Info regarding Switch fabric and Backplane

[tmsundar81]

I need information regarding the switch fabric and especially how it handled data flow and also about the backplane, and the role of each in forwarding traffic, say for ex how it works in 6500 series switches.

[sourabhagarwal]

Hope this URL will give information you are looking for.

http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/473/183.html

http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=102093&seqNum=2&rl=1

http://www.cisl.ucar.edu/nets/devices/eswitches/6500-backplane.html

rate if it helps ...

[tmsundar81]

Hi Sourabh....got lot of info from the url u had send it to me but still i need some more info which could explain with figures...any way those were very helpfull THANKS A LOT...

[mohammedmahmoud]

Hy there,

I have a Catayst 6500 switch (6509); Supervisor 2 with PFC-2 and MSFC-2.

After reading one of your links:

"The 6500 offers the standard 32Gbps backplane originally offered by the 6000 and adds the ability to use a 256Gbps Crossbar fabric with an additional SFM and fabric-enabled line cards ( Note- Cisco is hinting that the release of the Supervisor III module in Q2 2003 will do away with the need for SFM modules to be installed in the chassis to utilize the Crossbar fabric, thus saving at least one slot in the chassis)."

I have a couple of questions, does this mean that my switch supports corss-bar switch fabric (when using SFM + fabric-enabled card)? And is the Supervisor 3 issue confirmed (no need for SFM ? i've read that the Supervisor 720 contains a Crossbar Switching Fabric that provides 720 Gbps of backplane bandwidth is this what was meant) ?

thanks in advance,

Mohammed Mahmoud.

[Jon Marshall]

Mohammed

Basically yes in answer to your first question. A fabric enabled module such as the WS-X6548-GE-TX can either connect to the cross bar switch fabric if an SFM is present or if an SFM isn't present it connects to the 32Gbp shared bus.

The Supervisor 720 comes with an inbuilt SFM (hence the reason it goes into slots 5 & 6) in the 6509 chassis.

HTH

[mohammedmahmoud]

Hi there,

Sorry one last question, how can i make sure that my modules are fabric enabled module ?

Thanks,

Mohammed Mahmoud.

[Jon Marshall]

Mohammed

This link should cover most if not all of the modules you need to check.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/products_relevant_interfaces_and_modules.html

HTH

[mohammedmahmoud]

Thanks,

But i didn't found my module in it as it is EOS/EOL (WS-X6416-GBIC), is there another way to check it out ?

regards,

Mohammed Mahmoud.

[Jon Marshall]

Mohammed

looks like your card isn't fabric enabled. See the link below for more info

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/products_quick_reference_guide09186a00800923c3.html

HTH

[mohammedmahmoud]

Jon,

Thanks alot, but one last question please, do you know what is the NEBS environment, and what does this version of the 6509 differs from ordniray version of the 6509 like mine.

"WS-C6509-NEB Catalyst 6509 chassis for NEBS environments"

regards,

Mohammed Mahmoud.

[Jon Marshall]

Mohammed

There are a few differences between the NEB chassis and the standard 6509 or 6509E chassis eg. vertically mounted blades for better airflow, redundant fans etc.

Have a look at this link for full details:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/prod_bulletin09186a00801a987d.html

HTH