first it was the vitalinks, then the bridge gear, then proteon, then cisco AGS,
then 7600VXR, then 7301s....
looking to find the next-gen workhorse ... looking for 4-6yr life expectancy.
pointers(private are ok) are appreciated - as well as -why- you think the
suggested boxen are likely candidates.
--bill
We are working Juniper to build the next gen version, hopefully they listen.
-Dee
You know if I didn't know better, I would think this was a troll. 
Everyone's workhorses are different, depending on what kind of work you
want to do with them. The 7200VXR (which is what I assume you meant) and
7301 are the last great "mostly cpu based" routers out there, which is why
they have lasted as long and become as widely used as they have. Any time
you have a CPU based solution it is going to be easier to add new features
quickly, and handle a wide variety of tasks. Personally I couldn't find a
use for either one in my network on a dare, but that is because I care
about capacity not high touch services or L2TP termination.
It is pretty hard to predict what box is going to be the "it" thing for
the next 5 years, though I certainly agree that anyone interested in
making smart purchases needs to be concerned about the viability of the
product over exactly that kind of timeframe. For my needs, the Juniper
M160 has been the workhorse for the past 3-5 years, though its time is
rapidly coming to an end. The weapon of choice for L3 ethernet aggregation
is certainly now the 6500/7600 SUP720 based platforms, and will probably
see a good 5 years worth of use and deployment. Folks like Foundry,
Extreme, and Force10 have all come out with interesting "nextgen" boxes at
L2, but I think they've already lost the L3 war to Cisco before firing a
single shot.
I'm not entirely certain that the next 5 years has been ironed out in the
carrier space yet. There is still plenty of opportunity for Juniper to be
dethroned if they follow through with some of the disturbing trends
they've been setting (and from all indications, we won't be seeing
anything new or even close to revolutionary for at least 2 years). The
point has been made that this pattern of becoming complacent re:
innovation and cost effectiveness until you get your ass handed to you by
a competetive product is the natural cycle of things, and we may very well
be near another turning point in the market like what happened when
Juniper first hit the scene. The CRS1 hasn't made significant headway into
the market yet either though, most likely due to its lack of any low-end
or "non-40Gbps" cards as an upgrade path for existing GSR users.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the 7206VXR and 7301 still in use 5 years
from now though, some roles just aren't that demanding traffic-wise, and
are better served by a CPU based solution. I couldn't tell you if there
are plans for a bigger beefier CPU-based router (not my area of concern
really), but in that space I think the 7300 may be a safe bet for the near
future.
Bill,
alas, i think the days of being able to deploy one type of "god box" swiss-army-knife router are passing.
depending on what it is that the router is planned to be "doing" defines its PPS requirements & what speeds/feeds you need to run various features at.
from http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/2005-09/msg00635.html can you classify what functionality you see yourself as needing?
that pretty much sets the discussion as to whether you're after something that can be s/w-forwarding or not ...
cheers,
lincoln.
Bill,
alas, i think the days of being able to deploy one type of "god box"
swiss-army-knife router are passing.
that is too true... some misty-eyed moments for the demise
of chaosnet support ...
depending on what it is that the router is planned to be "doing" defines
its PPS requirements & what speeds/feeds you need to run various
features at.from http://www.merit.edu/mail.archives/nanog/2005-09/msg00635.html can
you classify what functionality you see yourself as needing?
nice list, but incomplete. while the pace of innovation
has slowed, O&M "features" have grown, and a raw desire to
keep up the ROI by pandering to the idol of convergence have
not kept me aware of the fact that NEW, UNEXPECTED events
will place demands on my boxen for the forseeable future - and
a s/w driven box has more resilience in that vector.
that pretty much sets the discussion as to whether you're after
something that can be s/w-forwarding or not ...
i guess i was hoping for some kind soul to provide some insight
as to other factors that may be "sea-change" events to the routing
system in the next 48-60month horizon. IPv6 table size, on-board
key/sig mgmt/computation are TWO... are there others?
--bill
<dons flame suit>
How about a Mikrotik?
</>
personally, i prefer moka with schlagrahm and chocolate sprinkles.
randy