CEF on ASR1000 series

[GRANT3779]

Hi CSC, 

On the above routers, where is the cef switching happening? Is it on the SPA cards or does it happen on the esp?

Reading here

 https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios-xml/ios/ipswitch_cef/configuration/xe-16/isw-cef-xe-16-book/isw-cef-enable-disable.html

It states ASR1000 only operate in dcef mode. My understanding of dcef is that it happens directly on line cards. Does this mean it happens on the SPA cards? If so, where does the ESP fit into the grand scheme of dcef and packet flows?

Thanks 

[Reza Sharifi · Accepted solution]

Hi,

When cef and/or dcef is enabled, the switching is done on the SPA card.  ESP takes care of control plane traffic, management traffic, firewall, NAT, QOS, etc..

Have a look at this document for more info on ESP.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/routers/asr-1000-series-aggregation-services-routers/datasheet-c78-731640.html

HTH

[GRANT3779]

Thanks Reza,

Out of interest, the ESP and SPA cards. Can the software in these be upgraded or is the SW fixed within these module?

Thanks

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

As far as I know, the ESP and SPAs software is not upgradable. 

HTH