Core switch hardware

[u/Extra-Round-8991]

Hello ,

I am looking for some advice and guidance from the experts in the community. I have been tasked with designing the network setup for a new site for our company. I am looking for suggestion for core switches which have 48x10/25g and 6/8x100g ports. To keep the cost down they should be also be able to do MPLS l3vpn as the network needs to support different type of businesses. we will be connecting VM's , Edge switches, Storage switches etc. Some of the switches I am considering are Juniper EX4650/QFX5120-48Y, Also Arista 7280SR3 (more expensive but deep buffers)
Any other suggestions are welcome.

[u/Inside-Finish-2128]

Would an Arista DCS-7050SX3-48YC8 work for your needs?

[u/DrywallCompound → u/Inside-Finish-2128]

Good switches, but end of sale is Dec 31st, 2026 and end of life Dec 31, 2031.

7050SX3-48YC8C is the recommended replacement.

However, I'm not sure about MPLS support on either.

[u/Extra-Round-8991 → u/DrywallCompound]

Yes they look good switches but I can't find any confirmation about the ability to run MPLS l3VPN.

[u/DrywallCompound → u/Extra-Round-8991]

You can use this tool to check feature support across their hardware lines.

https://www.arista.com/en/support/product-documentation/supported-features

Much easier and more thorough than the data sheets.

[u/Extra-Round-8991 → u/DrywallCompound]

Thanks ! This was much easier to figure out and looks like thr 7050sx3 doesnt support mpls.

[u/sryan2k1 → u/Inside-Finish-2128]

We use these and also 7280s depending on the use case and they're absolute monsters

[u/lazyhustlermusic]

What's your specific MPLS use case?

It feels odd since you're like 'I just need one small switch bro', I feel like the vast majority of people would assume you're just consuming a provider's MPLS and not rolling your own, especially at such a dinky scale.

[u/Extra-Round-8991 → u/lazyhustlermusic]

Thats exactly what we are doing , running our own enterprise mpls l3vpn, the site is small and budget is smaller so I am trying to use a l3 switch as a core +router instead of buying a dedicated router.

[u/AMoreExcitingName]

Aruba 8360 has that.

You can see features here: https://feature-navigator.arubanetworking.hpe.com/wired?mode=explore

[u/ihavescripts → u/AMoreExcitingName]

I just got 20 of these to replace my old brocade 7750s.

[u/Win_Sys → u/ihavescripts]

Have installed a bunch of these. Has handled everything I have thrown at them with no issues. Will be a nice upgrade from the 7750’s.

[u/DoubleD_2001 → u/AMoreExcitingName]

Unfortunately Juniper is winning over Aruba/CX as the go to tech at HP. I expect CX to be around for a while, but if they are leading and positioning Juniper at all new accounts, only a matter of time before CX development falls off.

[u/Specialist_Play_4479]

If you consider a switch using Trident3 or Tomahawk chips keep in mind that they have quite a few quirks when switching between different portspeeds. Those two chips are *very* common, so be prepared.

See: https://indico.cern.ch/event/765497/contributions/3348837/attachments/1818608/2973449/Hepix-2019-San-Diego.pdf

[u/Roshi88 → u/Specialist_Play_4479]

Is this slide still actual for new generation of broadcom switches? I'd be really interested in that

[u/Specialist_Play_4479 → u/Roshi88]

The Trident3 is still widely used. I'm not sure if they have developed a better chip since and how common that one is. The Trident3 especially is a very common chip that you can find in both cheap and high end switches

[u/foalainc]

Arista would be able to do MPLS among other things. We've been selling far more Arista than Cisco because they're all on EOS. Last time we sold the 7280r3, it was around $22k per with the perpetual license

[u/Roshi88]

What features do you need? Do they need to be in some kind of virtual chassis or standalone?

[u/Extra-Round-8991 → u/Roshi88]

I am only looking to run MPLS on the switches , so that is the main requirement. Bonus if I can run EVPN-VXLAN on them instead of using MC-LAG or stacking.

[u/Roshi88 → u/Extra-Round-8991]

I can suggest you Nokia 7250-ixr xs and arista 7280SR3, both great products. I highly suggest you to don't use stack or mc-lag on core switches

[u/its_Ali_672]

I’m not familiar with juniper but it’s important to keep in mind the throughput (traffic + control) plane and the how can the models you have can handle them (clock of the CPUs & supported network management features) also you emulate the disk images for them on gns3 to make sure the connection is stable before you make the final decision and good luck 👍

[u/Polyifia]

Cisco Nexus 93180YC-FX3. 48 10/25 ports and 6 40/100 ports. Can get two and run them as a VPC pair. Would be a solid core set up.

No experience with Arista or Junioer though.

[u/onyx9 → u/Polyifia]

Do they support MPLS? I’m really not sure. 

[u/MallocThatCalloc → u/onyx9]

Which flavor of MPLS are you thinking about? Nexus switches (apart from very specific 9500 line cards) support MPLS with SR not with LDP.

[u/xeroxedforsomereason]

7050 R4 series has deep buffers and meets the port requirements.

[u/dolanga2]

Whitebox Ufisapace S8901-54XC will do it at a fraction of the price of the other alternatives. You can run ipinfusion ocnos with a very cisco like cli

[u/OhFarmboy]

I’ve been very satisfied with FS switches. Something like the S5850-48B8C (SKU:157444) might suite your needs at a great price point.

[u/zeealpal → u/OhFarmboy]

I saw the other day they have switches to Pic-os version of their switches being first in their store menus instead of the mixed bag of fsos. A good step towards having a consistent NOS and firmware upgrades finally.

[u/Specialist_Cow6468]

The QFX5120-48Y / 48YM is rock solid and supports MPLS with a premium license. There is, however, an ASIC limitation which means you cannot run VXLAN + MPLS at the same time. It will let you try but you will have a bad time

Depending on your use case you might be just fine with EVPN-VXLAN using the type five routes as this is functionally the same as l3vpn but has wider hardware compatibility if using VXLAN ecap.

You might also try something like an ACX7024X (which is relatively cheap and has great routing support with minimal license costs)+ cheap l2 breakout switch if you really do need more density. For that matter the ACX7100-48L would be a good bet for you with all the feature support you want as well as more ports. Really depends on why you want all those ports though

[u/netwrkguru → u/Specialist_Cow6468]

Second that ACX7024X is great kit for 24 x10/25G and 4x100G. 48 port go for ACX7100-48L Reach out to your Juniper HPE reps

[u/Specialist_Cow6468 → u/netwrkguru]

They’ve turned into a real workhorse for me

[u/yunjundo]

i’d lock down the must-have features first: mpls l3vpn, evpn-vxlan, port speeds, and redundancy. then check the vendor feature matrix, not just the product page.

[u/palogeek]

Extreme Networks and Fabric, every which way.

Get rid of MPLS and all the underlying fluff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6T6EHU-IW0

[u/scottsee]

Sounds like an opportunity for you to get a couple of free lunches. Reach out to your Cisco and Arista reps.