L3 device recommendation

[Bruce Reed]

I have secondary Internet service dedicated for the most part to some wireless VLANs for guest and developer use. Right now a PIX is serving as the gateway and this works nice as I can DMZ the vlans and supply one-way inside access from our core to devices on the PIX DMZ  vlans.

I am upgrading the link to a 300 Mbps metro ethernet link and need to replace the PIX. I can use an ASA, but I'm wondering if it's overkill for this situation. I know some access routers would work fine in this application, in fact, I've tested a 1941 which will do everything the PIX does now, but I know they lack the throughput to give me 300 Mbps wire speed. I thought a good L3 switch like a 3560 might suffice here, but I do minimally need nat for the outside connection and the VLANs behind the device need access back into the core for DHCP and DNS, plus, I do have to link it to my core to let hosts behind it communicate with devices on the wireless vlans.

Can anyone recommend a good solution for this? It doesn't have to be Cisco btw -- I'm agnostic here. Thanks in advance.

[Edison Ortiz]

For the services you need, it requires a router.

Based on the bandwidth requirement, the 3925/3945 fits the bill.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Posting

If NAT is required, I believe that will eliminate most small L3 switches, even the Metro versions.

Unfortunately, although 300 Mbps is trivial for most modern L3 switches, you'll need a higher end ISR to handle that much bandwidth.

Cisco recommendations:

350 Mbps - 3945E

250 Mbps - 3925E

150 Mbps - 3945

100 Mbps - 2925