NCS5K?

Wed Apr 27 00:15:54 UTC 2016

On 26/04/16 15:02, Colton Conor wrote:
> Do you actually think that Cisco would sell at NCS 5501 at the price
> point that Arista is going to sell a 7280R for? Spec wise they are very
> similar (except Arista has 8 more SFP+ ports and two more 100G ports).
> Arista is pricing the 7280R inline with Ciscos ASR9001. I doubt Cisco
> will offer a NCS 5501 for the same price as an ASR9001. 

In addition to Saku's comments - I've only really been hypothesising by
looking at the features available on the platforms, and comparing it to
the current list prices that we already have. I've no other insider
knowledge.

Take the line cards in ASR 9000 chassis, vs. NCS 5500 chassis:

 A9K-8X100GE-TR,  8x100G   = $ 1,000,000
 A9K-36X10GE-TR,  36x10G   = $   375,000
 NC55-36X100G-BA, 36x100G  = $   360,000

The list price for a 36x10G line card for the ASR 9000 is *cheaper than*
the 36x100G card for the NCS 5500. There are massive gains in Gbits/$ by
having fewer features in your device. (And the SE scale A9k cards are
priced even higher than these TR models...)

More to the second half of your question though, and probably the most
pertinent; the NCS 5001 & 5002 pricing is already out, and they are
smack-back either side of the ASR 9001:

 NCS-5001, 40x10G + 4x100G  = $ 40,000
 ASR-9001, 4x10G + nothing  = $ 53,600
 NCS-5002, 80x10G + 4x100G  = $ 60,000

So, personally, I'm not ruling out the NCS 5501 landing on or around the
9001's price point - particularly if that's Arista's game.

The NCS 55k is obviously being targeted at dense MPLS P roles, and/or
simple BGP edge routers, which may be of enough use to you, in your
environment - it may not.

-- 
Tom