10G CPE w/VXLAN - vendors?

Thu Jun 15 05:30:34 UTC 2023

On 6/14/23 22:04, Ryan Hamel wrote:

> Putting the smart devices on the edge allows for a much-simplified 
> core topology.

Putting smart devices in the edge does simplify the network, yes. What 
doesn't is making the customer's site part of your edge.

We've been running MPLS all the way into the access since 2009 (Cisco 
ME3600X/3800X). It is simpler than running an 802.1Q or Q-in-Q Metro-E 
backbone, and scales very well. Just leave your customers out of it.

>
> Either way, I was doing research on FPGA-based hardware a couple of 
> weeks agoand came across this which may tick all the boxes. 
> https://ethernitynet.com/products/enet-network-appliances/uep-60/ I do 
> not know the vendor personally and have not worked on their hardware, 
> so your mileage may vary.

There aren't a great deal of options in this space, unfortunately. What 
is making it worse is most traditional vendors are relegating devices 
designed for this to Broadcom chips, which is a problem because the 
closer you get to the customer, the more you need to "touch" their 
packets, and Broadcom chips, while fast and cheap, aren't terribly good 
at working with packets in the way the customers these devices need to 
address would like.

Cisco's ASR920 is still, by far, the best option here. Unfortunately, it 
has a very small FIB, does not do 10Gbps at any scale, and certainly 
does not 100Gbps. But, because most customers tend to run only p2p 
EoMPLS services on it (that doesn't require any large FIB), the box is 
still actively sold by Cisco even though in Internet years, it is older 
than my grandfather's tobacco pipe.

Juniper are pushing their ACX7024, which we are looking at as a viable 
option for replacing the ASR920. However, it's Broadcom... and while 
Nokia's Broadcom option for the Metro-E network is using the same chip 
as the Juniper one, they seem lazier to be more creative with how they 
can touch customer packets vs. Juniper.

Cisco's recommended upgrade path is the NCS540, also a Broadcom box; the 
heaviness that is IOS XR in a large scale deployment area like the 
Metro-E backbone notwithstanding. The rumour is that Cisco want to 
optimize Silicon One for their entire routing & switching range, small 
and large. I'll believe it when I see it. Until then, I wouldn't touch 
the NCS540.

Vendors are trying to do the least in the Metro-E space, knowing full 
well how high the margins are. It's a bit disingenuous, considering they 
will be shipping more Metro-E routers to customers than core or edge 
routers. But, it is what it is.

Mark.