Q. What are the integrated switching modules for the modular Cisco® 1800, 2800, and 3800 series integrated services routers?
A. Currently, Cisco Systems® offers three types of integrated switching modules for the integrated services routers:
• The 16- and 36-port Cisco EtherSwitch® modules are network modules based on the Cisco Catalyst® 2950 Series chipset. They are supported in the Cisco 2600, 3600, and 3700 series, as well as the Cisco 2811, 2821, 2851, and Cisco 3800 Series integrated services routers. These modules provide line-rate Layer 2 switching between ports on the module and use the router for switching Layer 3 traffic. They can provide Cisco Pre-standard Inline Power to support the installed base of Cisco IP phones and wireless access points. Inline power requires an internal inline power supply in the router, or an external power supply (not supported on the integrated services routers).
• The Cisco EtherSwitch 4- and 9-port switches are in the high-speed WAN interface card (HWIC) form factor. The Cisco EtherSwitch HWICs also provide line-rate Layer 2 switching between ports on the module and use the router for switching Layer 3 traffic. They can provide inline power---both Cisco Pre-standard Inline Power and IEEE 802.3af-compliant power---to attached devices. Inline power requires an internal inline power supply in the router. The Cisco EtherSwitch HWICs are supported on the Cisco 1841 and Cisco 2800 and 3800 series integrated services routers. The Cisco 1841, however, does not support the 9-port Cisco EtherSwitch HWIC, nor can it provide Power over Ethernet (PoE).
• The Cisco EtherSwitch service modules are available in four interface densities with six SKUs. They support the Enhanced Network Module (NME) specification and can provide Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching on the modules for IP traffic. Using Cisco StackWise technology they can expand to support up to eight additional switches in one virtual management unit. All Cisco EtherSwitch service modules support Cisco Pre-standard Inline Power and IEEE 802.3af-compliant PoE. They are supported in the Cisco 2691 Multiservice Platform, the Cisco 3700 Series plus the Cisco 2811, 2821, 2851, and Cisco 3800 Series integrated services routers. The Cisco 2691 has no inline power support for the Cisco EtherSwitch service modules because there are no external power connections. In the Cisco 3700 Series, only Cisco Pre-standard Inline Power is supported. EtherSwitch service modules are available as follows:
– 16 10/100 Mbps switch ports and one 10/100/1000 Mbps switch port, available in both POE and non-POE SKUs
– 23 10/100 Mbps switch ports and one 10/100/1000 Mbps switch port, available in both POE and non-POE SKUs
– 24 10/100 Mbps switch ports with a Gigabit Ethernet Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP)-based port and Cisco StackWise connectors, available only with integrated POE
– 48 10/100 Mbps switch ports and 2 Gigabit Ethernet SFP-based ports, available only with integrated POE
Q. Can you summarize the modules by platform support and PoE capability?
A. Table 1 summarizes the integrated switching modules by platform support and PoE capability.
Table 1. Integrated Switching Support by Platform
Platform
4-Port HWIC
9-Port HWIC
16-Port Network Module
36-Port NMD
16-Port NME
24-Port NME-X
24-Port + Cisco StackWise NME-XD
48-Port NME-XD
Cisco 3845
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cisco 3825
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cisco 2851
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Cisco 2821
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
Cisco 2811
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
No
Cisco 2801
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
Cisco 1841
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Cisco 3745
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Cisco 3725
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Cisco 3660 Multiservice Platform
No
No
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Cisco 3640 and Cisco 3640A Multiservice Platforms
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Cisco 3620 Multiservice Platform
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Cisco 2691
No
No
Yes
No
Yes*
No
No
No
Cisco 2600XM
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Cisco 2600 Series Multiservice Platform
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
* Cisco 2691 cannot provide inline power to the Cisco EtherSwitch Service Module.
Q. What is the feature comparison between the Cisco EtherSwitch modules?
A. Table 2 compares features supported on the Cisco EtherSwitch modules.
Table 2. Features Supported on Cisco EtherSwitch Modules
EtherSwitch Service Modules (NME-16ES-1G, NME-16ES-1G-P, NME-X-23ES-1G, NME-X-23ES-1G-P, NME-XD-48ES-2S-P, and NME-XD-24ES-1S-P)
VLANs
Multiple VLANs per Switch
Yes (varies by chassis; maximum of 64 on Cisco 3845)
Yes (maximum of 15 on any chassis)
Yes (maximum of 1,024 per switch or stack)
VLANs in 4,000 Range
No
No
Yes
IEEE 802.1Q Tagged and Untagged VLANs
Yes
Yes
Yes (802.1Q and Inter-Switch Link [ISL])
VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) Support for Client, Server, and Transparent Modes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Maximum Switched Virtual Interfaces (SVIs)
Based on MAC addresses per chassis; up to 64 maximum
15
1,000 (recommended maximum is 128)
Layer 2 MAC-Related Feature Support
Secure MAC Addresses
Yes
Yes (up to 200)
Yes (port access control list [PACL]-based)
Static and Dynamic MAC Addressing
Yes
Yes
Yes
MAC Addresses
8,000
2,000
12,000
Port Application Support
Cisco EtherChannel Device---Port Aggregation
Yes
No
Yes (across stack)
Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN)---Port Monitoring
Yes (all frames have 802.1q tags)
Yes (all frames have 802.1q tags)
Yes (across stack)
Remote SPAN (RSPAN)
No
No
Yes
Router-Based Broadcast, Multicast, and Unicast Storm Control
Yes
Yes
Yes
Quality-of-Service (QoS) Feature Support
IEEE 802.1p Class-of-Service (CoS) Priority for 802.1q Tagged Frame
Yes
Yes
Yes
Port-Based Priority for Native Frames
Yes
Yes
Yes
Port Priority to Overwrite the IEEE 802.1p Priority
Yes
Yes
Yes
Strict Priority and Weighted Round Robin (WRR) CoS Policies
Yes
Yes (limited; default values only)
Shaped Round Robin (SRR) and Weighted Tail Drop (WTD)
CoS-to-Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) Mapping
Yes
No
Yes
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping
Yes
Yes
Yes
Network Time Protocol (NTP) Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree and Spanning Tree Protocol PortFast
Yes
Yes
Yes; 128 instances
Uplink Fast, Backbone Fast, PortFast, root guard, and bridge protocol data unit (BPDU) guard
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Telnet Client and Server Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Version 1 and Version 2 Support
Yes
Yes
Yes
Flow Control for the Gigabit Ethernet Port Only
Yes
-
Yes
Fallback Bridging
Yes
Yes
Yes (IPv4 and non-IP protocols only)
Routed Port
Yes
No
Yes (up to 468 per stack)
Cisco Smartports
No
No
Yes
802.1x
Yes (authentication---port on/off only)
Yes (authentication---port on/off only)
Yes (authentication and full authentication, authorization, and accounting [AAA] and RADIUS modes)
• With port VLAN ID (PVID) and voice VLAN ID (VVID)
• With VLAN assignment
• With DHCP assignment
• With guest VLAN
Security Access Control Lists (ACLs)
Yes
No
Yes
IP ACLs for Layer 2 Ports
Yes
No
Yes
VACLs
No
No
Yes
Cisco Inline Power
Yes
Yes (no power support on Cisco 1841)
Yes (no power support on Cisco 2691)
IEEE 802.3af-Compliant PoE
No
Yes (no power support on Cisco 1841)
Yes (not available on Cisco 2691 or Cisco 3700 Series, no POE support at all on NME-16ES-1G and NME-X-23ES-1G)
Layer 3 Switching for IP Packets
Yes (this is done through the router)
Yes (this is done through the router)
Yes (on the module)
VTP Pruning
No
No
Yes
Network Port
No
No
Yes
Per-Port Enabling and Disabling of Unknown Multicast and Unicast Packets
No
No
Yes
Cisco Group Management Protocol (GMP) Client
No
No
Yes
Cisco Network Assistant Support
No
No
Yes
Cisco Emergency Responder Support
No
No
Yes
STACKING
Q. What is intra-chassis stacking?
A. Intra-chassis stacking is the ability to have multiple Cisco EtherSwitch network modules or Cisco EtherSwitch HWICs connected through the Gigabit Ethernet or Fast Ethernet connection in the same router. An example of intra-chassis stacking is placing two Cisco EtherSwitch network modules in the same router connected through the Gigabit Ethernet uplink. Intra-chassis stacking allows all the Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces to participate in the same Layer 2 domain. Intra-chassis stacking is required for using two of the Cisco EtherSwitch network modules or HWICs in a single chassis. It is neither required nor supported when using the Cisco EtherSwitch service modules.
Q. Can I stack two Cisco EtherSwitch network modules or two Cisco EtherSwitch HWICs in a chassis without connecting external ports?
A. No, stacking without connecting the two interfaces externally is not supported. Connecting the two stacking interfaces and using the stacking-partner command eliminates conflicts in the VLAN databases between the two modules. Installing two modules without this connection results in duplications in the VLAN databases and is not supported. If two Cisco EtherSwitch network modules or HWICs are installed in a chassis without connecting and configuring intra-chassis stacking, the router does not recognize the second module.
Q. Can I install multiple Cisco EtherSwitch service modules in a chassis without configuring intra-chassis stacking?
A. Because each Cisco EtherSwitch service module is a separate, standalone switch, it is not necessary (nor is it supported) to configure intra-chassis stacking on these modules. With the exception of the StackWise module NME-XD-24ES-1S-P), you can install up to 2 EtherSwitch service modules in a single chassis. Because the StackWise supports Cisco StackWise interfaces, only one per chassis is supported.
Q. Is there a limit to how many switching modules I can install in a platform?
A. Yes. Only two Cisco EtherSwitch network modules or HWICs can be installed in any platform, regardless of port density or slot density. All these switching modules share a common VLAN database file, called the vlan.dat file. Access to this file must be coordinated between modules, and this is accomplished using the "stacking" keyword in the configuration. Stacking can be applied to only one port per module, and that port must be connected externally to the stacking port on the mating module.
With the exception of the StackWise module, you can install up to 2 EtherSwitch service modules in a single chassis. Because the StackWise module supports Cisco StackWise interfaces, only one per chassis is supported.
Q. How are the modules supported across the integrated services routers and multiservice routers?
A. Table 3 shows support for the Cisco EtherSwitch modules.
Table 3. Support for the Cisco EtherSwitch Modules
