Software Switching vs Hardware Switching.

[nelson.garcia]

So I'm learning about MLS and how it uses ASICs and Layer 3 engines for route processing and Layer 2 rewrite operations at ridiculous speeds using hardware switching. My question, which may be silly, is what is software switching? I never thought about switching in terms of hardware or software before I started learning about CEF-MLS.

[nelson.garcia]

All I am trying to figure out is how CEF-MLS differs in hardware between a 3560 without any modules or supervisor engines and a chassis implementation with a supervisor engine, line cards, and all that fancy stuff. Both types of switches support CEF-MLS, I'm just trying to understand how the hardware differs.