32-bit AS numbers

Sat Oct 10 19:23:22 UTC 2009

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 06:34:03PM +0200, ?ukasz Bromirski wrote:

> The 12.2SRE for RSP720 on 7600 is going to be available shortly and
> it will support 4B ASNs. It was communicated a number of times on
> cisco-nsp@ for those who subscribe it and did care.
>
> But I see that conspiracy theory looks nicer.

Even if i guess everybody is aware this is thankfully coming at some
stage, and i personally find the "shortly" definition late 2009 a bit
disappointing, i find the point being another:

In late 2006 it was more or less monumentally announced that the
paths of the "switch" and the "router" were to get separate: the
6500 and >= SXH releases on one side, the 7600 and >= SRA releases
on the other.

Then i see 32-bit ASNs being kindly implemented on the "switch"
first, in SXI - with SRD for the "router" being released roughly
in parallel; and one can amuse himself by reading issues people
stumble upon with SXI.

OK, a fuck-up on the way - it can happen:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20090729-bgp.shtml

And finally, yes, 32-bit ASNs for the "router" will come: by the
end of this year and on a new release: SRE. Which, re-phrased from
an operator point of view, essentially means: a candidate release
for a production deployment is not less than another 1 year away.

And frankly pages like the one below, with no mention of plans for
the 6500/7600 platforms whatsoever, are not encouraging at all:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/iosswrel/ps6537/ps6554/ps6599/data_sheet_C78-521821.html

Cheers,
Paolo