What types of data paths are supported on the Catalyst 6500 architecture?

- Data bus (D-bus) - The 32-Gbps full-duplex data bus is available with the Supervisor Engines and chassis

 

- 256-Gbps fabric - Requires the Supervisor Engine II, Switch Fabric Module, and specific model of line modules

 

- 720-Gbps fabric - Provided in addition to D-bus on Supervisor Engine 720-based systems only. 

Which family of Catalyst switches is able to be deployed in stacks using Cisco's StackWise technology?

What criteria is used for determining the best available option for metro Ethernet connectivity is any campus design?

- Cost-effectiveness

- Service level

-  Point-to-point versus Multipoint

- Transparency

- Scalability 

What is the general difference between transparent LAN services and directed VLAN services?

With a transparent LAN service, the metro solution forwards traffic as a multipoint-to-multipoint connection, whereas all connected sites in the metro solution see all traffic. With directed VLAN service, the metro solution forwards the traffic according to the campus VLAN topology.

Describe the use of a transparent LAN service (TLS) as a metro Ethernet connectivity option.

TLS refers to adjoining multiple sites over a metro solution using a single subnet or VLAN. Data trasmitted across the metro solution acts in a manner similar to an ethernet hub using a single broadcast domain.

What are two potential performance problems that you may encounter when using a transparent LAN service metro solution?

- Broadcasts are sent to all sites that connect to the TLS metro solution

 

- All routers must peer with each other across the MAN, which may cause a scalability problem for routers that maintain large routing tables. 

Describe how directed VLAN service works as a metro solution.

In a directed VLAN service (DVS), the metro solution uses VLAN IDs to forward traffic to select destinations. DVS isolates VLANs of the enterprise from the VLANs of the network by using additional header information. As such, enterprise VLANs are separate from the metro VLANs. The core switch must know the enterprise VLAN assignments of the enterprises, so PVST+ is required.