Recommended L2 switches for a new IXP

Mon Jan 12 06:35:15 UTC 2015

Dear Nanog community

We are trying to build a new IXP in some US Metro areas where we have
multiple POPs and I was wondering what do you recommend for L2 switches. I
know that some IXPs use Nexus, Brocade, Force10 but I don't personally have
experience with these switches. It would be great if you can share your
experience and recommendations. There are so many options that I don't know
if it makes sense to start with a modular switch (usually expensive because
the backplane, dual dc, dual CPU, etc) or start with a 1RU high density
switch that support new protocols like Trill and that supposedly allow you
to create Ethernet Fabric/Clusters. The requirements are simple, 1G/10G
ports for exchange participants, 40G/100G for uplinks between switches and
flow support for statistics and traffic analysis.

Thank you and have a great day.

Regards