Scale Profiles and Feature Profiles

Scale profiles in routers optimize performance by allowing customization for different network demands, such as high Layer 2 scale or a large number of Layer 3 routes. Feature profiles determine available software features, with the default profile supporting all features except PBB and the Layer 2 profile including PBB support but lacking IPv6, RPF, or Netflow.

TCAM is a critical resource in Cisco routers, and router profiles determine how this resource is allocated to optimize the router's performance for specific tasks. By selecting the appropriate profile, network administrators can ensure that the router operates efficiently and meets the specific needs of their network.

TCAM, scale profiles, and feature profiles optimize router performance, scalability, and security in diverse networking environments.

Scale Profiles

Scale profiles help you tune your router that is running Cisco IOS XR software. Profiles help you run the router more efficiently based on your requirements.

Market segment types or network architectures can place different scale demands on the router. Therefore, it’s important to configure the scale profile so that your router works efficiently.

These are some requirements when setting a scale profile:

  • Use of the router as a Layer 2 transport device requires high Layer 2 scale numbers.

  • Use of the router primarily as a Layer 3 device that provides Layer 3 virtual private network (VPN) services requires a high number of Layer 3 routes.

Scale Profile Types

There are three scale profiles available on your router:

Default Scale Profile

The default scale profile supports deployments that require large Layer 2 MAC tables (up to 512,000 entries) and a relatively small number of Layer 3 routes (less than 512,000).

Layer 3 Scale Profile

The Layer 3 Scale Profile supports deployments that require smaller Layer 2 MAC tables (less than 128,000 entries) and relatively higher Layer 3 routes (up to 1 million).

Layer 3 XL Scale Profile

The Layer 3 XL Scale Profile supports deployments that require minimal Layer 2 functionality and a large number of Layer 3 routes (up to 1.3 million).

Note that the support for up to 1.3 million routes is split into IPv4 scaled support and IPv4/IPv6 scaled support. You can configure up to 1.3 million IPv4 routes, or up to 1 million IPv4 routes with 128,000 IPv6 routes.

Restrictions with Layer 3 XL Scale Profile

  • Video monitoring isn’t supported with the Layer 3 XL scale profile.

Configure Scale Profile

Recommendations and Guidelines

  • We recommend that you configure scale profiles in the administration configuration mode and remove any L3 scale profiles committed via the global configuration mode.

  • Scale profile settings in the administration configuration override scale profile settings in the global configuration.

  • If the scale profile is set only in the global configuration, the setting takes effect.

  • Once you configure the scale profile, you must use the reload location all command to reload the device, or the line cards to enable the profile.

  • You can increase the memory available for BGP if you configure Layer 3 XL profile on the router.

  • Configuring the layer 3 XL profile reduces the memory available for other processes.

  • To activate the new profile, you must manually reboot the system.

Set Scale Profile

The tasks in this module describes how to set the scale profile on your router.

Procedure

Step 1

To set the scale profile on the router, use the hw-module profile scale command in the Administration Configuration mode.

Example:

This example shows how to configure Layer 3 profile on the router.

Router# admin
Router(admin)# configure
Router(admin-config)# hw-module profile scalel xl 
Router(admin-config)# commit

You can configure the Layer 3 XL profile on the router for BGP using the scale l3xl keyword to increase the memory.

Step 2

Reload the line cards to enable the profile

Router# reload location all

Step 3

To verify that the configured scale profile is enabled, use the show hw-module profile scale command which displays the active scale profile. If the active scale profile is different from what was configured, then the line cards were not reloaded as required. 

Router# show hw-module profile scale

You can verify the memory for BGP and the other processes using the following commands before and after the configuration:

  • show processes memory detail

  • show bgp process performance-statistics : This command is available only from Cisco IOS XR Release 6.1.x onwards.

Feature Profiles

To allow sufficient computation capabilities within the router, the available features within the Cisco IOS XR software image are bundled. A feature profile determines which bundle of features is available for you to use.

Feature Profile Types

Default Profile

Supports all Cisco IOS XR software features except for IEEE 802.1ah provider backbone bridge (PBB).

Layer 2 Profile

Layer 2 Profile supports all Cisco IOS XR software features including IEEE 802.1ah PBB.

Restrictions with Layer 2 Profile

  • Doesn’t support IPv6, reverse-path forwarding (RPF) or Netflow.

  • This feature profile is supported only on 1st Generation ASR 9000 Series Line Cards- Ethernet Line Cards, and 4th Generation ASR 9000 Series Line Cards - High Density Ethernet Line Cards. Therefore, this limitation is applicable only on those line cards; not on 2nd generation line cards and 3rd generation line cards.

Configure Feature Profile

Prerequisites and Recommendations

  • Before deploying your router you should determine that the feature profile is consistent with the features that you need to use. If it is not, use this task to configure a different profile.

  • If the feature profile that you have configured on your router does not support a feature that you have configured, warning messages are displayed on the console, and the feature does not work.

  • A configured feature profile takes effect only after you reload all the line cards on the router.

Set Feature Profile

The tasks in this module describes how to set the feature profile on your router.

Procedure

Step 1

To set the feature profile on your router, use the hw-module profile feature command in the Administration Configuration mode.

Example:
Router# admin
Router(admin)# configure
Router(admin-config)# hw-module profile feature l2 
Router(admin-config)# commit

Step 2

You must reload the router or line cards to enable the profile.

Router# reload location all

Step 3

To verify that the configured feature profile is enabled, use the show hw-module profile feature command which displays the active feature profile. If the active feature profile is different than what was configured, the line cards or router were not reloaded as required.

Relationship Between Scale and Feature Profiles

While there are no restrictions on your choice of scale and feature profiles in relation to one another, we suggest using them together, as outlined here.

Table 1. Relationship Between Scale and Feature Profiles

Default Feature Profile

Layer 2 Feature Profile

Default Scale Profile

Up to 512 K Layer 3 Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) scale

Provider backbone bridge

Layer 2 Scale Profile

Up to 1.0 M Layer 3 CEF scale

Less than 128 K MAC entries

Not Recommended

Layer 3 XL Scale Profile

Up to 1.3 M Layer 3 CEF scale

Not Recommended

Other pairs are not recommended. Note that the Layer 3 XL scale profile does not support video monitoring.

Verify Scale Profile or Feature Profile Configurations

To verify the configured scale profile or feature profile, you may perform the following steps:

Procedure

Step 1

If you see warning messages in the console indicating that the active feature profile does not match the configured profile, you must reload the affected line card so that the configured profile matches the active profile.

Example:

Router# Nov 5 02:50:42.732 : prm_server[236]: Configured 'hw-module profile feature l2' does not match active 'hw-module profile feature default'. 
You must reload this line card in order to activate the configured profile on this card or you must change the configured profile.

Step 2

If you see warning messages in the console indicating that some features do not match the feature profile, you should either change the feature profile configuration, or remove the non-supported features.

Example:

Router# Nov 5 02:50:42.732 : prm_server[236]: Active 'hw-module profile feature l2' does not support IPv6, RPF, or Netflow features. Please remove allunsupported feature configurations.

TCAM Profile

The TCAM (Ternary Content Addressable Memory) profile is a configuration setting that determines how TCAM resources are allocated for various functions such as routing, access control lists (ACLs), and Quality of Service (QoS) policies. These profiles help optimize the router's performance by prioritizing TCAM usage based on the specific needs of the network. Administrators can select or customize TCAM profiles to ensure efficient handling of critical operations, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency and reliability of the network. Proper TCAM profile management is essential for maintaining high performance in large-scale and complex network environments.

A TCAM consists of three tables namely L2, V4, and V6.

The L2 table is divided into five partitions. The various services listed against each partition use the allocated TCAM resources.

Table 2. L2 Table Structure

Partition ID

Usage

4

Double VLAN, MAC Source Address (SA), Subscribers, Bridge Virtual Interface (BVI)

3

Single tag, Subscribers, Pseudowire Headend (PW-HE)

2

Encapsulation - Untagged, Encapsulation - Any

1

Encapsulation - Default

0

Physical ports, Bundles

Recarve iTCAM Profile

Both the A99-12X100GE and A9K-4X100GE line cards have an internal TCAM of 5MB. You can recarve internal TCAM partition at a Global Configuration level to modify entries in the L2, V4 and V6 tables. Recarving of the TCAM partition helps in the optimal and efficient utilisation of the available memory.

Table 3. Default and Recarved Limit for iTCAM profiles

Supported on

Default Limit

(to-default)

Recarving Limit

(to-profile-se1)

L2 table

1K entries

4K entries

V4 table

24K entries

15K entries

V6 table

1.75K entries

3.25K entries

Restrictions for iTCAM Profile

The internal TCAM profile configuration is:

  • Supported only on the A99-12X100GE and A9K-4X100GE line cards.

  • Enabled only if you reload the A99-12X100GE and A9K-4X100GE line cards after you have configured the profile.

These sections provide the configuration for the supported iTCAM profiles.

Configure iTCAM Profile

This configuration recarves the internal TCAM partition of the A99-12X100GE and A9K-4X100GE line cards and sets the scale to 4K entries in the L2 table, 15K entries in the V4 table, and 3.25K entries in the V6 table.

Procedure

Step 1

Enter the global configuration mode to configure the iTCAM profile to-profile-se1 for the A99-12X100GE and A9K-4X100GE line cards.

Example:
Router# configure
Router(config)#

Step 2

Set the to-profile-se1 profile to recarve the TCAM partition in the line cards so that the scale in the L2, V4, and V6 tables are modified to 4K entries, 15K entries, and 3.25K entries respectively.

Example:
Router(config)# hw-module profile itcam to-profile-se1 location 0/0/CPU0
In order to activate this new internal tcam partition profile, you must manually reload the line card.
Router(config)# commit

Note

 

Configure the default iTCAM profile, to-default, to enable default TCAM entries present in the line cards.

Step 3

Reload the line cards to enable the profile.

Example:
Router# reload location 0/0/CPU0

Step 4

Verify the modified scale in the L2, V4, and V6 tables using the show prm server tcam summary all all detail all location location command.

Example:
Router# show prm server tcam summary all all detail np3 location 0/0/CPU0

 
                Node: 0/0/CPU0:
----------------------------------------------------------------
 
TCAM summary for NP3:
 
  TCAM Logical Table: TCAM_LT_L2 (1)
    Partition ID: 0, valid entries: 2, free entries: 22
    Partition ID: 1, valid entries: 0, free entries: 24
    Partition ID: 2, valid entries: 0, free entries: 24
    Partition ID: 3, valid entries: 0, free entries: 2012
    Partition ID: 4, valid entries: 2, free entries: 2010
  TCAM Logical Table: TCAM_LT_ODS2 (2), max entries: 15360, num free: 15237
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_IFIB (0).
      VMR ID:    1, used entries:   45, allocated entries:  123
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 1, Total used entries per app id: 45 Total allocated entries: 123
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_QOS (1)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_ACL (2)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_AFMON (3)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_LI (4)
      VMR ID:    2, used entries:    0, allocated entries:    0
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 1, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_PBR (5)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
  TCAM Logical Table: TCAM_LT_ODS8 (3), max entries: 3328, num free: 3295
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_IFIB (0).
      VMR ID:    1, used entries:   33, allocated entries:   33
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 1, Total used entries per app id: 33 Total allocated entries: 33
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_QOS (1)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_ACL (2)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_PBR (5)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0
    Application ID: NP_APP_ID_EDPL (6)
      Total vmr_ids per app id: 0, Total used entries per app id: 0 Total allocated entries: 0

Here, the scale has increased to 4K entries in the L2 table, 15K entries in the V4 table, and 3.25K entries in the V6 table.

L2 TCAM Profile

Table 4. Feature History Table

Feature Name

Release Information

Feature Description

Higher Single-Tagged VLAN Subinterface Capacity with Layer 2 TCAM Profile on Cisco ASR 9000 Series 5th Generation High-Density Multi-Rate Line Cards

Release 24.2.1

This feature allows you to configure the L2 TCAM profile that facilitates higher scale capacity for single-tagged VLAN subinterfaces on the Cisco ASR 9000 Series 5th generation high-density multi-rate line cards.

With this configuration, the feature supports up to 40,000 Single-tagged Layer 2 VLAN subinterfaces.

CLI: This feature introduces the hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam command.

The hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam profile1-dot1q profile supports up to 40,000 single-tagged Layer 2 VLAN subinterfaces.

To revert to the default configuration that supports up to 40,000 double-tagged (Q-in-Q) Layer 2 VLAN subinterfaces, use the no form of the hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam profile1-dot1q command.

How to configure the L2 TCAM Profile

Procedure

Step 1

configure

Example:

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:router# configure

Enters global configuration mode.

Step 2

hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam profile1-dot1q location location

Example:

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:router(config)# hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam profile1-dot1q location 0/2/CPU0

In order to activate this internal tcam partition configuration, you must manually reload the line card. 
This command must be used with caution and only when recommended by Cisco.

Specifies the l2tcam profile for the router.

  • profile1-dot1q —Enables the configuration that supports 40,000 single-tagged Layer2 VLAN sub-interfaces in the specified location.

    Important

     

    The profile-dot1q profile supports 40,000 single-tagged Layer 2 VLAN sub-interfaces and 16,000 double-tagged Layer 2 VLAN sub-interfaces.

  • location node-id —Specifies a configured location.

Important

 

You must reload the line card for this configuration to take effect.
Use the no form of the profile-dot1q profile to revert to the default configuration that supports up to 40,000 double-tagged (Q-in-Q) Layer 2 VLAN sub-interfaces and 16,000 single-tagged Layer 2 VLAN sub-interfaces.

Step 3

Use the commit or end command.

commit —Saves the configuration changes and remains within the configuration session.

end —Prompts user to take one of these actions:

  • Yes — Saves configuration changes and exits the configuration session.

  • No — Exits the configuration session without committing the configuration changes.

  • Cancel — Remains in the configuration mode, without committing the configuration changes.

Step 4

show running-config

Example:

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:router#show running-config | i l2tcam
hw-module profile itcam lightspeed l2tcam profile1-dot1q location 0/2/CPU0

Displays the configured l2tcam profile.

Step 5

reload location node-id

Example:

RP/0/RSP0/CPU0:router# reload location 0/2/CPU0

Reloads the specified location on the line cards in the chassis.