7604 w/SUP32 vs. 7206VXR w/NPE-G2

[Kevin Hamilton]

In my new job I have inherited a data center that is using a 7206VXR w/NPE-G2 as the core WAN router.  It has a fiber GigE (G0/1) to ATT for backbone access and the other two GigEs (G0/2 and G0/3) are copper and feed a server rack and a DSLAM.  It is not running any dynamic routing and has maybe 9 or 10 static routes.   

The boss would like us to swap it out for a decomissioned 7604 with dual SUP32s and a WS-X6148-GE-TX and I have some questions... 

From what I can read, the 7604/SUP32 has better performance, but is it better enough to justify the change?  

Is there a layman's term way of expressing how much faster the 7604 is; 20%, 50% 100%, etc...?  

Do I use the GigE ports on one of the SUP32s or the 6148 as my WAN ports? 

Any other constructive thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  

Thanks in advance!

Kevin

[Ahad Aboss]

Kevin,

I think that change is a no brainer. The 7206VXR comes with 3GigE ports built in with multiple expansion slots however, it can only do up to 2 Mpps.

The 7604 can do uip to 30Mpps, and has a total througput of 320Gbps with loads of GigE ports if you are using WS-X6148-GE-TX .

If you post a little more info about yout deployment environment, I will be able to give you some feedback

The 7206VXR-NPE-G2 can handle up to 16K subs if you aren't running any QoS.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

From a raw performance perspective, the 7604 with a sup32 offer much more.  The chassis supports supervisors with the Mpps and throughputs such Ahad mentions, but the sup32 offers less, i.e:

Q. What are the backplane and forwarding speeds for Sup32?

A. Sup32 is a "classic" supervisor that connects to the 32 Gbps bus. The  supervisor does not include and does not support a switch fabric. The  forwarding performance is 15 Mpps.

However, even these numbers are much better than the 7206VXR's NPE-G2 combination, which offers 2 Mpps as also noted by Ahad.  (Internal bandwidth within the 7206VXR, I think uses two or there PCI buses [i.e. basic PCI is about a gig].)  (Roughly then, let's say the Catalyst offers close to about 8x the performance of the router.)

The 6148 card wasn't designed for high performance, especially the original (non 6148A) version.  Again, though, it should provide better raw performance than the 7206, especially if you take into consideration its "bank of 8 ports" architecture.

The gig ports on the sup32 card itself, I believe are all line rate capable.  (From what you describe, the sup32's 8 gig ports may be all you need.)

The biggest disadvantage of the 7604 sup32 compared to the 7606VXR NPE-G2, the later should offer many more WAN  features, but from your described usage, this may be unimportant to you.

The above is a long way of saying, from what you describe, it might make good sense to use the 7604.

[Ahad Aboss]

I do agree with the points highlighted by Joseph, a lenghty post but a good one

It really comes down to what you are after and what environment you will be deploying the router in. As Joseph pointed out, the 6148 card is not desight for high performance environment but the 7604 will certiainly give you a noticeable perforamnce than the 7206VXR.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Thanks to both of you for the excellent feedback!

Is it also correct to assume that while my upgrade path with the 7206VXR is done, I will have the ability to add more performance to the 7604 by replacing the SUP32s with SUP720 or RSP720 sometime in the future?

Thanks again,

Kevin

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Disclaimer

The  Author of this posting offers the information contained within this  posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that  there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any purpose.  Information provided is for informational purposes only and should not  be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind. Usage of this  posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.

Liability Disclaimer

In  no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including,  without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profit) arising out  of the use or inability to use the posting's information even if Author  has been advised of the possibility of such damage.

Posting

Yup, although you might run into some limitations if chassis is not an -E variant.

Also to fully capitalize on the 720 Gbps fabric, you need dCEF 720 line cards, often with DFCs.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Thank you again for the help.  I moved the 7604 to my data center and powered it up yesterday.  I'm running into a problem that has me baffled. 

Each time I reboot the router it switches to the previously idle supervisor module and no matter what I do it will not save my startup-config. 

The first time I booted slot 1 was what I would call the primary supervisor.  I configured an IP address on G1/9, added a default route and added an IP name-server.  I tested my configuration and it worked so I did a "copy run start" then rebooted.

When I rebooted it came up on slot 2.  I had to move the console cable to supervisor 2 and it took me through the same startup procedure again.  Once again I tested my config then did a "copy run start" and rebooted.  This time it flipped back to sup 1 and the whole process started over.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Disclaimer

The   Author of this posting offers the information contained within this   posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that   there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any purpose.   Information provided is for informational purposes only and should not   be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind. Usage of  this  posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.

Liability Disclaimer

In   no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever (including,   without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profit) arising  out  of the use or inability to use the posting's information even if  Author  has been advised of the possibility of such damage.

Posting

I'm not as familiar with 7600s, but assuming the work much like 6500s.

If you don't need redundant sups, just pull #2 and see how it goes.

If you want redundant sups, you'll need to sync up their installed IOS and insure they are correctly configured for redundancy and that they synchronize the startup config.  (I rarely do chassis config setups from scratch, and when I do, it takes me a bit to get it all to work correctly.  There are multiple variables involved when working with multiple sups.  Often it seems there's something mucking up the process.)

[Kevin Hamilton]

I was just getting ready to pull the sup in slot 2.  Thanks for validating my thought.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Hmmm....  No difference with sup2 pulled.  A reboot loses the config and boots up to "Would you like to enter the initial configuration dialog?"

[Kevin Hamilton]

Is there a "clear flash" jumper somewhere on these things?

[Kevin Hamilton]

Someone set the config register to 0x2142

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Disclaimer

The    Author of this posting offers the information contained within this    posting without consideration and with the reader's understanding that    there's no implied or expressed suitability or fitness for any  purpose.   Information provided is for informational purposes only and  should not   be construed as rendering professional advice of any kind.  Usage of  this  posting's information is solely at reader's own risk.

Liability Disclaimer

In    no event shall Author be liable for any damages whatsoever  (including,   without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or  profit) arising  out  of the use or inability to use the posting's  information even if  Author  has been advised of the possibility of such  damage.

Posting

Oops thought I had mentioned checking config reg in last past - see I didn't.

With these sups, if I remember correctly, you also need to have two config regs correctly configured, one for the SP and one for the RP.  The former can be configured within the boot ROM, the latter while in IOS.