$1,100,000 Cisco VoIP/Switch Upgrade

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PlusLabs

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
182
So this is what $1.1M of Cisco product looks like...

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I am upgrading a client from an existing EOL Cisco VoIP setup that uses 8 separate servers and in the process upgrading their existing core and server farm switches.

The new Cisco VoIP will run on the 2x UCS C210-M2 servers, saving the client a ton of money on cooling and power requirements.

Each Cisco UCS C210-M2 server is configured as follows:

VMware ESXi 4.1
2x Intel Xeon E5640 2.66GHz CPUs
48GB DDR3 PC3-10600 RAM
10x 146GB 6Gb SAS 15k RPM HDD
2x 650W PSU
LSI 6G MegaRAID PCIe Card

The 2x 2951-V voice gateways are configured with an SM-NM adapter to utilize the existing NM-1T3 DS3 card and a 2 port FXO card for PSTN connectivity in an event of a link down, in SRST mode.

The 2x 6509-E series core switches are configured as follows:

2x 24 port SFP modules, with DFC3C add-on cards
2x SUP720-PFC3B Supervisor Engines
1x 48 port 10/100/1000 switch card with 802.3AF PoE support
1x FlexWAN module with a PA-T3 DS3 card
2x 3000W PSUs

The 3945E-V routers are the primary voice gateways, each is configured with PVDM-256 DSP and 8x PRI ports, 2x FXO ports for POTS line connectivity.

The 2x 6509-E series server farm switches are configured as follows:

2x 24 port SFP modules, with DFC3C add-on cards
2x SUP720-PFC3B Supervisor Engines
1x 48 port 10/100/1000 switch card with 802.3AF PoE support
2x 3000W PSUs

Also installed are 152 GLC-SX-MM multimode SFPs.

The Cisco VoIP system will be running Cisco UCM 8.5 and Cisco UCX 8.5.
 
You guys get any swag with that lot? Last large cisco order I was a part of the rep got branded polo shirts for all the guys on the project.

Looks awesome though, we have a client looking to get out of their NEC system into a similar setup, so if there are any major headaches or "gotcha" quirks please post em up. You guys replacing phones as well?
 
That is a hot setup. Those two servers are just being used for UCM and Unity? Wow.

How many users are being supported and is it just one location?
 
schnell said:
wow :eek:

first picture made me lol, all that Cisco stacked up next to some crt's
Click to expand...

I was going to say the same thing. :D

And wow that's a lot of equipment! Though it's funny how when it's in a corporate environment, it's not so much "oh boy new toys" but more like "holy crap no way we can do this by the deadline!". Like when we got our new Equalogic SAN, we basically had like 2 days to deploy + migrate the data to it.
 
Nice. Couple questions.

Why are you terminating the DS3(s) on the 6500/core?
Are the 2900s going to a branch?
Why not Nexus?

Over a mil seems high. I've never priced out the UCS stuff though.
 
I'm a contractor for TIAA-CREF. We just finished a complete upgrade from Foundry to Cisco.

They spent over $6 Million on the project. It took us about 8 months. Mainly 6509s, 6513s, Nexus, Voip, everything.

It was a lot of long hours and weekend work. I'm glad it's over.
 
OP, are you a CCIE how do you get a job doing this stuff?

What else is going to run on the ESX servers?
 
PlusLabs said:
So this is what $1.1M of Cisco product looks like...
Click to expand...

where is all of that stuff going?

i work for higher edu and we are in the middle of a 700k network upgrade. our back room looked very similar to that.
 
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tricky0502 said:
where is all of that stuff going?

i work for higher edu and we are in the middle of a 700k network upgrade. our back room looked very similar to that.
Click to expand...
not to be an ass, but did you really have to quote all of his pictures?
on a side note, that stuff looks really nice. let us know how it goes
 
Do you get a discount on the cisco servers if you order a ton of networking stuff?

What made you want to get the cisco servers?
 
nicolas9510 said:
not to be an ass, but did you really have to quote all of his pictures?
on a side note, that stuff looks really nice. let us know how it goes
Click to expand...

So when you are scrolling down through the thread you don't want to see that eye candy again?
 
The new Nexus switches are badass. But like anything bleeding edge technology, there are some bugs to be worked out. We have 4 of them, and they cost $500k each! lol
 
You can build 7010s with dual sups for cheaper than 6509s with dual sups, so that's odd. The blades can be more expensive, but not by too much.
 
wow, I have no idea what all this does, but I'm sure there will be a lot of blinking lights.
 
AMD_Gamer said:
Do you get a discount on the cisco servers if you order a ton of networking stuff?
Click to expand...

If you pay retail for cisco you are getting ripped off. Anyone deploying large cisco setups gets a pretty decent amount of the sticker, and even more if Cisco are trying to beat another vender's quote or if you are a preferred partner etc.
 
I decided to price out some semi-populated 7K vs 6509 stuff:

7010:
Code: 
QTY	Part Number		Unit Price
1	N7K-C7010-BUN-R		$79,000
2	N7K-M148GT-11L		$15,000
1	N7K-M108X2-12L		$44,000
1	N7K-M148GS-11L		$27,000
Total: $180,000

6509:
Code: 
QTY	Part Number		Unit Price
1	VS-C6509E-S720-10G 	$37,995
1	VS-S720-10G-3C		$38,000
2	WS-X6748-GE-TX 		$15,000
1	WS-X6708-10G-3C		$37,500
1	WS-X6748-SFP		$25,000
Total: $168,495

This is list price for both, obviously these numbers aren't what people actually pay. You can see that the 6509 is not much cheaper (~$11k less) than the 7K. Also, this is just parts, not service or optics, etc. Thought people might be interested in the pricing of some of this stuff.
 
Not bad bro, funny how people get all crazy over a bit of gear over here..... Im going to agree with Vito too, shoulda went nexus :D
 
xphil3 said:
Not bad bro, funny how people get all crazy over a bit of gear over here..... Im going to agree with Vito too, shoulda went nexus :D
Click to expand...

Regarding the whole Nexus vs. 6509-E debate... the client currently has the same type of configuration, 2 core 6509 and 2 server farm 6509, they have VERY limited space and wanted a seamless upgrade. They gave me a list of equipment that they wanted and I ordered it. In this case, they wanted the 6509-E series switches, not Nexus switches, so they got 6509-E... get it? :p
 
looks good, but can it handle 56k on AOL? :p


btw that looks sick man!, I'm jealous of you getting to set it all up! (even though it can be tedious at times!
 
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PlusLabs said:
Regarding the whole Nexus vs. 6509-E debate... the client currently has the same type of configuration, 2 core 6509 and 2 server farm 6509, they have VERY limited space and wanted a seamless upgrade. They gave me a list of equipment that they wanted and I ordered it. In this case, they wanted the 6509-E series switches, not Nexus switches, so they got 6509-E... get it? :p
Click to expand...

Understandable. But it's your job to convince them of why that's a mistake. These switches will be practically obsolete the day they're deployed. For future growth (10-100g), they can't hold a candle to the Nexus stuff or even the Sup2t (which also can't come close to Nexus gear), which is supposedly (i say "supposedly" because we've been waiting years) shipping in July.

Anyway, not trying to rain on your parade. Cool picks, should be a fun deployment. Next time explain to the client why they're idiots though.
 
Vito_Corleone said:
Understandable. But it's your job to convince them of why that's a mistake. These switches will be practically obsolete the day they're deployed. For future growth (10-100g), they can't hold a candle to the Nexus stuff or even the Sup2t (which also can't come close to Nexus gear), which is supposedly (i say "supposedly" because we've been waiting years) shipping in July.

Anyway, not trying to rain on your parade. Cool picks, should be a fun deployment. Next time explain to the client why they're idiots though.
Click to expand...

Now if I could get Vito to help explain to our CTO that we need a new core switch setup I would be happy. We are using stacked 3750e's and right now we are at about 60 physical servers and 100 vms. We are still adding more servers though, our brand new NOC is getting filled up from the company I work for's rapid growth

OP I'm pretty jealous of that setup you get to do. We are using Avaya for our phones and we only use 3750s of some form for everything else. Then of course our random stuff like the routers for mpls or internet failover and our 5520 for VPN. I would love to just sit and watch as a project like that was done so I could sit and learn how its all snapped together. Kudos on the fun :)
 
Motley said:
I'm a contractor for TIAA-CREF. We just finished a complete upgrade from Foundry to Cisco.
Click to expand...

Although I cashed out most of my 403 with TIAA-CREF a few years ago when the market crashed....see if you can boost a little juice into my remaining balance, n'kay! :D
 
Vito_Corleone said:
Understandable. But it's your job to convince them of why that's a mistake. These switches will be practically obsolete the day they're deployed. For future growth (10-100g), they can't hold a candle to the Nexus stuff or even the Sup2t (which also can't come close to Nexus gear), which is supposedly (i say "supposedly" because we've been waiting years) shipping in July.

Anyway, not trying to rain on your parade. Cool picks, should be a fun deployment. Next time explain to the client why they're idiots though.
Click to expand...

6K vs 7K is always an interesting debate.

6K/sup720 still spanks the 7K in feature set / stability / documentation. I'm curious to see if sup2T continues that tradition. 7K has really improved in all those areas since day 1 though.

The current 7K is obsolete already. The new stuff coming out for it.. faster fabric modules, non-blocking line cards, etc ... that's a different story, but it's also a pricey upgrade.

Don't get me wrong though, I have 7Ks in all my DC cores (for better or worse ;)) ... but I still have the real complex stuff done by sup720s.
 
just2cool said:
6K vs 7K is always an interesting debate.

6K/sup720 still spanks the 7K in feature set / stability / documentation. I'm curious to see if sup2T continues that tradition. 7K has really improved in all those areas since day 1 though.

The current 7K is obsolete already. The new stuff coming out for it.. faster fabric modules, non-blocking line cards, etc ... that's a different story, but it's also a pricey upgrade.

Don't get me wrong though, I have 7Ks in all my DC cores (for better or worse ;)) ... but I still have the real complex stuff done by sup720s.
Click to expand...

What's a pricey upgrade? The new F cards are dirt cheap, and fabrics have never really been too expensive. The FAB2s will be cheap, relatively speaking.

What are you doing on your 6500s that the 7Ks won't do? Aside from SMs (which are coming soon), and the WAN stuff... which should probably sit on another device anyway. Stability, I can agree with, so far. We're seeing some bugs. Not sure if it's much more than we see on the 6500s though, and it's much better than a lot of their shit. The docs are good, IMO. I guess there would be more volume on the 6500 side, but most of that is going to be dated.
 
huh, I <3 our 7k's. We still have a crap ton of 6500's, but i'd much rather work on a 7k instead.

zomg.. 5596's came in today... sooo sexy.

OT... Not a bad way to dump a bunch of money.
 
Pricey in the sense that if you already own 6 chassis and have to throw out all the freakin line cards and fab modules. IMO, this upgrade should have been available over a year ago. F cards are only L2. F2 cards will be a lot better, but I'm not sure how much they'll be.

There are a bunch of WAN edge features I use on a sup720 that aren't on the 7K ... one of the main ones is NAT and pretty soon MPLS. In my business, I have about 30 NAT pools, so it's pretty important to us. It's also lighter on multicast features, which is a big problem for me. But I don't need any of this stuff in my datacenter core, that's why I don't mind having 7Ks there.

Nexus 3K > 5596. 5596 has that bs crossbar buffer that you pay for lol. Although if you combine it with the 2K, it starts to get very cost effective.
 
I haven't looked into the 3K too much. Do they support FEXs? If not, it's apples to oranges. Also, aren't they much more expensive and aimed at your industry?

I don't think there's a need to throw out line cards, fabs, maybe, but the line cards will be similar to the 6500s where you go with 6700s when needed and 61s or 65s otherwise. F cards are more for FabricPath, so being L2 makes sense. I haven't heard anything about F2 cards yet, any details to share?

Edit: I did some research and the 3K does look pretty sick. It's probably not a great fit for most of our customers, but it's damn nice. Expensive though.
 
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just2cool said:
Nexus 3K > 5596. 5596 has that bs crossbar buffer that you pay for lol. Although if you combine it with the 2K, it starts to get very cost effective.
Click to expand...

We have FEX's.. 2232's and 2248/2224. The 3k's are sweet, but won't work for us.
 
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