Re: 3750s in the Core

Hi,

On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 9:37 PM, loopback 99<loopback99_at_gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Has anyone used or seen 3750's used as core switches ? The proposed
> topology is the
> typical collapsed core/distribution layer with access switches connected to
> this. It is a medium sized network that will have approx 500 - 600 users.

I agree with the other replies -- "it depends" (it really, really,
really depends).

Don't get too excited by Cisco's data sheets. Make sure you get the
real story before you start relying on the values quoted therein. The
3750 family is pitched as an access and (in some models) an
aggregation platform, but in terms of features, they do most stuff
(NetFlow being one notable exception that comes to mind).

Apart from the trap you can fall into where configuring a feature, or
configuring a feature a certain way leads to the traffic being handled
in software (this would apply in any deployment), just make sure
you're not oversubscribing the backplane. "500-600 users" isn't really
useful as a metric unless you know what the average load offered by
each connection is and where the traffic needs to go. High load and it
all needs to traverse the core? There be dragons.

And before getting too carried away with stacking everything together
with StackWise, make sure you can perform maintenance in the way you
need/want.

Cheers,
Dale

Blogs and organic groups at http://www.ccie.net
Received on Tue Jun 16 2009 - 22:49:14 ART