Cisco Versatile Interface Processors (VIPs) greatly increase the switching performance of Cisco 7000 and 7500 series routers and serve as ideal building blocks for new high-speed, high-density LAN and WAN port adapters. Support distributed switching and dual Route Switch system Processors (RSPs), performance now can scale from 500,000 packets per second to more than one million.
Cisco VIPs modular architecture enables multiple support for 2 port adapters on a single VIP interface card thereby enabling a mix of port adapters -- such as Ethernet and Serial interfaces, to significantly increase router slot efficiency. VIPs support distributed switching of IP packets thus increasing overall system throughput, support for distributed services processing also throughput for QoS, security, and other Layer 3 services.