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Terminating WAN link on switches.

manjit_raulo
Level 1
Level 1

I have worked mostly on switches.so i want to know,is it possible to terminate a WAN link on layer-3 switches like 3560,3750 & 4500 series switches ??

If yes then how ??

Then what is the need of routers on networks.

7 Replies 7

Jon Marshall
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

Yes you can but obviously the interface types on switches are a lot more limited than on routers. Note that the 6500 switches do actually support a greater range of WAN interfaces.

So if your provider presented the WAN link to you as ethernet then yes you could terminate it onto a L3 switch. But bear in mind routers have more features generally needed for WAN connectivity eg. a fuller QOS feature set, NAT etc..

(Again the 6500 is slightly different ie. it supports NAT).

Jon

Thanks for yr reply.

Regarding the Ethernet ports,that also available on routers .....so is there any specific criteria for choosing the WAN link type & specific bandwidth when we want to terminate the WAN link on a switch.

And also....if we want to terminate the link on a layer 3 switch...is there any extra equipment or converter required ??

Switches are typically faster than the routers since they carry high forwarding capacity except some of the modular/bigger routers. You can safely terminate a bigger WAN pipe on ethernet depending upon the L3 switch type/model.

Typically terminated an ethernet link on a L3 switch doesnot require any converter. In case any, the ISP will provide the same.

Amit Singh
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

You can terminate WAN on these switches but ethernet connection only. Today most of the layer-3 switches does the same work a traditional routers. The main difference exists in the performance, extensive WAN feature sets and the hardware supported.

For any other type of WAN connection like serial,ATM,POS etc. you either need a router or layer-3 switch like Cat6500 with SIP/SPA modules in it.

Amit Singh
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

Jon, Apologies for posting on your post. We almost did it at the same time :-)

Hey Amit, haven't heard from you in ages.

No need to apologise, sure i have done it to you in the past.

How are things ?

Jon

Jon, Just catching on with the netpro, its been a while.

mail me at amisin@gmail.com.

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