The feature of ECC on Catalyst6500 SUP Memory

[mhiyoshi]

Dear all,

I think normaly L2 MAC address table contains in Cat65 SUP' PFC as CAM table right?

Basically all the memory support ECC feature except MSFC? here is the related link.

Catalyst 6000/6500 System Crashes Troubleshooting
 https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switches/71095-6500-system-crash-ts.html 
*The MSFC does not contain ECC memory protection.

Catalyst 6500 Series Switches PFC, DFC, and CFC FAQ
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switches/107258-C6K-PFC-DFC-CFC.html 

It seems there is not ECC's infomation on PFC/DFC/CFC so I would like to make sure.

Best Regards,

Masanobu Hiyoshi

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Unfortunately, I'm unable to answer your questions, and obtaining answers may be difficult as your questions are highly technical and might not have ever been publicly made known (although I wouldn't think Cisco would consider them proprietary, but Cisco may think otherwise) and hardware you're asking about is likely all EoL (no reason for Cisco to bother answering).

Otherwise, I'm curious why you ask.  Cisco often does publish component MTBFs, and, hopefully, that calculation takes into account underlying hardware capabilities.  I.e. for product users, it usually doesn't matter how various specific product specifications are accomplished.

[mhiyoshi]

Does the Cisco Community provide technical answers regarding EOL products? To be honest,
I understand that customers still have been using these products for a very long time
and cannot contact the manufacturer's Cisco TAC.
However, I was unable to find related information on this matter through my own research,
so I would appreciate any help from knowledgeable people.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

"Does the Cisco Community provide technical answers regarding EOL products?"

If possible, i.e. they know and it's public information.

"I understand that customers still have been using these products for a very long time and cannot contact the manufacturer's Cisco TAC."

True, but long usage, alone, doesn't guaranteed anyone else wanted/needed to know the information you seek, and even it TAC could be used, if there's no operational impact, Cisco may also decline working to resolve such questions.

"However, I was unable to find related information on this matter through my own research, . . ."

Again, considering your questions, that's, to me, unsurprising.

". . . so I would appreciate any help from knowledgeable people."

If any can help, good chance they will.  However, another reason I asked about why you wanted to know, sometimes other information might be presented as an alternative, if additional context is provided.

[vishalbhandari · Accepted solution]

@mhiyoshi Yes, you're correct that the L2 MAC address table in a Catalyst 6500 switch typically resides in the PFC (Policy Feature Card) as part of the CAM (Content Addressable Memory) table. Regarding ECC (Error Correction Code) memory protection, most components, like the supervisor modules and their associated memory, do support ECC except for the MSFC (Multilayer Switch Feature Card). The MSFC specifically does not have ECC memory protection, as stated in the Cisco documentation you linked. However, ECC information for PFC, DFC, and CFC isn't explicitly mentioned in those resources, so it would be good to confirm with Cisco or further documentation.

[mhiyoshi]

@vishalbhandari Hi, thank you very much. That's what I want to know!!

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Ah, all you wanted was confirmation of what you referenced as being correct, without additional references?  (Cisco documentation is rarely incorrect, but it does happen.)

I also thought you were also seeking further explicit documentation, both confirming what you already referenced, and also addressing explicit information you've been unable to find.  Again, you simply wanted confirmation there isn't any?

Well, I'll second @vishalbhandari , good chance what you read is correct and very likely there's no additional public information.

Although he also wrote ". . . so it would be good to confirm with Cisco or further documentation.", contacting Cisco is likely a dead end, and, again, probably there's no additional information to be found, or you already would have found it.

Still, though, I'm curious why you asked these questions, as usually there's some underlying issue that causes one to pursue such questions, beyond learning just for learning's sake.