Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Routing advice - Juniper, Cisco, Foundry, Zebra or..... (?)

[packetspeed]

Hello,

I'm trying to decide on what brand and type of core routers we are going to use in our network. I know quite all of the brands on the market, though making a choice is not easy. Let's start with a small overview of what we are in need for:

* Core routing solution
- Starting with a single router setup, to be expanded to 2 redundant types of this router or new routers
- Initial bandwidth usage approx. 50-60 mbits/sec, will grow to approx. 150-180 mbits/sec within the next 3-4 months.

Because our current budget is quite small, approx. 250 Euros/month based on a lease agreement of 24 months, we have the following options;

* 2 Zebra/Quagga softrouters with 1 GB-2 GB of high quality DDR RAM, Intel XEON or AMD XP processor(s) and FreeBSD OS; will be approx. Euro 1.500,- or Euro 100,-/month with a lease agreement
* Extreme Summit 4 Switch w/ Full layer 3 License: Euro 100,-/month

Another option would be a refurbished Foundry, Juniper or Cisco router anywhere around 2.500 - 5.000 Euros.


I would like to know what will perform best; Zebra or Extreme and what the pricing would be of a similar refurbished router of any of the brands listed above.


Thanks in advance for your help!