What Platform for a small ISP (was: Cisco 7600 (7609) as a core BGP router)

["R. Benjamin Kessler" <rbk () mnsginc com>]

There has been a lot of good feedback regarding the deficiencies of the
7600 platform...

So, the new question is: what platforms should a small, start-up ISP
consider when looking to provide Ethernet services to their customers?

- Scalability - 100M, 1G, 10G access speeds (backplane limitations,
number of ports per chassis, etc.)
- MPLS Capabilities
- QoS Features
- Ease of configuration and support, etc. (finding NOC talent, scripting
tools, etc.)
- Software/Hardware "stability" and "longevity" (we don't want something
that is brand-new and therefore "buggy" nor do we want something that is
going EOL next year)
- Bang for the buck (both acquisition and on-going maintenance and
support)

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of things...are there any good presentations
from previous NANOG meetings that one should review?

Thanks in advance,

Ben