Cisco 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 1000) vs. Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)

Based on my past and current experiences as a network engineer, they serve and run really well and also simplify our setup where we used them as edge or border or internet gateway routers. And also we used them as Data Center Interconnect, terminating dark fibers using LR or ZR SFP+. Even though they are well suited for enterprise network, there may still be some room for improvement with SRv6.

Incentivized

Cloud based solutions, these need the necessary bandwidth going from point A to point B. Automate as much as possible from a WAN Core edge standpoint, take away the always on maintaining of the routers/switches on the network. Automation is extremely important in today's world. The Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System would not be a very viable solution for a small company, especially from a budgetary standpoint.

Incentivized

• Open standard routing protocols (OSPF, BGP)
• VRF Aware > allow us to segment each circuit per VRF instance.
• Port density depending on the model and customer needs.
• Easy to troubleshoot and configure.
• Support for sub-interfaces using VLAN tagging which allows to separate traffic at the logical level.
• High throughput.
• Support for open standard LACP protocol and Cisco own PAGP protocol.
• Route leak supported between VRFs.
• Redundant PDUs.
• Support for open standard AAA.

• It is versatile due to the diversity in models and form factors.
• Low power consumption compared to similar models
• Mature operating system code allowing for quick production installation and configuration.

Incentivized

• The ASR 1000 series routers can, as with most devices, improve with additional memory capacity and upgraded chip sets for faster processing.
• There seems to be limitations on the number of routing sessions the smaller ASR devices can handle, which can be overcome with proper planning and placement within the network.

Incentivized

• Horizontal blade designs are rare these days because if the gear is shipped in a rack, the blade can bend. The NCS5500's blades are horizontal.
• Not a NCS5500 specific issue, but XR has a ways to go, but will continue to grow with customer input.

Incentivized

The device without a doubts performs at the level required and expected, we can renew it and use it as we have been using it for years. The device can be used as DCI, IPN/ISN, or even private cloud for customer circuit handoff, it also supports IPSec properly. The device is well suited in multiple segments of the network.

All our modular contingency service exercises use this equipment, it allows us to perform this type of exercises very easily, in a controlled and effective way. It is used at least once a month for these types of events. It also allows configuration replication in computers that are under the same model.

Incentivized

We have received training on the equipment, which has made us add more networks on our own, we provide first level support, we validate the publication of the equipment and we can satisfy the needs of our internal clients in terms of the prompt recovery of the affected services

Incentivized

Cisco support is always informative and reliable. Depending on the level of support you subscribe to, the techs and Cisco TAC are well versed in hardware and operating system of the NCS series routers. You can receive 24x7 support and either Next Business Day or 4-hour part replacement from Cisco if required.

Incentivized

Implementation was as per design and all best practice configuration was followed.

Incentivized

We haven't used any other manufacturer other than Cisco. [H]owever, we have used different models that Cisco offers. The ASR has a little more horsepower than the ISR. Both are very good routers though.

Incentivized

Ultimately other Arista and Juniper choices were tested but design and testing did not give much detail as to why these are better overall or in comparison. We are already using Cisco in this level of the topology so that was most likely the strongest reason and fit the application we are using it for.

• It is a healthy return on investment with planned packed size data. Average unicast latency is low and consistent with small and large packets (barring mid-sized).
• Cisco devices last longer and also have a decent trade-in policy to recover some value when equipment is replaced.
• Higher concurrent IPSec tunnels are offered, we tested for 1500+, fielding both encrypted and a mix of encrypted and cleartext traffic.

Incentivized

• 100% uptime for 5 years.
• No successful intrusion attempts in 5 years.
• Very high throughput has allowed for constant and reliable connectivity.

Incentivized