Replacement for Cisco Nexus N2K-C2232TM-E

[aali]

Can anyone recommend an HP equivalent to Nexus C2232TM-E?

We have a customer where Cisco is proposing  Nexus 7004 Chassis with Nexus C2232TM-E for Server Farm Connectivity.  They want to look into HP as well and for Nexus 7004 I could either go with HP 12504 Chassis or HP 11900 chassis.  One of the  drawbacks with HP 12504 chassis is that it only support 32-Port 10Gb Module  with only 10Gb SFP+ and the ports don't support 1Gb SFPs unlike Nexus 7004 and HP 11900 where both can support 48-Port 10GbE Module with 1Gb SFP support.

Not sure what will be the good match against Nexus C2232TM-E.  

For IDF Switches, Cisco is proposing WS-C3850-48T-L and WS-3850-48F-L switches.  The best match for HP could be either Provision 2920 switches or Commware 5120 EI  or 5500 EI or HI  series switches.  I would go with Commware so the customer won't have to manage two different operating systems.

Thanks,

[Sietze Reitsma]

Depending on the size of your datacenter I would propose the following:

Core: 2x 5900-48XG-4QSFP+ or 2x 5930 (32x40Gb/ 128x10Gb) or 2x 11900/12900 virtualized in IRF

1 GbTOR: 5900-48G-4XG-2QSFP+ can also virtualized in IRF (propose 2 switches in an IRF per rack)  

10Gb TOR: 5900-48XG-4QSFP+  can also virtualized in IRF  (propose 2 switches in an IRF per rack)

Attractive bundels with a set of 4 switches are available for all types of 59xx (extra optics included)

High end datacenter featureset:

like TRILL, VEPA, DCB, FCoE, IPv4/IPv6 routing, VRF, etc etc

Robust designs with active/active interconnecting servers and switches with LACP. Also advanced designs with TRILL are possible. Next release will also support features like MPLS and SPB.

[internalnews]

---

"Core: 2x 5900-48XG-4QSFP+ or 2x 5930 (32x40Gb/ 128x10Gb)"

---

Well, not really? For small cores I´d never take 59XX, those ones belong to the top of racks. For small cores I´d suggest the 5820 series, as in terms of core features (MPLS/VPLS/VRF incl IPv6/IP unicast/multicast) the Comware OS 5 is still year(s) ahead of Comware 7 which is in 59XX.

Btw, is the 59XX the official successor of 58XX?

(58XX series was once released in 2008 with a software support cycle of 10 years (please correct me)...)

[Sietze Reitsma]

I believe that 59xx has more specific features for datacenter environments. Features like TRILL, VEPA, Single box ISSU. Next release you will have features like SPB, MPLS/VPLS. For new deployements I would check what you need, the 59xx offers a wealth of features.

[Peter_Debruyne]

I agree with Sietze, the next release of the 5900 comware7 will bring it to the current feature level (and beyond that level) as cmw5, so 5900 would be a very valid candidate as core for small deployments IMO.

Keep in mind that for cmw5 switches, the 5820 does not have hardware mpls support, only the 5800 has mpls support.

Best regards,Peter.

[MichaelM55]

---

Peter_Debruyne wrote:Keep in mind that for cmw5 switches, the 5820 does not have hardware mpls support, only the 5800 has mpls support.

---

Interesting, do you have a source for that statement? Release notes don´t help at all

[Peter_Debruyne]

well, I figured this out the hard way when trying to configure MPLS on the 5820, so this is how I discovered the difference.

Later on, when reviewing the datasheets, I found that MPLS/VPLS is not listed for the 5820:

http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/networking/products/switches/HP_5820_Switch_Series/index.aspx#tab=TAB2
http://h17007.www1.hp.com/us/en/networking/products/switches/HP_5800_Switch_Series/index.aspx#tab=TAB2

It would be the 5820 ASIC which does not support MPLS,

Best regards,Peter.

[MichaelM55]

Well, I read the release notes again: http://h20564.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/public/kb/docDisplay/?docId=c03996133

And you´re right. I haven´t noticed that there are different descriptions for the the 5800 and 5820. That makes the 5820 way less interesting. So, the only 1U HP switches with Comware 5 + MPLS/VPLS are A5500-HI and A5800.

Thanks for the info Peter!

So, here we are:

MPLS/VPLS support within Comware 5 on A5800

MPLS/VPLS support within Comware 5 on A5500-HI

MPLS/VPLS support within Comware 7 on A5900

Is there any difference for MPLS/VPLS between those switches?