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Tag: switching

Cisco Express Forwarding (2023 Edition)

Cisco Express Forwarding (2023 Edition)

CEF Deep Dive (commands) for IOS-XE C9300 used as example Model: C9300L-24UXG-4X Control Plane (CP) = R0 Data Plane (DP) = F0, UADP/ASIC CEF Background:  Why Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF)?  “Necessity is the mother of invention” -proverb Let’s take a trip in the networking time machine back to simpler times (late 80s, early 90s). I’m going to start with the fundamentals of software-based forwarding and all the pipeline steps involved. We didn’t have fancy ASICs like we do today, so everything was done…

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Cisco Switch Virtualization (Clustering)

Cisco Switch Virtualization (Clustering)

Network Virtualization vs Device Virtualization: Examples of Network Virtualization Virtual Port-channel (vPC) VLAN (L2) VRF (L3) VSAN Examples of Device Virtualization Security Context Virtual Device Context (VDC) Virtual Switch System (VSS) StackWise Virtual (SV) and Physical StackWise Virtual Machines (VMs) Why Use Switch/Device Virtualization? Eliminate STP blocked paths, FHRPs, and multiple device administration touch points Simplifies operations of campus access, distribution, and core topology Active/Active data plane path via Multi-chassis Etherchannel (MEC) = more bandwidth and lower latency Improve convergence…

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Cisco Smart Install

Cisco Smart Install

This is my first post in a new series called “Config Bytes”. My objective is simple. Take a technology that I’m working on with a customer and post the data points. Overview: A global company asked me if there was an easy way to provision switches for rapid deployment. They are somewhat limited on networking personal and this would save the team some time if they could automate the staging of switches before deployment . The basic requirements were a standardized…

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