Questions about 6506/6509 Switches with MSFC/MSFC2 - Memory? BGP? etc.

[adam]

I have some questions about the 6500 architecture with MSFC/MSFC2 cards present that I hope someone can help me with.

1. When utilizing a SUP1A-MSFC2 card, what is the maximum memory that the MSFC2 can carry? Some folks say 256MB, some say 512MB. This appears to be a very confusing issue.

2. Can an MSFC/MSFC2 handle outside peering with full BGP tables? What is the current memory size requirement to accomodate a full BGP routing table?

3. If a 6509 is being used to distribute public IP service to individual customers in a datacenter type environment, what is the most effective way of rate limiting the customers bandwidth? What would be the minimum requirement (Sup level, MSFC/MSFC2, PFC?) to make this happen?

Thank you all for any help provided!

[steinar.haug]

To answer your questions 2 and 3:

- BGP peering with full routing tables is no problem with an MSFC2. We're

doing it at several different sites. 256 MB will do for now. (Our MSFC2s have

512 MB, and 324 MB free with 3 full views.)

- For rate limiting: Remember that Sup2/PFC2 can only do rate limiting on

input. If you want rate limiting on output also, you need Sup720.