Architectures with Shared‐Memory‐Based Switch Fabrics: Case Study—Cisco Catalyst 8500 CSR Series
James Aweya · 2018
The Catalyst 8500 campus switch/routers (CSRs) provide wire speed Layer 2 and Layer 3 packet forwarding and services. Based on architecture categories, the architectures of Catalyst 8500 CSRs fall under "architectures with shared-memory-based switch fabrics and distributed forwarding engines" This chapter discusses the main architectural features of the Catalyst 8500 series. The Catalyst 8500 CSR has a distributed forwarding architecture where all line cards in the system can forward packets locally. The system processor (SRP or RP) ensures that the Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding information in the line cards are up-to-date. The Catalyst 8500 supports a distributed forwarding architecture that uses a forwarding approach where the forwarding information generated by the central system processor is distributed to the individual line card modules to enable them forward packets locally. It also supports a number of quality of service (QoS) mechanisms that are incorporated into the switch/router architecture.