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Hardware-based Layer 3 switches have been making big ripples In the networking pool. Vendors both large and small have been testing the waters with new products designed to switch and route at wire speed. Router giant Cisco Systems has been sitting quietly at the edge of the pool, holding out with its big fish 7500 series routers. But the tides have turned, and a new Cisco switch has washed ashore. Cisco recently visited NETWORK COMPUTING'S University of Wisconsin Real-World Lab, touting its Catalyst 8500 series Layer 3 switch. I had the exclusive opportunity to test an alpha version of the routing champion's first wire-speed campus router, the Catalyst 8510 Multilayer Switch. I was pleased by the switch's backward-compatibility with the 5500 line and complete IOS (Internetwork Operating System) implementation, among its other capabilities.
The 8510 challenges Bay Networks' Accellar 1200, Cabletron Systems' SmartSwitch Router, Extreme Networks' Summit switches, Foundry Networks' NetIron and 3Com Corp.'s CoreBuilder 3500. The first in the Catalyst 8500 series, this five-slot chassis remarkably resembles a Cisco LightStream 1010 ATM switch. I was not surprised by this coincidence: The 8510 uses the same 10Gbps backplane.
However, the similarities stop at looks. Instead of a cellswitching fabric, the Catalyst 8510 features a 10-Gbps frameswitching architecture. New Catalyst 8500 series switching modules now reside in place of CAMs (Carrier Modules) and PAMs (Port Adapter Modules).
Backwards Backstroke One of the Catalyst 8510's most notable features is its backward-compatibility with the Catalyst 5500 line. Catalyst 5500 owners will be pleased that they can upgrade their switches to take advantage of the 8510 switching architecture. You can plug Catalyst 8510 line modules into four of the five lower slots of the Catalyst 5500 in lieu of ATM modules. This' added investment protection is a great boon for...