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Swiched vs routed Ethernet

I have received a quote for some Cisco cards that I am a bit confused about the technologies. What I want is a multi-port Ethernet card that I can route between, specifically to create restricted subnets and DMZs. What was quoted is a NM-16ESW, a 16 port 10/100 Ether switch card.

Is this card a switch, or a bunch of routable Ethernet ports, or both?

What card do I want for at least 8 routable Ethernet ports?

Reply to
Burt Gummer
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Burt,

The Etherswitch card (NM-16ESW) is a LAN switch. It cannot by itself route between its ports, but the router into which it's installed can route between the ports.

So I guess the answer is "both". See:

EtherSwitch Network and Service Modules on 2600/3600/3700 Series Routers FAQ

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Q. Can you configure a port on the EtherSwitch module as a routed port? A. With the release of Cisco IOS® Software Releases 12.2(15)ZJ and

12.3(4)T, you can assign an IP address directly to ports of the EtherSwitch module. This feature makes those ports Layer 3 (L3) or routed ports. These ports cannot receive a DHCP address, and the ports do not support subinterfaces. L3 traffic on the routed ports still requires that the traffic utilize the platform routing engine. No L3 switching occurs on the blade. You can use all routing protocols in conjunction with this feature. This configuration serves as an example: interface FastEthernet1/0 no switchport ip address 172.16.1.0 255.255.0.0

You can also create SVIs (VLAN interfaces) to route among VLANs (or in addition to) among ports.

Do be aware of the platform switching (PPS) limitations,

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Cheers,

Aaron

Reply to
Aaron Leonard

Your posting title caught my eye.

Not to be picky, but Ethernet functions on layer 2 of the ISO model. Routing takes place on layer 3.

If you find an "Ethernet routing card", it will be card that plugs into a router or switch that has layer 3 capability. The routing is performed, not by the card, but by the device that it plugs into.

Reply to
S. Gione

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