few big monolithic PEs vs many small PEs

Thu Jun 20 14:27:01 UTC 2019

On 19/Jun/19 22:22, adamv0025 at netconsultings.com wrote:

> Yes it will cost a bit more (router is more expensive than a LC)

I found the reverse to be true... chassis' are cheap. Line cards are costly.

>  
> Would like to hear what are your thoughts on this conundrum.

So this depends on where you want to deliver your service, and the
function, in my opinion.

If you are talking about an IP/MPLS-enabled Metro-E network, then having
several, smaller routers spread across one or more rings is cheaper and
more effective.

If you are delivering services to large customers from within a data
centre, large edge routers make more sense, particularly given the
rising costs of co-location.

If you are providing BNG services, it depends on how you want to balance
ease of management vs. scale vs. cost. If you have the cash to spend,
de-centralizing your BNG's across a region/city/country will give you
more scale and better redundancy, but could be more costly depending on
your per-box sizing as well as an increase in management time. If you
want to improve management, you can have fewer boxes to cover large
parts of your region/city/country. But this may mean buying a very large
box to concentrate more users in fewer places.

If you are trying to combine Enterprise, Service Provider and Consumer
services in one chassis, well, as the saying goes, "If you are
competitor, I approve of this message" :-).

Mark.