High-Density Enterprise Wiring Closet, Supervisor Engine
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series integrates security and resiliency for advanced control of converged networks.
Figure 1. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V
Overview
The Cisco® Catalyst® 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V continues the nonblocking, robust Layer 2-4 switching found in previous Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engines. Additional performance, features, and throughput further enhance resilient control of converged data, voice, and video networks, with high availability enabling business resiliency for enterprise and metropolitan (metro) Ethernet customers. Network control extends from the backbone to the edge, with intelligent services such as granular quality of service (QoS), Internet security, and network management. The scalability of these intelligent network services is made possible with dedicated specialized resources known as ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). Ample TCAM resources (192,000 entries) enable "high feature capacity," which provides wire-speed routing and switching performance while enabling services such as QoS and security. This helps meet today's network requirements, with ample room for future growth.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V offers port scalability for resilient Layer 2-4 and routing for both the enterprise and service provider market segments. Optimized for the enterprise wiring closet, branch office backbone, or Layer 3 distribution point, the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V provides the performance and scalability to handle the network applications of today and the future.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series modular architecture provides a "pay as you grow" model, reducing operational expenses and capital expenditures. The Supervisor Engine V is backward-compatible with all the classic Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series line cards and can be used in both the classic Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series chassis (Catalyst 4503, Catalyst 4506, Catalyst 4507R, and Catalyst 4510R) and with the Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis (Catalyst 4503-E, 4506-E, 4507R-E, and 4510R-E).
Chassis and Line Card Support
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V can be deployed in single-chassis, nonredundant mode in the Cisco Catalyst 4503/4503-E and Catalyst 4506/4506-E chassis, or in redundant mode as an option in the Cisco Catalyst 4507R (slots 1 and 2)/4507R-E (slots 3 and 4) and Catalyst 4510R (slots 1 and 2)/4510R-E (slots 5 and 6) chassis. Table 1 shows the performance of the Supervisor Engine V for each chassis.
Table 1. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V Performance per Chassis
* When the Supervisor Engine V is used in the Catalyst 4510R chassis, slot 10 (FlexSlot) will support a subset of line cards: the 2-port GBIC (WS-X43 02-GB) and Access Gateway Module (WS-X4604-GWY). Future Supervisor Engines will allow slot 10 to accommodate any and all line cards.
Predictable Performance and Scalability
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V delivers a 96-Gbps switching fabric with a 72-mpps forwarding rate in hardware for Layer 2-4 traffic. Switching performance is independent of the number of route entries or Layer 3 and 4 services enabled. Hardware-based Cisco Express Forwarding routing architecture allows for increased scalability and performance. Table 2 provides a comparison of the performance and scalability features of all of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 2. Performance and Scalability Features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines
* The amount of Software Based IPv6 entries supported is dependent on the DRAM space
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series is optimized for multimedia applications, with its advanced multicast support. The Supervisor Engine V supports Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM), Source-Specific Multicast (SSM), and Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM), providing end users with additional scalability to support multimedia applications. Also supported is Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping in hardware, enhancing performance and reducing network traffic by allowing a switch to dynamically add and remove hosts from a multicast group.
Supervisor Engine V Redundancy for Business Resiliency
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series was designed to maximize desktop user uptime, with noninterrupted hardware switching. The Cisco Catalyst 4507R, 4507R-E, 4510R, and 4510R-E support 1+1 supervisor redundancy, using the Supervisor Engine V. The primary supervisor is active and is responsible for normal system operation. The other supervisor serves as a secondary standby, monitoring the operation of the primary supervisor.
Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO) offers continuous packet forwarding during supervisor engine switchover. Information is fully synchronized between supervisors to allow the standby supervisor to immediately take over in subsecond time if the primary fails. In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) allows customers to upgrade or downgrade complete Cisco IOS® Software images with minimal to no disruption to the network when using a redundant Cisco Catalyst 4500 system with dual supervisors. It enables rapid, nondisruptive software upgrade for new line cards, new power supplies, new features, or bug fixes. ISSU offers continuous packet forwarding during the supervisor engine switchover, running different Cisco IOS Software versions.
NSF/SSO and ISSU dramatically improve the network reliability and availability in a Layer 2 or Layer 3 environment. They are essential for business-critical applications such as voice over IP (VoIP). As a result, VoIP calls are not dropped.
The redundancy scheme using the Supervisor Engine V is similar to that for the Supervisor Engine IV. Alerts are generated to the network monitoring software if either supervisor fails, and hot swapping of supervisors is supported without disrupting system operation. Switchover of supervisors can be forced by software, or by the user via Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The resiliency features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series prevent network outages that could result in lost business and revenue.
Table 3 shows the high availability and uplink options for all of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 3. High Availability and Uplink Options on the Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines
* Simultaneous use of Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet is supported in Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(25) SG and later.
**NSF/SSO/ISSU will be supported in First half of Calendar Year 2008 Cisco IOS Software Release.
Please refer to the "Features at a Glance" section of this data sheet for a complete list of supported features.
IPv6 Support
IPv6 is important for the future of IP networking and is critical for the expansion of IP address space in the future. IPv6 capability is required by many companies and is being mandated by governments worldwide. IPv6 has been supported on the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine V since Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(20) EW with software-based forwarding.
Intelligent Network Services with Qos and Sophisticated Traffic Management
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V offers superior per-port QoS features, ensuring that network traffic is classified, prioritized, and scheduled optimally to efficiently handle bandwidth-hungry multimedia, time-sensitive (voice), and mission-critical applications. The Supervisor Engine V can classify, police, and mark incoming packets, allowing the administrator to differentiate between traffic flows and to enforce policies. Sharing, shaping, and strict priority configurations determine the scheduling of egress traffic. The Supervisor Engine V also supports Dynamic Buffer Limiting (DBL), a congestion avoidance feature. For details on the QoS features (including DBL) on the Supervisor Engine V, refer to the white paper "Quality of Service on Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engines" at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps4324/prod_white_papers_list.html.
Table 4 summarizes the QoS features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 4. QoS Feature Summary for the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines
* Will be supported as part of the software upgrade in First Half of Calendar Year 2008
** Hardware performance for nonblocking Gigabit Ethernet ports and software performance for all other ports.
Please refer to the "Features at a Glance" section of this data sheet for a list of supported features.
Comprehensive Management
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V features a single console port and a single IP address to manage all features of the system. Remote in-band management is available via SNMP, Telnet client, Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP), and Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). Support for local or remote out-of-band management is delivered through a terminal or modem attached to the console interface. SmartPorts Macro is a Cisco Catalyst solution that is also supported, simplifying the configuration of the critical features for the Ethernet networks.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine V delivers a comprehensive set of management tools to provide the required visibility and control in the network. Managed with CiscoWorks solutions, Cisco Catalyst switches can be configured and managed to deliver end-to-end device, virtual LAN (VLAN), traffic, and policy management. The LAN management solution bundle offers tools such as CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials and CiscoView. These Web-based management tools offer several services, including automated inventory collection, software deployment, easy tracking of network changes, views into device availability, and quick isolation of error conditions. Table 5 summarizes the management features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 5. Management Feature Highlights of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines
Please refer to the "Features at a Glance" section of this data sheet for a complete list of supported features.
Advanced Security
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a rich set of integrated security features to proactively lock down your critical network infrastructure. It reduces network security risks with a rich set of Network Admission Control (NAC) capabilities and 802.1x-based user authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA). The security policy enforcement is uncompromised, with wire-rate, dedicated access-control lists (ACLs) to fend off ever-increasing virus and security attacks. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers powerful, easy-to-use tools to effectively prevent untraceable man-in-the-middle attacks, control plane resource exhaustion, IP spoofing, and flooding attacks, without any change to the end-user or host configurations. Secure remote access, file transfers, and network management are accomplished with the Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Version 1 and Version 2, Secure Copy Protocol (SCP), and SNMPv3, respectively.
NAC is a foundational component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy, improving the network's ability to automatically identify, prevent, and respond to security threats. NAC enables the Cisco Catalyst switches to collaborate with third-party solutions for security-policy compliance and enforcement before a host is permitted to access the network.
NAC performs posture validation at the Layer 2 network edge for hosts with or without 802.1x enabled. Vulnerable and noncompliant hosts can be isolated, given reduced network access, or directed to remediation servers based on organizational policy. By ensuring that every host complies with security policy, organizations can significantly reduce the damage caused by infected hosts. NAC is available through standard software upgrades or Cisco SMARTnet® contracts on Cisco Catalyst switches. Table 6 summarizes the security features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 6. Security Feature Highlights of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines
* This will be supported in future Cisco IOS Software Release.