upgraded to either SUP720B or 7203BXL for the 7600 series and they told me that is not possible. Then I was looking through Cisco site and came accross this article "http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/prod_module_installation_guide09186a00801eb0af.html" describing how to upgrade the SUP720 to 3B or 3BXL. So, is that possible? Are there any possible problems to upgrading rather than buying a new one?

[Harold Ritter]

The Sup720 is indeed field upgradable from a PFC3A to a PFC3B/BXL.

Hope this helps.

[pavlosd]

Excellent. I was a bit confused because the document only mentions Catalyst 6500 and not Cisco 7600. Just a last question, Do I still need to upgrade Flexwan to Enchanced Flexwan?

[dprescott]

Version 12.2(18)SXD2

Thanks