Catalyst 5509 backplane utilization

brad-denham · ‎02-21-2007

I have a 5509 that is showing a peak load on switching bus C of 49%. Is there a recommended maximum threshold to be watched for?

sho sys displays a peak of 32%.

bjw · ‎02-21-2007

There can be many reasons peak backplane utilization spikes. Is your current utilization lass than 10%?

Do you have auto-config-backup configured. We had a 65xx that railed when auto backup ran every 30 minutes in text mode.

Here's another help>

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps679/products_tech_note09186a008009495b.shtml

glen.grant · ‎02-21-2007

if its a peak don't worry about it switches will runn 80-90% before you start seeing real problems , look at the averages . Is this strictly a layer 2 switch or does it have a rsm also ?

brad-denham · ‎02-22-2007

Glen,

Thank you for the reply. This is strictly a layer 2 switch that is my core and 8 years old (our interVLAN routing is managed on a 3662). I have been unsuccessful with replacing it with a 6509 (mainly due to price), and because this switch has been rock solid and handled our traffic loads.

This past year and a half our company has upgraded a couple of our core business applications and this has resulted in a 50% to 100% increase in network traffic over the past 12 months. We are a newspaper and deal with very large graphics files.

I am looking at a 4510 with a SupV-10GE, 3 ? 10/100/1000 copper cards and 2 ? 6 port fiber GBIC cards. This would handle our needs for 3 to 5 years.

The main reason for my initial question is, I am looking for some ammunition to convince my management to invest in a new core switch. I have all the statistics together about traffic volume increase, how old my existing hardware is, EOS, EOL, new security features, backplane speed and pps comparisons. I am looking for solid information that will be convincing to executive management that we need to move from our existing platform.

Thank you