VRF

[andre.ortega]

I want to create 15 subinterfaces in F0/0 and 15 subinterfaces in F0/1 and add each pair to a VFP.

EX:

F0/0.1 and F0/1.1 -> VRF1

F0/0.2 and F0/1.2 -> VRF2

.

.

F0/0.15 and F0/1.15 -> VRF15

Is it possible? What router support 15 VRFs?

[Giuseppe Larosa]

Hello Andre,

15 VRFs are not a scalability issue you can use whatever router supports MPLS VPN.

I would try to understand if you want to have a real PE with MPLS forwarding capabilities or a device MultiVRF CE with a subset of features.

as a multiVRF CE you can also use a multilayer switch starting from c3550 with enterprise image

as PE router you can use different platforms depending on the aggregate traffic volume you want to support/expect for your VRFs.

Again you can use a multilayer switch like C6500 with SUP720 BXL or simply an ISR router like C2811 you want to build a lab or demo.

Hope to help

Giuseppe

[cpubob · Accepted solution]

I just tried this on my Cisco 2600 and I stopped trying after I created 35 VRF's and added 35 subinterfaces, each belonging to 1 vrf.

I did get a warning message after the 15th vrf was created telling me that smartinit had been disabled and the system thinks thats a bad idea. I believe your only limited by memory at this point so if your low on memory, you won't be able to keep configuring vrf's but if you have a lot of free memory, you can configure a bunch.

Of course, I found Cisco's recommended numbers on this doc:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6557/prod_white_paper0900aecd8051fbdc.html

About 3/4 down the page is the "PERFORMANCE AND SCALABILITY" section. They only recommend 5 vrf's on a 2600XM.

Although it may be possible to configure 100 vrf's on the box and have everything working, you may run into a problem if you have to call TAC for support.

GL

-Rob