WCCP v2 with L2-Rewrite encapsulation

[DaveTuttle]

I am working with a non-Cisco cache/proxy engine, trying to use WCCP v2 dynamic services to intercept HTTP, MMS, and RTSP requests in transparent cache mode, using the L2-Rewrite encapsulation that's described in the WCCP spec.

My test gear happens to be a 2600 router with IOS 12.1(3)T. All the documentation says that it handles L2 encapsulation, but the WCCP messages don't include the Capabilities Info and I can't tell whether the negotiation was successful.

I can provide as many gruesome details on the setup as you want, but I am trying to develop a general purpose product capability that will operate correctly in a wide range of customer environments. We do not want to use GRE tunneling, for performance and other reasons both in the router/switch and in the cache/proxy engine.

Is there a magic decoder ring? I can make my WCCP agent say anything I want, but the rest of the environment is a frustrating black box.

[Gilles Dufour · Accepted solution]

where in the documentation did you see that the 2600 could do this ?

Could you please give me a link ?

I believe only Cat6500 and Cat3550 can do the L2 forwarding.

I don't think any router can do it. Only L3 switch.

Gilles.

[DaveTuttle]

http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/software/ios121/121cgcr/fun_c/fcprt3/fcd305.htm#1000873

It is not an explicit statement either way. One of the key features of WCCP v2.0 is the L2-Rewrite option, and IOS 12.1 supports WCCP v2.0, and the 2600 series (and many other routers) support IOS 12.1. I can easily believe that some devices support L2-Rewrite and other don't, but it would make a developer's life much easier if the restrictions were more obvious.

Since posting the question, I have verified that the router is redirecting the traffic via a WCCP-GRE tunnel. Handling that will force us to modify the platform kernel - not our first choice, but doable.

[Gilles Dufour]

ok - I see the reasoning.

However, the 2600 does not support this feature.

As I said, only a layer 3 switch is capable of doing this and at Cisco it is the cat6k, the cat3550 and the cat4400.

Gilles.

[DaveTuttle]

Thanks -- More work for me...

[ananth_arockia]

1. Can You suggest me a low end router that supports L2 rewrite?

2. Is it true that routers dont support L2 rewrite feature?

3. Can you suggest a router which supports masking?

-Ananth (ananth.arockia@gmail.com)