Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Modules; Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Module Types; Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engines - Cisco WS-C6509 Datasheet

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Modules

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series interface modules support the following forwarding technology and switch fabric
combinations:
• Classic Interface Modules—Use the centralized CEF engine located on the supervisor engine's PFC, connect
to the 32-Gbps switching bus only, and forward packets at up to 15 Mpps
• CEF256 Interface Modules—Use the centralized CEF engine located on the supervisor engine's PFC, connect
to both the 256-Gbps fabric located on the supervisor engine with a single 8-Gbps full-duplex fabric connection
and the 32-Gbps switching bus, and forward packets at up to 30 Mpps
• dCEF256 Interface Modules—Use the distributed CEF engine on the DFC (located on the interface module),
connect to a 256-Gbps fabric located on the supervisor engine or a Switch Fabric Module with 16-Gbps
full-duplex fabric connections, and forward packets at up to 210 Mpps
• aCEF720 Interface Modules—Use the accelerated CEF engine on the DFC3 (located on the interface module),
connect to the 720-Gbps fabric located on the supervisor engine with 40-Gbps full-duplex fabric connections,
and forward packets at up to 400 Mpps, peak performance
• dCEF720 Interface Modules—Use the distributed CEF engine on the DFC3 (located on the interface module),
connect to the 720-Gbps fabric located on the supervisor engine with dual 20-Gbps full-duplex fabric
connections, and forward packets at up to 400 Mpps, sustained performance
Note: All Performance numbers refer to IPv4 forwarding.

CISCO CATALYST 6500 SERIES MODULE TYPES

In the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series architecture, special-purpose modules perform separate tasks—allowing the feature
set to evolve quickly and allowing customers to add new features and enhanced performance by adding new modules.
The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series features the following types of special-purpose modules:
• Supervisor engines—Perform the control functions and make the forwarding decisions for packets routed to other
networks
• Ethernet interface modules—Provide IEEE-standard receive and forwarding interfaces and forward packets
within the defined network
• WAN interface modules—Provide the receive and forwarding interface at the WAN edge
• Services modules—Support multigigabit security, application-aware Layer 4 through 7 content switching,
wireless LAN services, network management, and voice gateway services to traditional phones, fax machines,
PBXs, and the PSTN
• Switch Fabric Modules (SFMs)—Pass network traffic from interface module to the supervisor engine
or to another interface

Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engines

The supervisor engines for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series support different forwarding technologies and achieve
different forwarding rates, depending on the configuration of the supervisor engine and the capability of a particular
interface module.
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