System Overview; Modular Architecture; Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Hardware-Forwarding Architectures; Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switching Architectures - Cisco WS-C6509 Datasheet

SYSTEM OVERVIEW

Modular Architecture

The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series is a modular system that can grow as customer requirements expand and technology
evolves, allowing customers to upgrade and reconfigure systems by adding new modules, replacing existing modules,
and adding and redeploying systems. Throughout the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series, modules are:
• Configurable—Separately, simplifying the addition of new services
• Interoperable—In the same chassis, providing flexible design options
• Interchangeable—Among Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series systems, simplifying sparing and network expansion
• Hot-swappable—Without requiring a chassis to be powered off, providing fast upgrade and repair
• Upgradable—As newer modules come along, providing investment protection

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Hardware-Forwarding Architectures

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series modules use one of three forwarding technologies, each having a different architecture
with different characteristics and capabilities:
• Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF)—Scaling to 30 Mpps, this technology uses a central CEF Cisco Express
Forwarding engine located on the supervisor engine's policy feature card (PFC) daughter and CEF forwarding
tables located on the supervisor engine. The supervisor engine makes all forwarding decisions for all interface
modules centrally. For more information see
• Accelerated Cisco Express Forwarding (aCEF)—Suited for high-performance enterprise environments, this
technology uses the aCEF engine and aCEF tables located on the interface module, along with the central CEF
engine located on the supervisor engine's PFC daughter card and central CEF forwarding tables located on the
supervisor engine. The interface module makes high-volume forwarding decisions locally, and the supervisor
engine makes the rest of the forwarding decisions centrally. For more information see
Express Forwarding (aCEF)
• Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding (dCEF)—Suited for the most demanding environments, this technology
uses the dCEF engine located on the interface module's distributed forwarding card (DFC) daughter card and the
dCEF table, a local copy of the supervisor engine's central CEF table located on the interface module's DFC. The
interface module makes all the forwarding decisions locally, and provides maximum performance and scalability.
For more information see

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switching Architectures

Cisco developed the following switching architectures for Cisco Catalyst 6500 modules to allow platforms to scale
in any deployment:
• 32-Gbps bus—Allowing access to a central shared bus
• 256-Gbps switch fabric—Located on the switch fabric module (SFM)
• 720 Gbps switch fabric—Located on Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engine 720
All contents are Copyright © 1992–2004 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Important Notices and Privacy Statement.
How Cisco Express Forwarding
Works.
How Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding (dCEF)
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Page 9 of 29
Works.
How Accelerated Cisco
Works.