Abstract

Tolly Group Report #202122 (March 2002) evaluates CoSine IPSX 9500 Service Processing Switch with two IP Service Generator blades, representing 17% of full chassis capacity. The test methodology required zero-loss (<0.005% packet loss) bidirectional forwarding while running firewall, NAT, IPSec and BGP/MPLS VPN services on Gigabit Ethernet.

Scalability and throughput. The platform supported 1,000 virtual routers, each with a 1 Mbit/s firewall and NAT, and delivered 100% wire-speed throughput for 128-byte and larger packets and 80% at 64-byte packets. With 1,800 BGP/MPLS VPNs it sustained 100% wire speed at 1,024- and 1,420-byte frames, 99% at 128- and 256-byte frames and 75% at 64-byte frames.

IPSec performance. Running 100 IPSec 3DES-SHA1 tunnels the switch achieved 99% zero-loss throughput at 1,024-byte frames and 98% at 1,420-byte frames. Scaling to 1,000 IPSec tunnels it still forwarded 91% at 1,024-byte and 86% at 1,420-byte frames while keeping small-packet performance above 67% for 128-byte traffic.

Conclusion: With wire-speed forwarding for thousands of independent firewalls and VPNs, high tunnel density and abundant headroom left unused, the IPSX 9500 offers service providers a virtualized edge platform that delivers predictable performance and granular customer isolation without sacrificing throughput or scalability.

Note: By 2004, CoSine had discontinued its service provider product line.