Cisco Systems OL-4580-01 manual Configuring the Cisco Discovery Protocol

C H A P T E R 7

Configuring the Cisco Discovery

Protocol

The Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is a medium-independent protocol that runs over Layer 2 (the data link layer) on the CSS and other Cisco manufactured equipment, such as routers, switches, bridges, and access servers. Use the cdp global configuration command to allow the CSS to advertise itself to all other neighboring Cisco CDP-compatible devices on a network. The CSS only transmits CDP advertisements to other CDP-compatible devices on the network; the CSS does not listen for CDP messages from the other CDP-compatible devices, and does not maintain a CDP table.

Any Cisco device with CDP support can learn about the CSS by listening to the periodic messages transmitted by the CSS and determining when the CSS is active. Network operators and analysts can use this information for configuration monitoring, topology discovery, and fault diagnosis.

CDP messages contain specific information about the CSS, such as:

•Device ID (CSS base MAC address)

•IP address (CSS management port IP address)

•Ethernet port ID name

•CSS functional capability flag (Router, Transparent Bridge, or Switch)

•CSS software version

•CSS platform

CDP advertisements also include hold time information, which defines the length of time the receiving device is to hold CDP information before discarding it.

	Cisco Content Services Switch Routing and Bridging Configuration Guide
OL-4580-01		7-1