Alexander Hagen As a cost cutting alternative - has anyone played with the 2900 XL series using sub interfaces to turn them into virtual router ports ?

"routing on a stick". As long as you understand that the aggregate bandwidth can't be more than the port you hook too, fine. On a 7500, you need your FE on a real VIP, not the legacy FE blade that was the precursor to the VIP2. Although there is a later version that's ISL capable, the performance is not there. Michel.