Cisco Systems RJ-45-to-AUX manual Core Layer/WAN Switches, 367

switching in distribution and server−aggregation environments. The Catalyst 6000 family complements the Catalyst 5000 series and 8500 series switches.

The Catalyst 6000 family is capable of scaling bandwidth from T1 to OC−192 in the WAN/MAN, and from Ethernet to 10 Gigabit Ethernet in the LAN. The Catalyst 6000 series uses a Cisco IOS software base with ASICs to deliver wire−speed traffic management services end−to−end. The Catalyst 6000 series also offers a range of WAN/MAN protocols and media, as well as future scalability for direct analog and digital connectivity to existing voice infrastructures, to allow easy migration from existing networks to high−speed converged LAN/WAN/MAN networks and Voice Over IP architectures.

The Catalyst 6000 and 6500 series switches offer multilayer services using interchangeable line cards. The first of these cards is the PFC, which is an integral part of the CiscoAssure end−to−end QoS and policy−based security solution. The PFC can identify user applications and classify traffic with the appropriate priority level. For example, a video conferencing packet can be given higher priority than, say, a Web page request.

The second of these services is the MSFC, which, in combination with the PFC, provides 15 million pps of forwarding performance for IP, IPX, and IP Multicast traffic. The MSFC also supports Hot Standby Routing Protocol (HSRP) for routing redundancy between MSFCs in the same chassis, across Catalyst 6000 family switches, or between a Catalyst 6000 series switch and a standalone Cisco router.

The MSFC also supports traffic−statistics collection and accounting with no impact on switching performance.

In addition, Cisco offers the FlexWAN module, which accepts up to two Cisco 7200/7500 series WAN port adapters, supporting asynchronous and synchronous serial interfaces at speeds from 56Kbps to 155Mbps. The FlexWAN module provides native support of the Frame Relay, ATM, Packet over SONET (PoS), Point−to−Point Protocol (PPP), and High−Level Data Link Control (HDLC) protocols along with a range of interfaces, including T1/E1, T3/E3, High−Speed Serial Interface (HSSI), and OC−3. Up to eight FlexWAN modules are supported in a Catalyst 6000 family switch. However, this module does not support modules for Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, channel port adapters, encryption service modules, compression service modules, and doublewide port adapters.

Table E.11 shows the key features of the Catalyst 6000 series.

Table E.11: The key features of the Cisco Catalyst 6000 family.

Feature	6006	6009	6506	6509
Backplane	32Gbps	32Gbps	256Gbps	256Gbps
Forwarding rate	15 million pps	15 million pps	150 million pps	150 million pps
Modular slots	6	9	6	9
Max Gigabit ports	130	130	130	130
Max 100FX ports	192	192	130	130
Max 10/100 ports	240	384	240	384
Max 10BaseFL	192	192	192	192
Max ATM	8	8	8	8
Max VLANs	1,000	1,000	1,000	1,000

Core Layer/WAN Switches

The Core layer and WAN switches are used for high−speed switching backbones and WAN implementations to switch packets as quickly as possible. The Core layer is usually designed with optimal redundancy, because it must be highly reliable. Fast convergence is also a requirement of the Core layer.

In this section we’ll be discussing the following switches:

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