13 Oct
2003
13 Oct
'03
3:11 p.m.
On the other hand, 6500s can do both L2 and L3 rather well, including BGP.
Aren't most of the 6500 blades the same as the 7600 ones anyway? Between these two IMHO we are looking at a blurry distinction between a router with very good switching capabilities and a L3 switch with very good routing capabilities.
Until the Sup720, it was simple: 6500 with Sup2/MSFC2/PFC2 and at least one OSM equals 7600. The difference is mostly a marketing one. I don't understand how you can differentiate between a router and an L3 switch. In my view "L3 switch" is a marketing term. All high end boxes do hardware based IP forwarding, whether their ancestry is from the L2 or the L3 side. Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug@nethelp.no