SUMMARY:
When digesting responses, I tended to put more credit in those that had
personally used all the platforms that they shared opinions about. I too
have my religious beliefs in these hardware platforms, but to lauch off on
a crusade against the Hyper TC would not be fair if all I had used was an
older unit... etc. etc.
It seems that all 4 platforms (PM3, Hyper TC, Ascend 60XX, AS5300) all
have issues ranging from stability, to modem code, to support on important
features such as stacking and OSPF. All admitted (and I have had some
personal experience here) that the TC hubs fared far better with respect
to modem code then the rest.
PROs
TC HyperARC: stable, better than most modem code
PM3: stable, OSPF, BGP, easy to configure
Max 60XX: price
AS5300: good support, stable IOS
CONs
TC HyperARC: no OSPF, bad support, hard to configure and administrate
PM3: modem code issues
MAX 60XX: horrible stability issues with Ascend code, modem code issues
AS5300: tiny user base and lack of historical data on unit, price
Most sited the PROs above as being the reasons to go with the PM3. I have
to say that I agree with Bryan Wann <bwann@cwis.net> in that you MUST put
connectivity and stability issues first when choosing a RAS, even if it
means that it takes the administrator 4X the amount of time to configure
and admin the box, so be it... YOU HAVE TO PUT THE PRODUCT (QUALITY OF
DIAL_IN) FIRST and it takes the clueful network engineer to work around
the other deficiencies and come up with solutions to those short-comings.
For that reason, I don't see how you can ignore the TC HiperARC as the
platform of choice. I have configured these boxes, and know all too well
about the headaches involved, but I have to put my customers before
myself.
Well hope this helps some others, and thanks again for all of the input.
ORIGINAL POST:
A couple of years ago a happy, care-free network engineer made the
decision to standardize all of his dial-in gear on Ascend.
Today, an irritated, beaten-down network engineer wants to throw them all
out the window.
I am now looking for opinions on other boxes such as PM3's, Total Control,
and the AS5300. I have read all of the lab tests, and am fairly up to
speed with how they stack up with regards to performace. What I am
looking for is first-hand experience with regard to the stability of these
boxes, any major problems over time, support, and overall how well they
work under full loads in a real network environment.
Having a lot of experience with Cisco routers and Cisco as a company, I am
prepared to pay the extra $$ for a product that I can rely on. The only
thing is that I know nothing of Cisco dial gear, nor do I find it anywhere
in the field. If the PM3 works well, then I will have to consider it do
to its lower price. I have a demo 5300 coming in next week. Any configs
to get me up and running with standard PRI analog/ISDN dialin would be
greatly appreciated. I don't want to waste my "demo" time simply learning
how to get things setup.
Thanks in advance.
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