CHAPTER
1-1
Ethernet Card Software Feature and Configuration Guide, R7.2
January 2009
1
ML-Series Card Overview
This chapter provides an overview of the ML1000-2, ML100T-12, and ML100X-8 cards for the
ONS 15454 (SONET) and ONS 15454 SDH. It lists Ethernet and SONET/SDH capabilities and
Cisco IOS and Cisco Transport Controller (CTC) software features, with brief descr iptions of selected
features.
This chapter contains the following major sections:
ML-Series Card Description, page 1-1
ML-Series Feature List, page 1-2

ML-Series Card Description

The ML-Series cards are independent Gigabit Ethernet (ML1000-2) or Fast Ethernet (ML100T-12 and
ML100X-8) Layer 3 switches that process up to 5.7 million packets per second (Mpps). The ML-Series
cards are integrated into the ONS 15454 SONET or the ONS 15454 SDH.
The ML-Series card uses Cisco IOS, and the Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI) is the primary
user interface for the ML-Series card. Most configuration for the card, such as Ethernet port, bridging,
and VLAN, can be done only through the Cisco IOS CLI.
However, CTC, the ONS 15454 SONET/SDH graphical user interface (GUI), also supports the
ML-Series card. SONET/SDH circuits cannot be provisioned through Cisco IOS, but must be configured
through CTC or TL1. CTC offers ML-Series card status information, SONET/SDH alarm management ,
Cisco IOS Telnet session initialization, Cisco IOS configuration file management, provisioning,
inventory, and other standard functions.
The ML100T-12 features twelve RJ-45 interfaces, and the ML100X-8 and ML1000-2 features two Small
Form-factor Pluggable (SFP) slots supporting short wavelength (SX) and long wavelength (LX) optical
modules. All three cards use the same hardware and software base and offer similar feature sets. For
detailed card specifications, refer to the “Ethernet Cards” chapter of the Cisco ONS 15454 Reference
Manual or the Cisco ONS 15454 SDH Reference Manual.
The ML-Series card features two virtual packet-over-SONET/SDH (POS) po rts, which function in a
manner similar to OC-N/STM-N card ports. The SONET/SDH circuits are provisioned through C TC in
the same manner as standard OC-N/STM-N card circuits. The ML-Series POS ports support virtua l
concatenation (VCAT) of SONET/SDH circuits and a software link capacity adjustment sc heme
(SW-LCAS).