The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series integrates resiliency for advanced control of converged networks (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV
Overview
The Cisco® Catalyst® 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV integrates nonblocking Layers 2-4 switching with integrated resiliency, further enhancing control of converged networks. Converged data, voice, and video networks with high availability enable business resiliency for enterprise and Metro Ethernet customers deploying Internet-based business applications. Network control extends from the backbone to the edge with intelligent services such as granular quality of service (QoS), Internet security, and network management. Scalability of these intelligent network services is made possible with dedicated specialized resources known as ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). Ample TCAM resources (192,000 entries) enable "high feature capacity," which provides wire-speed routing and switching performance with concurrent provisioning of services such as QoS and security, helping ensure scalability for today's network requirements with ample room for future growth.
The modular architecture, media flexibility, and expandability of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series help enable an extended window of deployment in converged networks, reducing the total cost of ownership (TCO) by minimizing recurring operational expenses, in turn improving return on investment (ROI).
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV delivers next-generation switching technology with proven Cisco IOS® Software to power scalable, intelligent multilayer switching solutions for converged data, voice, and video networks. Optimized for the enterprise wiring closet, branch office, or Layer 3 distribution points, the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV provides the performance and scalability to handle the network applications of today and the future.
Chassis and Line-Card Support
You can deploy the supervisor engine IV in single-chassis nonredundant mode in the Cisco Catalyst 4503, 4503-E, 4506, and 4506-E chassis. You can also deploy it in single-chassis redundant mode as an option in the Cisco Catalyst 4507R chassis (slots 1 and 2 only) and Cisco Catalyst 4507R-E chassis (slots 3 and 4).
The supervisor engine IV is compatible with the classic Cisco Catalyst 4500 and the E-series Cisco Catalyst 4500 Line Cards. Table 1 gives performance information for the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV.
Table 1. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV Performance per Chassis
Predictable Performance and Scalability
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine IV delivers a 64-Gbps switching fabric with a 48-mpps forwarding rate in hardware for Layers 2-4 traffic. Switching performance is independent of the number of route entries or Layer 3 and 4 services enabled. Hardware-based Cisco Express Forwarding routing architecture allows for increased scalability and performance. . Table 2 provides a comparison of the performance and scalability features of all of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines.
Table 2. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engine Performance and Scalability Features
* The amount of Software Based IPv6 entries supported is dependent on the DRAM spaceThe Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series is optimized for multimedia applications with its advanced multicast support. Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM), Source Specific Multicast (SSM), and Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM) are supported, giving you additional scalability to support multimedia applications. The supervisor engine IV also supports Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping in hardware, enhancing performance and reducing network traffic by allowing a switch to dynamically add and remove hosts from a multicast group.
Supervisor Engine IV Redundancy for Business Resiliency
The Cisco Catalyst 4507R chassis using the supervisor engine IV has been designed with an optional 1+1 redundant supervisor capability for integrated resiliency. One supervisor engine IV is designated as the primary (active) supervisor and is responsible for normal system operation; the other (secondary) can serve as a standby, monitoring the operation of the primary supervisor.
Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO) offers continuous packet forwarding during supervisor engine switchover. Information is fully synchronized between supervisors to allow the standby supervisor to immediately take over in subsecond time if the primary fails. In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) allows you to upgrade or downgrade complete Cisco IOS Software images with minimal to no disruption to the network when using a redundant Cisco Catalyst 4500 system with dual supervisors. It allows for a rapid, nondisruptive software upgrade for new line cards, new power supplies, new features, or bug fixes. ISSU offers continuous packet forwarding during the supervisor engine switchover running different Cisco IOS Software versions.
NSF/SSO and ISSU dramatically improve the network reliability and availability in a Layer 2 or Layer 3 environment. NSF/SSO and ISSU are essential for business-critical applications such as voice over IP (VoIP). With these features, VoIP calls are not dropped.
The supervisor engine IV redundancy scheme is similar to that of the supervisor engine V and V-10GE models. Alerts are generated to the network monitoring software if either supervisor fails, and hot-swapping of supervisors is supported without disrupting system operation. Either the software or you can force switchover of supervisor engines with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). The resiliency features of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series help prevent network outages that could result in lost business and revenue.Table 3 gives high-availability and uplink options for the supervisor engines.
Table 3. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engine High-Availability and Uplink Options
* Simultaneous use of Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet is supported in Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(25) SG and later.
** NSF/SSO/ISSU will be supported in First half of Calendar Year 2008 Cisco IOS Software Release.
Please refer to the section "Features at a Glance" for a complete listing of supported features.
Integrated Cisco IOS Software Switching Solution
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV supports Cisco IOS Software, providing operational ease of use by allowing you to deploy a single network operating system across your routed and switched infrastructures. Industry-leading Cisco IOS Software integrates features for scalability, bandwidth management, security services, network resiliency, and manageability into the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series. Cisco IOS Software provides investment protection and tight coupling of Layers 2-4 services into a single, unified configuration file and system image. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV defaults to Layer 2 switching upon startup and can be configured to perform Layer 3 and 4 switching and routing services as desired.
IPv6 Support
PPIPv6 is important for the future of IP networking and is critical for the expansion of IP address space in the future. IPv6 capability is required by many companies and is being mandated by governments worldwide. IPv6 has been supported on the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine V since Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(20)EW with software-based forwarding. Please refer to the section "Features at a Glance" for a complete listing of supported features.
Intelligent Network Services with QoS and Sophisticated Traffic Management
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV offers superior per-port QoS features to help ensure that network traffic is classified, prioritized, and scheduled optimally to efficiently handle bandwidth-hungry multimedia, time-sensitive (voice), and mission-critical applications. Supervisor engine IV can classify, police, and mark incoming packets, allowing you to differentiate between traffic flows and enforce policies based on granular QoS fields. Sharing, shaping, and strict priority configurations determine scheduling of egress traffic beginning in Cisco IOS Software Release 12. 1(13)EW. The supervisor engine IV supports Dynamic Buffer Limiting (DBL), a congestion-avoidance feature.
For details about the QoS features (including DBL), refer to "QoS on Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Cisco IOS Software-Based Supervisor Engines" at: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps4324/prod_white_papers_list.html.
Table 4 provides QoS feature highlights for all of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 enhanced Layer 3 supervisor engines.
Table 4. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engine QoS Feature Summary
* Will be supported as part of the software upgrade in First Half of Calendar Year 2008
** Hardware performance for nonblocking Gigabit Ethernet ports and software performance for all other ports
Please refer to the section "Features at a Glance" for a listing of supported features.
Comprehensive Management
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV features a single console port and a single IP address to manage all features of the system. Remote in-band management is available through SNMP, Telnet client, BOOTP, and Trivial File
Transfer Protocol (TFTP). Support for local or remote out-of-band management is delivered through a terminal or modem attached to the console interface.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine IV delivers a comprehensive set of management tools to provide the required visibility and control in the network. Managed with CiscoWorks solutions, Cisco Catalyst switches can be configured and managed to deliver end-to-end device, VLAN, traffic, and policy management. The CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS) bundle offers tools such as CiscoWorks Resource Manager Essentials and CiscoView. These Web-based management tools offer several services, including automated inventory collection, software deployment, easy tracking of network changes, views into device availability, and quick isolation of error conditions.Table 5 gives management feature highlights of the supervisor engines.
Table 5. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines: Management Feature Highlights
Please refer to the section "Features at a Glance" for a complete listing of supported features.
Advanced Security
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a rich set of industry-leading, integrated security features to proactively lock down your critical network infrastructure. It reduces network security risks with a rich set of NAC capabilities and 802.1x-based user authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA). The security policy enforcement is uncompromised with the wire-rate, dedicated access control lists (ACLs) to fend off ever-increasing virus and security attacks. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers powerful, easy-to-use tools to effectively prevent untraceable man-in-the-middle attacks, control plane resource exhaustion, IP spoofing, and flooding attacks, without any change to the end-user or host configurations. Secure remote access, file transfers, and network management are accomplished with the Secure Shell (SSH Version 1 and Version 2) Protocol, Secure Copy Protocol (SCP), and SNMPv3, respectively.
Cisco NAC is a foundational component of the Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy, improving the ability of the network to automatically identify, prevent, and respond to security threats. NAC helps enable the Cisco Catalyst switches to collaborate with third-party solutions for security-policy compliance and enforcement before a host is permitted to access the network.
Cisco NAC performs posture validation at the Layer 2 network edge for hosts with or without 802.1x enabled. You can isolate vulnerable and noncompliant hosts, give them reduced network access, or direct them to remediation servers based on organizational policy. By helping ensure that every host complies with security policy, you can significantly reduce the damage caused by infected hosts. NAC is available through standard software upgrades or Cisco SMARTnet® contracts on Cisco Catalyst switches.Table 6 gives security features of the supervisor engines.
Table 6. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Enhanced Layer 3 Supervisor Engines: Security Feature Highlights
* This feature will be supported in future IOS Software Release.
Please refer to the section "Features at a Glance" for a complete listing of supported features.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Netflow Services Card for Supervisor Engine IV
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series NetFlow Services Card (Figure 2) is an optional daughter card for the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine IV or V, providing Layer 3 statistics and enhanced VLAN statistics without affecting the forwarding performance rates on the supervisor engine.
Figure 2. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series NetFlow Services Card and Supervisor Engine IV
