7600 or 6500?

[visitor68]

Hi, folks:

The c7600 is considered a router, yet it has what seems like the exact same chassis as the c6500, which is considered a L3 switch. Why is one a switch and the other a router when they share all the same modules and have the same port density? Or do they?

What are the most prominent qualitative differences between the 7600 and the 6500 series devices?

What about differences in terms of their use and deployment?

If I were tackling a 7600 for the first time, what should I know about it that I may not know if I have never worked with one before?

Thanks

[Jerry Ye]

Hi,

The 7600 and the 6500 are been done by two different groups. You cannot run the new 7600 softwares (12.2(32)SRx) in the 6500, and you cannot run the new 6500 softwares (12.2(33)SXH/12.2(33)SXI) in 7600.

The 7600 is target for the SP communities/customers who need additional WAN features. 6500 is target for the enterprise customers/data center LAN, etc.

Just a quick example on the differences:

- the 7600 has additional BGP features where it is not available to the 6500.

- let's use the 7609 as example. By default, the line card slots on the 7609 are vertical while the 6509 are horizontal. The 7609 is front to back air flow, but the 6509 is side to side (6509 does have a front to back air flow chassis but not in the E series). Other series of the 7600's (7604, 7606, and 7613) are side to side air flow.

If you have worked on a 6500 before, to transit to a 7600 shouldn't be that hard.

HTH,

jerry

[visitor68]

Hi, Jerry:

Can you elaborate more on the extra WAN features that the 7600 has?

What is the significance of vertical cards as opposed to horizontal cards....and the fans, etc?

Thanks

[Jerry Ye]

Hi,

Just want to started on the hardware side. The 7600 supports SIP-600 (high performance WAN line card) where it is not supported on the 6500 platform.

On software side and just as an example, the 7600 supports full function of OER (Optimized Edge Routing), while the 6500 has limited OER support

(quoted from the 12.2SX OER description) In Cisco IOS Release 12.2(33)SXH support for using a Cisco Catalyst 6500 series switch as an OER border router was introduced. Only border router functionality is included in the Cisco IOS Release 12.2(33)SXH images; no master controller configuration is available.

You can compare them from the following links:

Software Features for 7600

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6922/products_feature_guides_list.html

Software Features for 6500

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6017/products_feature_guides_list.html

For the front-to-back air flow done by the vertical cards chassis is a specification for the telco environment. Many enterprises are adapting this specification right now.

HTH,

jerry

[Joseph W. Doherty]

From an outsider's perspective . . .

". . . seems like the exact same chassis as the c6500 . . ."

The two are very, very similar, but they are likely not exactly the same, even if the difference is some firmware tag that differs.

". . . they share all the same modules . . ."

No, they don't, athough there are many in common. For instance, the 6500 supports service modules, 7600 more WAN modules. They also support some of the same supervisor modules. (They also used to even run the same IOS until it was split into two different software trains.)

"What are the most prominent qualitative differences between the 7600 and the 6500 series devices?

What about differences in terms of their use and deployment? "

Major differences are their module support which positions them either for LAN or WAN deployments.

"If I were tackling a 7600 for the first time, what should I know about it that I may not know if I have never worked with one before? "

Depends on your experience and what modules are installed in the chassis. The biggest issue might be working with IOS features supported by one of the modules only supported by the 7600, beyond that it's very similar to working with a 6500.

Personally, I suspect Cisco "divided" the 6500 vs. 7600 more due to marketing rather than technical reasons.

[INGENIERIA Y CONSULTORIAS WEBREDES LTDA]

As today...

What are the differences between 7606-S and CAT 6506-E ???

i mean, both had supervisor 2T, both had 48gig ports with DFC5, both had the same ios edition with same features.... so .. what are the differences between them?

[Leo Laohoo]

What are the differences between 7606-S and CAT 6506-E ???
 
i mean, both had supervisor 2T, both had 48gig ports with DFC5, both had the same ios edition with same features.... so .. what are the differences between them?

7600 is more of a router.  6500 is more of a Layer 3 switch.

6500E doesn't have long to go.  6500E will be gradually replaced with 6880X/6807X.

[INGENIERIA Y CONSULTORIAS WEBREDES LTDA]

but, same supervisor, same ios features, same cards, what is the difference to say "its a router" and the other "is a switch", for me is the same...

i don't use and not intented to use POS / DWDM / CWDM / ATM or related interfaces, i need to connect to 3 ISP via BGP, and propagate internet to customers via MPLS acting as a PE not intented to be a P router.

[INGENIERIA Y CONSULTORIAS WEBREDES LTDA]

even the lastest package for ios is the same on the website

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps8802/ps5460/prod_bulletin0900aecd80281b17_ps368_Products_Bulletin.html

Cisco 7600 Series Routers

Cisco IOS Software Packaging for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series

PB 453793

Last Updated: March 2010

This product bulletin articulates the Cisco IOS^® Software packaging for Cisco^® Catalyst^®6500 Series Switches, including the latest Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engine 2T and the associated Cisco IOS Software release migration strategy.

Table 1. Packages Available

Software Packages	Sup2T	VS-Sup720-10G	Sup720-3B	Sup 32
Advanced Enterprise Services	K9 • S2TAEK9-12250SY NPE* • S2TAEK9N-12250SY	K9 (LAN and WAN) • SV33AEK9L-12233SXI • SV33FPD-12233SXI Non-K9 (WAN) • SV33AES-12233SXI	K9 (LAN and WAN) • S733AEK9L-12233SXI • S733AEK9-12233SXI Non-K9 (WAN) • S733AES-12233SXI	K9 (WAN) • S323AEK9-12233SXI Non-K9 (WAN) • S323AES-12233SXI
Advanced IP Services	K9 • S2TAIK9-12250SY NPE • S2TAIK9N-12250SY	K9 (LAN and WAN) • SV33AIK9L-12233SXI • SV33AIK9-12233SXI	K9 (LAN and WAN) • S733AIK9L-12233SXI • S733AIK9-12233SXI	K9 (WAN) • S323AIK9-12233SXI
IP Services	K9 • S2TISK9-12250SY • S2TISK9Z-12250SY (for bundles only) NPE • S2TISK9N-12250SY • S2TISK9NZ-12250SY (for bundles only)	K9 (WAN) • SV33ISK9-12233SXI Non-K9 (WAN) • SV33IS-12233SXI	K9 (LAN and WAN) • S733ISK9L-12233SXI • S733ISK9-12233SXI Non-K9 (WAN) • S733IS-12233SXI	K9 (WAN) • S323ISK9-12233SXI
IP Base	K9 • S2TIBK9-12250SY NPE • S2TIBK9N-12250SY	K9 (LAN) • SV33IBK9L-12233SXI Non-K9 (LAN) • SV33IBL-12233SXI	not available	K9 (LAN) • S323IBK9L-12233SXI Non-K9 (LAN) • S323IBL-12233SXI

*NPE is an image for exporting to countries that might have import restrictions on encryption technologies. It does not allow payload encryption. K9 image is used for the rest of the world. It consists of cryptographic features such as Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol and support for IP Security (IPSec).

There are four different software packages targeted to requirements in different places of the network, including campus and data center access, aggregation, and core.

The following are major feature highlights in each Cisco IOS Software package:

• IP Base: Includes basic routing (Routing Information Protocol [RIP], static routing, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol [EIGRP] Stub, Protocol Independent Multicast [PIM] Stub), Layer 2 capabilities, manageability, security, IPv6 host support, and quality of service (QoS)

• IP Services: Adds advanced IP routing (Open Shortest Path First [OSPF], EIGRP, Border Gateway Protocol [BGP], PIM), Cisco TrustSec^® security (MacSec, Secure Group Tagging(SGT), SGT Exchange Protocol (SXP), and Security Association Protocal (SAP)), Control and Monitoring Processor (CMP), and Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP)

• Advanced IP Services: Adds advanced IPv4 and IPv6 features, Secure Group Access Control Lists (SGACLs), Layer 3 VPN, and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)

• Advanced Enterprise Services: Full Cisco IOS Software features, including Ethernet over Multiple Protocol Label Switching (EoMPLS) and Virtual Private Lan Service (VPLS)

For more information about individual features, refer tohttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/prod_presentation_list.html.

For more information about the latest Cisco IOS Software releases, refer tohttp://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/prod_bulletins_list.html.

For more information, contact ask-c6500-pm@cisco.com.