From 3550 Q&A
Q. What is the difference between the EMI and the SMI?
A. The Cisco Catalyst 3550-24, Catalyst 3550-48, and Catalyst 3550-24 PWR switches can be ordered with the SMI or the EMI. The Cisco Catalyst 3550-24 DC and Catalyst 3550-24 FX can only be ordered with the SMI preinstalled, but as with all switches running the SMI, they can be upgraded to the EMI version using an EMI upgrade kit. The Cisco Catalyst 3550-12T and Catalyst 3550-12G switches come installed with EMI. The EMI enables a richer set of enterprise-class features including advanced hardware-based IP unicast and multicast routing, Policy-Based Routing (PBR), and the Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP). Additional details about the differences between the SMI and EMI are provided later in this Q&A.
Q. Can I enable static IP routing using the SMI?
A. Yes, there is support for basic IP unicast routing via Static Routes and Routing Information Protocol (RIP) Versions 1 and 2 using the SMI. The EMI provides advanced IP unicast and multicast routing. These advanced routing protocols are Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Border Gateway Protocol Version 4 (BGPv4), Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM), and PBR.
Jon
