Cisco Switch RAM 64MB or 128MB

[aryarahul]

Hi,

I want to know what are the deciding factors for choosing between a 64Mb switch and a 128Mb switch ?

Is there any documnet supporting this ? how to determine which switch will cater which architecture

Thanks

[Leo Laohoo]

I want to know what are the deciding factors for choosing between a 64Mb switch and a 128Mb switch 

I do not believe you are talking about DRAM size but flash.

Doesn't make any difference whether or not your switch has 64mb or 128mb flash.  At the end of the day, a switch can store a minimum of two full IOS and, in some cases, three full IOS.  So if you know how to play with the IOS, then this matters.  If you don't then it doesn't matter. 

Is there any documnet supporting this

Nope.  They are purely based on real-life experience.

how to determine which switch will cater which architecture

Please elaborate.

[aryarahul]

Thanks for the reply leo , but my question is about the RAM not the Flash.

if we have options of going for the 64Mb RAM or 128Mb RAM , then how to determine ?

[Joseph W. Doherty]

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Usually, somewhere on the datasheet amount of RAM supported should be listed.

If you have a choice, or the switch can be RAM upgraded, whether you need added RAM would depend on your network and what feature you intend to use.  What would be the thing to watch for would be feature that consume large amounts of RAM.  For example, say for some reason you wanted a huge on-board (RAM) syslog.  Or, you wanted non-summarized Netflow with extended timers and you have many flows.  Or, you're going to have multiple full Internet BGP peers.  (BTW, some of the prior examples would not be suitable on many L3 switches.)

[Leo Laohoo]

I'm with Joseph. 

It'll depend on your network and what you want to do.  If you are planning to do BGP and you want the full table, then upgrade the DRAM is a good investment.