Juniper's IPv6 feature licencing (was: Re: PXE booting over IPv6)

[Tore Anderson]

I've named'n'shamed Juniper on this list a few times for requiring a
licence to run some IPv6 routing protocols on their switches, while
keeping the corresponding IPv4 routing protocols licence-free.

Therefore I think it's only fair that I also let the list know when
there actually is some change for the better. So - starting with JUNOS
12.3, they've rescinded the practise of charging extra for IPv6, and
there is now licencing parity between IPv4 and IPv6:

http://www.juniper.net/techpubs/en_US/junos12.3/topics/concept/ex-series-software-licenses-overview.html#jd0e276

* Tore Anderson

> * Sander Steffann
> 
>>> Assuming a 24 port C3560-X switch, the GPL cost is:
>>>
>>> LAN Base:			$0
>>> IP Base:	C3560X-24-L-S=	$900
>>> IP Services:	C3560X-24-L-E=	$4900
>>>
>>> The switch hardware itself (WS-C3560X-24T-L) has a list price of $3400.
>>>
>>> I.e. the license to get even base ipv6 L3 functionality (e.g. interface
>>> configuration) costs almost 50% more than the price of the switch.
>>>
>>> This seriously sucks.
>>
>> Yes, that sucks enough to buy switches from a different vendor...
> 
> It's not only Cisco:
> 
> http://www.juniper.net/techpubs/en_US/junos12.1/topics/concept/ex-series-software-licenses-overview.html
> 
> If you need RIPng or OSPFv3, the licencing may set you back more than
> the switch hardware and the base licence, depending on which model
> you're buying. AFAICT, the worst cases are the EX3200-24T and the
> EX3300-24T, where the required licenses alone list at 133% of the price
> of the hardware (which includes licences for RIPv2 and OSPFv2).
> 
> Fair enough for BGP and IS-IS, though, as you'll need the same licences
> for both IPv4 and IPv6.
> 
> So while we're all struggling to find a good business case for deploying
> IPv6, our friendly networking vendors are providing us with a solid
> business case against it. Thanks guys....

-- 
Tore Anderson