Light Reading Trials

Internet core routers from Cisco, Juniper, Charlotte's Networks, and Foundry Networks were stress- tested during 2001 [LightReading]. A range of tests were carried out, including:

• MPLS throughput

• Latency

• IP throughput at OC-48

• IP throughput at OC-192

During the MPLS throughput testing, the Juniper router supported the creation and use of up to 10,000 LSPs, while the Cisco router topped out at 5,000. Service providers expect to be able to build networks using devices capable of creating millions of LSPs. Clearly, at the time these tests were run, the equipment vendors involved had a long way to go.

In late November 2002, Light Reading executed trials against multiservice switches. One of the tests concerned a sequential (i.e., one after the other) LSP ( specifically , tunnel) setup in which the vendor switch (from Alcatel) acted as an LSR and later as an egress LER. The switch was subjected to a steady stream of LSP-creation request messages using RSVP-TE. The test stopped as soon as the switch rejected a setup message. The test imposed 8,000 simultaneous RSVP-TE LSPs for core switches (i.e., LSRs) and 15,000 simultaneous RSVP-TE tunnels for edge switches (i.e., LERs). The Alcatel switch passed the test.