2821 with 2 x HWIC-1FE Versus HWIC-4ESW

[Kevin Brennan]

Hi All,

I have a quick question regarding using a HWIC-4ESW in a 2821 chassis.

I know that the ESW ports are L2 and that I need to create a SVI to route using them.

My question is...

Are packets that are routed using SVI's in vlans on the ESW process switched or CEF switched?

If they are CEF switched, my application should be fine based on the router performance PDF. If they are process switched I think I will have to get 2 HWIC-1FE cards instead. I'm trying to keep the cost for this project down to a minimum.

My requirements are connectivity to two different ISP's (ethernet presentation) and to two internal firewalls. I am not BGP peering with the ISP's and there will be no dynamic routing - only a limited amount of PBR. The internet traffic will be a maximum of about 35Mbps but I want a bit of room to grow. The 2821 will also be serving as a SSL VPN concentrator, but I would be going for the HSEC bundle with the AIM VPN card.

I did look at the 2811, but I dont think it leaves enough room for future growth.

Does anybody know if it is likely that the HWIC-2FE will be supported in the 28xx series in the future?

Thanks in advance.

Kevin

[paolo bevilacqua · Accepted solution]

Hi,

yes the vlan interfaces are CEF switched.

The hwic-2fe is not supported on the 2811 because it cannot ensure performances for two fully loaded FEs, and that will not change in the future.

In most cases you do not need the AIM VPN card because the one embedded on motherboard does very well already.

[Kevin Brennan]

Hi Paolo,

Thank you for your reply.

Knowing that the SVI's are CEF switched is good!

I need the feature set in the HSEC bundle, and this includes the AIM VPN module anyway.

Thanks again.

Kevin