Alcatel-Lucent 7750 vs. Cisco ASR 9000: The Battle for Service Router Supremacy

Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent have manufactured some of the best service edge routers in the networking industry. With Cisco’s ASR 9000 and Alcatel-Lucent’s 7750 pursuing the same market, it is significant to see how these two systems match up with one another. Cisco has been predominately the leader in this area but Alcatel-Lucent has making strides to rapidly close the gap between the two.

                So what’s the difference between the Cisco ASR 9000 and Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR? It’s important to understand what each product does and how it functions. The Cisco ASR 9000 is an edge router built to support metro Ethernet networks, video/high bandwidth applications, and other interface types typically used by Service Providers. This is advancement toward next-generation Internet being more visual, mobile and virtual. This system works in conjunction with nV technology to deliver 96 Tbps, 36 times the bandwidth capacity of IPv6 competitors, and offers 70% operational expense savings. The ASR 9000 blends the edge, aggregation, and access points to simplify the network. It also provides modular, microkernel-based Cisco IOS XR Software operating system, widespread system redundancy, and complete network resiliency systems.

                Meanwhile, the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 is a multiservice edge router designed for the synchronized delivery of residential, business and mobile services on a mutual IP edge platform. The functionality is able to be accomplished through in-house 400 Gb/s FP3 silicon technology. Alcatel-Lucent is takes pride in producing third generation FP3 as the first 400 Gb/s network processor to optimize 10, 40, 100 and 400 Gb/s networks. The chassis options offer a variety for 1, 4, 7, and 12 racks. The 7750 SR decreases operational expenses and is compatible with upgraded features and “in-place” software. This Service Router was also made to reduce the energy used in powering and cooling.

                Ultimately, these two systems are pursuing the same market. In a study performed by Miercom, it was determined that the Cisco ASR 9000 outperformed the ALU 7750 in scale, quality of service, convergence, network traffic prioritization, multicast for video distribution, video streaming, high availability, and resiliency. In testing failover scenarios, the ASR 9000 experienced minimal packet loss while the 7750 demonstrated unpredictable behavior that could lead to extended interruption time. During congestion, the Cisco ASR 9000 was able to steadily maintain high priority traffic at any given moment whereas the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR was not able to do that. Although they are both innovative systems for Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent, the ASR 9000 appears to be the superior option.

                Launch 3 Telecom is a distributor of networking equipment produced by manufacturers such as Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent and many others. If you are interested in purchasing the Cisco ASR 9000 or Alcatel-Lucent 7750 SR, contact us at 877-878-9134 or email sales@launch3.net.

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