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Our network supplier recommends replacing our 3 cisco catalyst 4500's because they are EOL and dont speak OSPF (which we really want)

Its not my area of expertise so I cant say for sure if we really need to replace these units but for my company the estimated costs of 250K euro is a huge problem.

Is there any way to cut down on costs (without moving from cisco devices), I heard the 4500´s can speak ospf but would need an upgrade of sorts?

edit: version: IOS (tm) Catalyst 4000 L3 Switch Software (cat4000-I9K91S-M), Version 12.2(20)EW, EARLY DEPLOYMENT RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

supervisor: WS-X4013+ Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine II-Plus

density: WS-X4306-GB Cisco Catalyst 4500 Gigabit Ethernet Module, 6 Ports (GBIC)

WS-X4306-GB Cisco Catalyst 4500 Gigabit Ethernet Module, 6 Ports (GBIC)

WS-X4548-GB-RJ45 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced 48-Port 10/100/1000 Module (RJ-45)

WS-X4548-GB-RJ45 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced 48-Port 10/100/1000 Module (RJ-45)

WS-X4548-GB-RJ45 Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced 48-Port 10/100/1000 Module (RJ-45)

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    What type or port-density do you need?
    – ewwhite
    Nov 23, 2012 at 22:08
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    Which model supervisor cards is in those 4500's ? 4500's can do OSPF provided they have one of the 2nd generation supervisors. If I remember correctly that firmware is 1st generation only. They are EOL. Unless you are prepared to buy refurbished parts upgrading them might be problematic.
    – Tonny
    Nov 23, 2012 at 22:15
  • port density: Free Interfaces: OK - 26/158 free interfaces for 14 days | total_int=262 total_eth=158 total_eth_free=26 supervisor: WS-X4013+ Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine II-Plus
    – hoberion
    Nov 23, 2012 at 22:30
  • In scenarios that require enhanced routing ([...], Open Shortest Path First [OSPF], [...]), NetFlow services, or higher performance and scalability, customers should consider other Layer 3-capable supervisor engines, says the data sheet of the supervisor card. You would need to have the Supervisor Engine 6E instead to run OSPF.
    – the-wabbit
    Nov 24, 2012 at 0:18
  • Is there a reason you are running chassis switches? A stack of three 48-port switches would be considerably less. Nov 24, 2012 at 15:09

2 Answers 2

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You could have a look at Juniper 4200 switches. Excellent for OSPF routing and should cost you less than 50k for 3*48 ports.

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The 4548 line cards have just hit end of life, but have on the order of 5 more years of supportability. The 4306 blades hit EOL in 2010, so have about 3 years of support left.

As syneticon-dj points out, you need a supervisor intended for L3 applications (i.e. 6E, etc). Simply replacing the supervisors will allow you to support L3 and OSPF. This should be considerably less expensive than replacing the entire switch and leaves you a simple fallback.

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