L3 Switch vs Router Metro Ethernet Termination

[chris.berry.1]

I'm interested in knowing what others are doing lately with regard to device choice on a private WAN Metro Ethernet connection when feature requirements are met by both an L3 switch and router.

Thanks,

Chris

[Philip D'Ath]

If a layer 3 switch can do everything you need, I would go with the switch - because of their raw speed.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

If feature needs are truly met by either a L3 switch or router, most would likely chose the L3 switch as generally it has a better performance to cost ratio.

That said, as WAN MetroE, because of cost, is seldom obtained with LAN bandwidth, or WAN latency is still a problem, often a L3 switch doesn't offer the features that are really needed.

[corycandia]

Is it your opinion that the L3 switch has all the required QoS capabilities since MetroE might not be operating at pot speeds?

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Well, if you're not operating at port speed, and you want effective QoS, you'll need a shaper.  I believe most "LAN" L3 switches do not support that feature.  Some "MetroE" L3 switches may.

[Philip D'Ath]

Switches like the 3850 do, as they support Hierarchical QoS.

[Philip D'Ath]

Being a private metro Ethernet network, your need for features is likely to be low.

If they are mostly 1Gb/s circuits (or slower) a Cisco 3850 would provide ample (and comprehensive) QoS capabilities.  If they are mostly 10Gbe/s circuits then consider a Cisco 4500-X.

If you were wanting or run your own private MPLS, or act as a service provider then I would be suggesting switches like the ME3800 (which Cisco call "switch routers").