Splitting a Circuit using a Switch

vdadlaney · ‎05-23-2009

Hi, not sure if this is commonly done but I am trying to confirm if there are any downsides to using a Lan Switch to multiplex a Fat Pipe (10G) and than using a switch carve that 10G out into multiple 1G interface using VLANs. I would assume that with the switches (4948, nexus etc) this seems viable however are there any operational challenges associated. Using a SVI instead of a P2P physical interface across a WAN is one but is there a downside? I can't seem to come up with any negatives. Essentially instead of having the SP carve out the circuit we are doing it using a traditional switch as a sort of multiplexer. This makes it more convenient and I guess cost effective as well just want to confirm if there are any operational/configuration challenges associated. Thx

paolo bevilacqua · ‎05-23-2009

There are no challenges and it is a very simple configuration.

Joseph W. Doherty · ‎05-24-2009

One possible disadvantage to using a "LAN" switch, it tends to be "feature poor" compared to WAN oriented devices. An alternative you might want to consider is usage one of Cisco's Metro Ethernet Switches. The only model, I believe, that supports 10 gig would be the ME 4924-10GE. (BTW, unclear, beyond the hardware, that's there much feature difference between ME 4924-10GE and the Catalyst 4928-10GE [or 4948-10GE], but other Metro Ethernet Switches might be of additional interest for gig, not 10 gig, uplinks.)