Cisco Express Forwarding Overview * Cisco IOS Switching Services Configuration Guide, Release 1 !

1 o "#out the Cisco IOS Software $ocu%entation o &sing Cisco IOS Software o Cisco IOS Switching Services Overview o 'art 1( Cisco IOS Switching 'aths ) Switching 'aths Overview ) Configuring Fast Switching o 'art ( Cisco Express Forwarding ) Cisco Express Forwarding Overview ) Configuring Cisco Express Forwarding o 'art *( +etFlow ) +etFlow Overview ) Configuring +etFlow o 'art ,( -ultiprotocol .a#el Switching ) -ultiprotocol .a#el Switching Overview ) Configuring -ultiprotocol .a#el Switching o 'art /( -ultila0er Switching ) -ultila0er Switching Overview ) Configuring I' -ultila0er Switching ) Configuring I' -ulticast -ultila0er Switching ) Configuring I'1 -ultila0er Switching o 'art 2( -ulticast $istri#uted Switching ) Configuring -ulticast $istri#uted Switching o 'art 3( 4irtual ."+s ) Routing 5etween 4."+s Overview ) Configuring Routing 5etween 4."+s with IS. Encapsulation ) Configuring Routing 5etween 4."+s with IEEE 67 !17 Encapsulation ) Configuring Routing 5etween 4."+s with IEEE 67 !18 Encapsulation o 'art 6( ."+ E%ulation ) ."+ E%ulation Overview ) Configuring ."+ E%ulation )

Configuring 9o:en Ring ."+ E%ulation ) -'O" Overview ) Configuring the -'O" Client ) Configuring the -'O" Server ) Configuring 9o:en Ring ."+ E%ulation for -'O"

$ownload this chapter Cisco Express Forwarding OverviewCisco Express Forwarding Overview give;us;feed#ac: 9a#le Of Contents Cisco Express Forwarding Overview 5enefits Restrictions CEF Co%ponents Forwarding Infor%ation 5ase "d<acenc0 9a#les "d<acenc0 $iscover0 "d<acenc0 Resolution "d<acenc0 90pes 9hat Re=uire Special >andling &nresolved "d<acenc0 Supported -edia CEF Operation -odes Central CEF -ode $istri#uted CEF -ode "dditional Capa#ilities Cisco Express Forwarding Overview Cisco Express Forwarding ?CEF@ is advanced, .a0er * I' switching technolog0! CEF opti%iAes networ: perfor%ance and scala#ilit0 for networ:s with large and d0na%ic traffic patterns, such as the Internet, on networ:s characteriAed #0 intensive Be#C#ased applications, or interactive

sessions! 'rocedures for configuring CEF or distri#uted CEF ?dCEF@ are provided in the DConfiguring Cisco Express ForwardingD chapter later in this pu#lication! 9his chapter descri#es CEF! It contains the following sections( E5enefits ERestrictions ECEF Co%ponents ESupported -edia ECEF Operation -odes E"dditional Capa#ilities 5enefits CEF offers the following #enefits( EI%proved perfor%anceFCEF is less C'&Cintensive than fast switching route caching! -ore C'& processing power can #e dedicated to .a0er * services such as =ualit0 of service ?8oS@ and encr0ption! EScala#ilit0FCEF offers full switching capacit0 at each line card when distri#uted CEF ?dCEF@ %ode is active! EResilienceFCEF offers unprecedented level of switching consistenc0 and sta#ilit0 in large d0na%ic networ:s! In d0na%ic networ:s, fast switching cache entries are fre=uentl0 invalidated due to routing changes! 9hese changes can cause traffic to #e process switched using the routing ta#le, rather than fast switched using the route cache! 5ecause the Forwarding Infor%ation 5ase ?FI5@ loo:up ta#le contains all :nown routes that exist in the routing ta#le, it eli%inates route cache %aintenance and the fast switchGprocess switch forwarding scenario! CEF can switch traffic %ore efficientl0 than t0pical de%and caching sche%es! "lthough 0ou can use CEF in an0 part of a networ:, it is designed for highCperfor%ance, highl0 resilient .a0er * I' #ac:#one switching! For exa%ple, Figure 3 shows CEF #eing run on Cisco 1 777 series Giga#it Switch Routers ?GSRs@ at aggregation points at the core of a networ: where traffic levels are dense and perfor%ance is critical! Figure 3 Cisco Express Forwarding In a t0pical highCcapacit0 internet service provider environ%ent, Cisco 1 71 GSRs as aggregation devices at the core of the networ: support lin:s to Cisco 3/77 series routers or other feeder devices! CEF in these platfor%s at the networ: core provides the perfor%ance and scala#ilit0 needed to respond to continued growth and steadil0 increasing networ: traffic! CEF is a distri#uted switching %echanis% that scales linearl0 with the nu%#er of interface cards and #andwidth installed in the router! Restrictions E9he Cisco 1 777 series Giga#it Switch Routers operate onl0 in distri#utedCEF %ode!

E$istri#uted CEF switching cannot #e configured on the sa%e 4I' card as distri#uted fast switchin!g E$istri#uted CEF is not supported on Cisco 3 77 series routers! EIf 0ou ena#le CEF and then create an access list that uses the log :e0word, the pac:ets that %atch the access list are not CEF switched! 9he0 are fast switched! .ogging disa#les CEF! CEF Co%ponents Infor%ation conventionall0 stored in a route cache is stored in several data structures for CEF switching! 9he data structures provide opti%iAed loo:up for efficient pac:et forwarding! 9he two %ain co%ponents of CEF operation are the following( EForwarding Infor%ation 5ase E"d<acenc0 9a#les Forwarding Infor%ation 5ase CEF uses a FI5 to %a:e I' destination prefixC#ased switching decisions! 9he FI5 is conceptuall0 si%ilar to a routing ta#le or infor%ation #ase! It %aintains a %irror i%age of the forwarding infor%ation contained in the I' routing ta#le! Bhen routing or topolog0 changes occur in the networ:, the I' routing ta#le is updated, and those changes are reflected in the FI5! 9he FI5 %aintains nextChop address infor%ation #ased on the infor%ation in the I' routing ta#le! 5ecause there is a oneCtoCone correlation #etween FI5 entries and routing ta#le entries, the FI5 contains all :nown routes and eli%inates the need for route cache %aintenance that is associated with switching paths such as fast switching and opti%u% switching! "d<acenc0 9a#les +odes in the networ: are said to #e ad<acent if the0 can reach each other with a single hop across a lin: la0er! In addition to the FI5, CEF uses ad<acenc0 ta#les to prepend .a0er addressing infor%ation! 9he ad<acenc0 ta#le %aintains .a0er nextChop addresses for all FI5 entries! "d<acenc0 $iscover0 9he ad<acenc0 ta#le is populated as ad<acencies are discovered! Each ti%e an ad<acenc0 entr0 is created ?such as through the "R' protocol@, a lin:Cla0er header for that ad<acent node is preco%puted and stored in the ad<acenc0 ta#le! Once a route is deter%ined, it points to a next hop and corresponding ad<acenc0 entr0! It is su#se=uentl0 used for encapsulation during CEF switching of pac:ets! "d<acenc0 Resolution " route %ight have several paths to a destination prefix, such as when a router is configured for si%ultaneous load #alancing and redundanc0! For each resolved path, a pointer is added for the ad<acenc0 corresponding to the nextChop interface for that path! 9his %echanis% is used for load #alancing across several paths! "d<acenc0 90pes 9hat Re=uire Special >andling In addition to ad<acencies associated with nextChop interfaces ?hostCroute ad<acencies@, other t0pes of ad<acencies are used to expedite switching when certain exception conditions exist! Bhen the prefix is defined, prefixes re=uiring exception processing are cached with one of the special ad<acencies listed in 9a#le ,!

9a#le , "d<acenc0 90pes for Exception 'rocessing 9his ad<acenc0 t0pe!!! Receives this processing!!! +ull ad<acenc0

'ac:ets destined for a +ull7 interface are dropped! 9his can #e used as an effective for% of access filtering! Glean ad<acenc0

Bhen a router is connected directl0 to several hosts, the FI5 ta#le on the router %aintains a prefix for the su#net rather than for the individual host prefixes! 9he su#net prefix points to a glean ad<acenc0! Bhen pac:ets need to #e forwarded to a specific host, the ad<acenc0 data#ase is gleaned for the specific prefix! 'unt ad<acenc0

Features that re=uire special handling or features that are not 0et supported in con<unction with CEF switching paths are forwarded to the next switching la0er for handling! Features that are not supported are forwarded to the next higher switching level! $iscard ad<acenc0

'ac:ets are discarded! $rop ad<acenc0

'ac:ets are dropped, #ut the prefix is chec:ed! &nresolved "d<acenc0 Bhen a lin:Cla0er header is prepended to pac:ets, FI5 re=uires the prepend to point to an ad<acenc0 corresponding to the next hop! If an ad<acenc0 was created #0 FI5 and not discovered through a %echanis%, such as "R', the .a0er addressing infor%ation is not :nown and the ad<acenc0 is considered inco%plete! Once the .a0er infor%ation is :nown, the pac:et is forwarded to the route processor, and the ad<acenc0 is deter%ined through "R'! Supported -edia CEF currentl0 supports "9-G""./snap, "9-G""./%ux, "9-G""./nlpid, Fra%e Rela0, Ethernet, F$$I, ''', >$.C, and tunnels! CEF Operation -odes CEF can #e ena#led in one of two %odes( ECentral CEF -ode

E$istri#uted CEF -ode Central CEF -ode Bhen CEF %ode is ena#led, the CEF FI5 and ad<acenc0 ta#les reside on the route processor, and the route processor perfor%s the express forwarding! Hou can use CEF %ode when line cards are not availa#le for CEF switching or when 0ou need to use features not co%pati#le with distri#uted CEF switching! Figure 6 shows the relationship #etween the routing ta#le, FI5, and ad<acenc0 ta#le during CEF %ode! 9he Cisco Catal0st switches forward traffic fro% wor:group ."+s to a Cisco 3/77 series router on the enterprise #ac:#one running CEF! 9he route processor perfor%s the express forwarding! Figure 6 CEF -ode $istri#uted CEF -ode Bhen dCEF is ena#led, line cards, such as 4I' line cards or GSR line cards, %aintain an identical cop0 of the FI5 and ad<acenc0 ta#les! 9he line cards perfor% the express forwarding #etween port adapters, relieving the RS' of involve%ent in the switching operation! dCEF uses an Inter 'rocess Co%%unication ?I'C@ %echanis% to ensure s0nchroniAation of FI5s and ad<acenc0 ta#les on the route processor and line cards! Figure I shows the relationship #etween the route processor and line cards when dCEF %ode is active! Figure I dCEF -ode In this Cisco 1 777 series router, the line cards perfor% the switching! In other routers where 0ou can %ix various t0pes of cards in the sa%e router, it is possi#le that not all of the cards 0ou are using support CEF! Bhen a line card that does not support CEF receives a pac:et, the line card forwards the pac:et to the next higher switching la0er ?the route processor@ or forwards the pac:et to the next hop for processing! 9his structure allows legac0 interface processors to exist in the router with newer interface processors! +ote 9he Cisco 1 777 series Giga#it Switch Routers operate onl0 dCEF %odeJ dCEF switching cannot #e configured on the sa%e 4I' card as distri#uted fast switching, and dCEF is not supported on Cisco 3 77 series routers! "dditional Capa#ilities In addition to configuring CEF and dCEF, 0ou can also configure the following features( E$istri#uted CEF switching using access lists E$istri#uted CEF switching of Fra%e Rela0 pac:ets E$istri#uted CEF switching during pac:et frag%entation E.oad #alancing on a per destinationCsource host pair or per pac:et #asis

E+etwor: accounting to gather #0te and pac:et statistics E$istri#uted CEF switching across I' tunnels For infor%ation on ena#ling these features, see the next chapter DConfiguring Cisco Express Forwarding!D