Jon Lewis wrote: Even comparing a VXR with NPE300 to a 7500 with RSP4 and VIP2-50's, the 7206 will melt down and cease functioning properly on traffic levels the 7500 handles without breaking a sweat.

Interestingly enough, the eBay prices reflect this: anything below an RSP4 or a VIP2-50 is useless junk good only for home or lab; recently bought a CX-EIP2 for $0.99 and a VIP2-40 for $50. CX-FSIPs and RSP2s go for peanuts too. However, a VIP2-50 or an RSP4 still go for 500 bucks a pop, which means they are still worthy of a production environment. As mentioned before, this is comparing apples and oranges anyway. Although this is overly simplified, the bottom line is that the NPE in a 7206 needs to do the job of the RSP _and_ 3 VIPs; no wonder why it will melt. Michel.