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This module contains information about Cisco Express Forwarding and describes the required and optional tasks for verifying Cisco Express Forwarding operation.
Cisco Express Forwarding is an advanced Layer 3 IP switching technology. It optimizes network performance and scalability for all kinds of networks: those that carry small amounts of traffic and those that carry large amounts of traffic in complex patterns, such as the Internet, and networks characterized by intensive web-based applications or interactive sessions.
Your software release may not support all the features documented in this module. For the latest feature information and caveats, see the release notes for your platform and software release. To find information about the features documented in this module, and to see a list of the releases in which each feature is supported, see the Feature Information Table at the end of this document.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Cisco Express Forwarding requires a software image that includes Cisco Express Forwarding and IP routing enabled on the device.
The Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers operate only in distributed Cisco Express Forwarding mode.
If your network architecture requires that you disable or reenable Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding switching and forwarding, change your load balancing scheme, refresh Cisco Express Forwarding tables, configure network accounting for Cisco Express Forwarding, or customize the display of Cisco Express Forwarding events, go to the "Related Documents" section for links to information on these tasks. Otherwise, you need do nothing more to configure Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation in your network.
Note |
Cisco Express Forwarding is supported on interfaces on which IEEE 802.1Q encapsulation has been enabled at the subinterface level. You no longer need to disable Cisco Express Forwarding operation on interfaces that are using IEEE 802.1Q encapsulation on VLAN subinterfaces. |
Cisco Express Forwarding is enable by default on the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers.
To find out if Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled by default on your platform, enter the show ip cefcommand. If Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled, you receive output that looks like the following:
Router# show ip cef
Prefix Next Hop Interface
[...]
10.2.61.8/24 192.168.100.1 FastEthernet1/0/0
192.168.101.1 FastEthernet2/1/0
[...]
If Cisco Express Forwarding is not enabled on your platform, the output for the show ip cefcommand looks like this:
Router# show ip cef
%CEF not running
If Cisco Express Forwarding is not enabled on your platform, use the ip cefcommand to enable Cisco Express Forwarding or the ip cef distributed command to enable distributed Cisco Express Forwarding.
Information conventionally stored in a route cache is stored in several data structures for Cisco Express Forwarding switching. The data structures provide optimized lookup for efficient packet forwarding. The two main components of Cisco Express Forwarding operation are the forwarding information base (FIB) and the adjacency tables.
The FIB is conceptually similar to a routing table or information base. A router uses this lookup table to make destination-based switching decisions during Cisco Express Forwarding operation. The FIB is updated as changes occur in the network and contains all routes known at the time. For more information on the FIB, see the "Cisco Express Forwarding Overview" module.
Adjacency tables maintain Layer 2 next-hop addresses for all FIB entries. For more information on adjacency tables, see the "Cisco Express Forwarding Overview" module.
This separation of the reachability information (in the Cisco Express Forwarding table) and the forwarding information (in the adjacency table), provides two main benefits:
There are no configuration tasks. Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled by default.
The following section contains instructions for verifying basic Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation.
Before you perform the remaining tasks in this section you need to know which mode of Cisco Express Forwarding is running on your router. Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled by default on the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers. To determine if Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled on your router, you can enter the show ip interface command and look for the entry "IP CEF switching enabled" or "IP Distributed CEF switching enabled." If Cisco Express Forwarding is not enabled, the entry in the command display would indicate that "IP CEF switching is disabled."
To verify basic Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation, perform the following procedures and tasks:
To determine if the router is configured for Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding, perform the following task.
Perform the following tasks, in the order presented, to verify Cisco Express Forwarding operation on your router or to look for Cisco Express Forwarding operation information on your router:
See the Verifying Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding Operation for the tasks to perform for distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation.
To verify that Cisco Express Forwarding switching is enabled on the input (ingress) interface on the router, perform the following steps.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef Use this command to verify that Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled globally. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef
%CEF not running
If Cisco Express Forwarding is not running, use the ip cefcommand to enable Cisco Express Forwarding or the ip cef distributed command to enable distributed Cisco Express Forwarding. When Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled, the show ip cefcommand shows a brief display of all FIB entries. |
Step 3 | show cef interface type slot / subslot / port [. subinterface-number] Use this command to verify that Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled on a particular ingress interface. Look for the entry "IP CEF switching enabled." For example: Example: Router# show cef interface fastethernet 1/0/0 FastEthernet1/0/0 is up (if_number 6) Corresponding hwidb fast_if_number 6 Corresponding hwidb firstsw->if_number 6 Internet address is 10.1.1.1/24 ICMP redirects are always sent Per packet load-sharing is disabled IP unicast RPF check is disabled Inbound access list is not set Outbound access list is not set IP policy routing is disabled BGP based policy accounting on input is enabled BGP based policy accounting on output is disabled Hardware idb is FastEthernet1/0/0 (6) Software idb is FastEthernet1/0/0 (6) Fast switching type 1, interface type 18 IP Distributed CEF switching enabled ! <==== Notice this entry . IP Feature Fast switching turbo vector IP Feature CEF switching turbo vector Input fast flags 0x100, Output fast flags 0x0, Flags 0x0 ifindex 7(7) Slot 1 Slot unit 0 VC -1 Transmit limit accumulator 0xE8001A82 (0xE8001A82) IP MTU 1500 |
Step 4 | show ip interface type slot / subslot / port [. subinterface-number] Use this command to display the Cisco IOS switching methods enabled on an interface. For example: Example:
Router# show ip interface fastethernet 1/0/0
FastEthernet1/0/0 is up, line protocol is up
IP fast switching is enabled
IP fast switching on the same interface is enabled
IP Flow switching is disabled
IP CEF switching is enabled ! <--- Entry verifying Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled.
IP Distributed switching is enabled
IP Fast switching turbo vector
IP Normal CEF switching turbo vector
IP multicast fast switching is enabled
IP multicast distributed fast switching is disabled
IP route-cache flags are Fast, Distributed, No CEF ! <--- HERE.
In the above output, the "IP CEF switching is enabled" entry indicates that Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled by default. The "No CEF" IP route-cache flag indicates that Cisco Express Forwarding is disabled because an administrator entered the no ip route-cache cefcommand on this interface. To enable Cisco Express Forwarding on this interface, enter the ip route-cache cef command. Once you do that, the "CEF" flag indicates that Cisco Express Forwarding is running. |
Step 5 | disable Use this command to exit privileged EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
To locate the prefix in a forwarding table, perform the following steps.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef Use this command to show entries in the FIB and confirm that prefixes are listed in the FIB. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef
Prefix Next Hop Interface
[...]
10.2.61.8/24 192.168.100.1 FastEthernet1/0/0
192.168.101.1 FastEthernet2/1/0
[...]
|
Step 3 | show ip cef vrf vrf-name Use this command to locate prefixes in forwarding tables associated with Virtual Private Network (VPN) routing/forwarding table instances (VRFs). For example, this command shows prefixes in the left-hand column for a VRF named vpn1: Example:
Router# show ip cef vrf vpn1
Prefix Next Hop Interface
0.0.0.0/32 receive
10.1.0.0/8 10.0.0.1 FastEthernet1/0/3
10.2.0.0/8 10.0.0.2 POS2/0/0
10.0.0.0/8 attached FastEthernet1/0/3
10.0.0.0/32 receive
10.0.0.1/32 10.0.0.1 FastEthernet1/0/3
10.0.0.2/32 receive
10.255.255.255/32 receive
10.3.0.0/8 10.0.0.2 POS2/0/0
10.50.0.0/24 receive
255.255.255.255/32 receive |
Step 4 | Repeat Step 2 as many times as required to locate the prefix. If Cisco Express Forwarding is in a VPN, you might need to look at multiple VRFs. |
Step 5 | disable Use this command to exit privileged EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
To find the Cisco Express Forwarding output information associated with the prefix on the RP, perform the following steps.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef Use this command to confirm that the prefix is listed in the FIB. For example: Example: Router# show ip cef Prefix Next Hop Interface 0.0.0.0/32 receive 192.168.0.0/30 attached Serial2/0/0:1 192.168.0.0/32 receive 10.2.61.8/24 192.168.100.1 FastEthernet1/0/0 |
Step 3 | show ip cef prefix Use this command to display the prefix entry in the FIB for centralized Cisco Express Forwarding. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef 10.2.61.8 255.255.255.0
10.0.0.0/8, version 72, per-destination sharing
0 packets, 0 bytes
via 192.168.100.1, 0 dependencies, recursive
traffic share 1
next hop 192.168.100.1, FastEthernet1/0/0 via 192.168.100.1/32
valid adjacency
via 192.168.101.1, 0 dependencies, recursive
traffic share 1
next hop 192.168.101.1, FastEthernet2/1/0 via 192.168.101.1/32
valid adjacency
0 packets, 0 bytes switched through the prefix
|
Step 4 | show ip cef prefix detail Use this command to show more detail for each of the active paths associated with a destination prefix. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef 10.0.0.0 detail
10.0.0.0/8, version 72, per-destination sharing
0 packets, 0 bytes
via 192.168.100.1, 0 dependencies, recursive
traffic share 1
next hop 192.168.100.1, FastEthernet1/0/0 via 192.168.100.1/32
valid adjacency
via 192.168.101.1, 0 dependencies, recursive
traffic share 1
next hop 192.168.101.1, FastEthernet2/1/0 via 192.168.101.1/32
valid adjacency
0 packets, 0 bytes switched through the prefix
|
Step 5 | disable Use this command to exit privileged EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
To verify the adjacency or next-hop information, perform the following steps.
Adjacencies are added to the adjacency table when the adjacency is
For more information on adjacencies, see the "Cisco Express Forwarding Overview" module.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef Use this command to find the output interface. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef
Prefix Next Hop Interface
0.0.0.0/32 receive
192.168.0.0/30 attached Serial2/0/0:1
192.168.0.0/32 receive
10.2.61.8/24 192.168.100.1 FastEthernet1/0/0
In this example, the output interface for the prefix 10.2.61.8/24 is FastEthernet 1/0/0, and the next hop address is 192.168.100.1. |
Step 3 | show adjacency detail Use this command to display adjacency information, including Layer 2 information. For example: Example:
Router# show adjacency detail
Protocol Interface Address
IP FastEthernet1/0/0 10.2.61.8(7)
0 packets, 0 bytes
00107BC30D5C
00500B32D8200800
ARP 02:01:49
The encapsulation string 00107BC30D5C00500B32D8200800 is that of an adjacency used for traffic switched out of a router on a FastEthernet link by means of Ethernet II encapsulation. |
Step 4 | show adjacency summary Use this command to display Cisco Express Forwarding adjacency table summary information. For example: Example:
Router# show adjacency summary
Adjacency Table has 1 adjacency
Interface Adjacency Count
FastEthernet1/0/0 1
|
Step 5 | show adjacency type slot / subslot / port [. subinterface-number] Use this command to display adjacency information for a particular interface. For example: Example:
Router# show adjacency fastethernet 2/0/3
Protocol Interface Address
IP FastEthernet2/0/3 172.20.52.1(3045)
IP FastEthernet2/0/3 172.20.52.22(11)
|
Step 6 | show ip cef exact-route source-address destination-address Use this command to display the exact route for a source-destination IP address pair and verify the next-hop address. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef exact-route 10.1.1.1 10.2.61.8
10.1.1.1 -> 10.2.61.8 :FastEthernet1/0/0 (next hop 192.168.100.1)
In this example, the exact route from source address 10.1.1.1 to destination address 10.2.61.8 is through interface FastEthernet1/0/0 to next hop address 192.168.100.1. |
Step 7 | disable Use this command to exit privileged EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
Perform the following tasks, in the order presented, to verify distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation on your router:
To verify that distributed Cisco Express Forwarding switching is enabled on the input (ingress) interface on the line card, perform the following steps.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef Use this command to verify that Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled globally. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef
%CEF not running
If Cisco Express Forwarding is not running, use the ip cefcommand to enable (central) Cisco Express Forwarding or the ip cef distributed command to enable distributed Cisco Express Forwarding. When Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled, the show ip cefcommand shows a brief display of all FIB entries. |
Step 3 | show ip cef prefix type slot / subslot / port[ . subinterface-number] Use this command to verify information about interfaces on a line card. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef 192.68.0.0 255.255.255.0 fastethernet0/0/0
show ip cef 192.68.0.0 255.255.255.0 from slot 0:
192.68.0.0/24, version 19, epoch 0, attached, connected
0 packets, 0 bytes
via FastEthernet0/0/0, 0 dependencies
valid glean adjacency
|
Step 4 | disable Use this command to exit privileged EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
Perform the following tasks to interpret information in Cisco Express Forwarding command output:
Perform the following tasks to verify that the Cisco Express Forwarding information looks as you expected.
Perform the following steps to interpret Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) information in Cisco Express Forwarding output.
Cisco Express Forwarding interacts with a label switched path (LSP) primarily at the beginning and end of the LSP--that is, on label imposition (IP packet to MPLS packet) and label disposition (MPLS packet to IP packet). Output from Cisco Express Forwarding commands should show these processes.
The Cisco implementation of MPLS leverages the advantages of Cisco Express Forwarding. When you use a router as an MPLS edge router, Cisco Express Forwarding identifies the route for incoming packets and finds the label to apply to the packet.
However, when you use a router as a label switch router (LSR), tables from the MPLS label forwarding information base (LFIB) are used to switch MPLS packets. These tables are distributed to the line cards in the same way that the FIB tables are distributed in Cisco Express Forwarding.
A customer-site VRF contains all the routes available to the site from the VPNs to which it belongs. VPN routing information is stored in the IP routing table and in the Cisco Express Forwarding table for each VRF. A separate set of tables is maintained for each VRF, which prevents information from being forwarded outside a VPN and prevents packets that are outside a VPN from being forwarded to a router within the VPN. Based on the routing information stored in the VRF IP routing table and the VRF Cisco Express Forwarding table, packets are forwarded to their destinations. Output from Cisco Express Forwarding commands shows details from the VRF Cisco Express Forwarding tables.
Step 1 | enable Use this command to enable privileged EXEC mode. You can also enter this command in user EXEC mode. Enter your password if prompted. For example: Example:
Router> enable
Router#
|
Step 2 | show ip cef vrf vrf-name detail Use this command to display detailed information from the Cisco Express Forwarding forwarding table that is associated with a VRF. For example: Example:
Router# show ip cef vrf vpn1 detail
IP CEF with switching (Table Version 10), flags=0x0
8 routes, 0 reresolve, 0 unresolved (0 old, 0 new)
46 leaves, 51 nodes, 54640 bytes, 361 inserts, 315 invalidations
0 load sharing elements, 0 bytes, 0 references
universal per-destination load sharing algorithm, id F968AD29
5 CEF resets, 38 revisions of existing leaves
refcounts: 1400 leaf, 1392 node
Adjacency Table has 2 adjacencies
0.0.0.0/32, version 0, receive
192.168.6.0/24, version 9, cached adjacency to Serial0/1.1
0 packets, 0 bytes
The following section of the Cisco Express Forwarding output provides MPLS information for the first adjacency. The "tag rewrite" is an equivalent of a Cisco Express Forwarding adjacency. Look at the tags imposed field. The first tag {20} is the tag used to reach the next hop, 10.1.1.13. The second tag {30} is the tag advertised to the local provider edge (PE) router by the remote PE router. Example: tag information set local tag: VPN-route-head fast tag rewrite with Se0/1.1, point2point, tags imposed: {20 30} via 10.10.10.6, 0 dependencies, recursive next hop 10.1.1.13, Serial0/1.1 via 10.10.10.6 valid cached adjacency tag rewrite with Se0/1.1, point2point, tags imposed: {20 30} The following section of the output provides information about the second adjacency. For the second adjacency, no tag rewrite occurs as indicated by the entry "tag rewrite with , ," and MPLS tags are not imposed on the packet indicated by the entry "tags imposed : {}." The router also discards this packet indicated by the entry "valid discard adjacency." Example: 192.168.4.0/24, version 6, attached, connected 0 packets, 0 bytes tag information set local tag: 28 via Loopback102, 0 dependencies valid discard adjacency tag rewrite with , , tags imposed: {} 192.168.4.0/32, version 4, receive 192.168.4.1/32, version 3, receive 192.168.4.255/32, version 5, receive 192.168.0.0/24, version 2, receive 255.255.255.255/32, version 1, receive |
Step 3 | disable Use this command to exit to user EXEC mode. For example: Example:
Router# disable
Router> |
There are no configuration examples for Cisco Express Forwarding. Cisco Express Forwarding is enabled by default.
If you want to disable Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding operation, refer to Enabling or Disabling Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding to Customize Switching/Forwarding for Dynamic Networks.
Related Topic |
Document Title |
---|---|
Cisco IOS commands |
|
Commands for configuring and managing Cisco Express Forwarding |
Cisco IOS IP Switching Command Reference |
Overview of the Cisco Express Forwarding feature |
Cisco Express Forwarding Overview |
Tasks for enabling or disabling Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding |
Enabling or Disabling Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding to Customize Switching/Forwarding for Dynamic Networks |
Tasks for configuring a load-balancing scheme for Cisco Express Forwarding |
Configuring a Load-Balancing Scheme for Cisco Express Forwarding Traffic |
Tasks for configuring Cisco Express Forwarding consistency checkers |
Configuring Cisco Express Forwarding Consistency Checkers for Route Processors and Line Cards |
Tasks for configuring epochs for Cisco Express Forwarding tables |
Configuring Epochs to Clear and Rebuild Cisco Express Forwarding and Adjacency Tables |
Tasks for configuring and verifying Cisco Express Forwarding network accounting |
Configuring Cisco Express Forwarding Network Accounting |
Tasks for customizing the display of recorded Cisco Express Forwarding event trace messages |
Customizing the Display of Cisco Express Forwarding Events Trace Messages |
Standard |
Title |
---|---|
No new or modified standards are supported by this feature, and support for existing standards has not been modified by this feature. |
-- |
MIB |
MIBs Link |
---|---|
No new or modified MIBs are supported by this feature, and support for existing MIBs has not been modified by this feature. |
To locate and download MIBs for selected platforms, Cisco IOS XE software releases, and feature sets, use Cisco MIB Locator found at the following URL: |
RFC |
Title |
---|---|
No new or modified RFCs are supported by this feature, and support for existing RFCs has not been modified by this feature. |
-- |
Description |
Link |
---|---|
The Cisco Support and Documentation website provides online resources to download documentation, software, and tools. Use these resources to install and configure the software and to troubleshoot and resolve technical issues with Cisco products and technologies. Access to most tools on the Cisco Support and Documentation website requires a Cisco.com user ID and password. |
The following table provides release information about the feature or features described in this module. This table lists only the software release that introduced support for a given feature in a given software release train. Unless noted otherwise, subsequent releases of that software release train also support that feature.
Use Cisco Feature Navigator to find information about platform support and Cisco software image support. To access Cisco Feature Navigator, go to www.cisco.com/go/cfn. An account on Cisco.com is not required.
Table 1 | Feature Information for Configuring Basic Cisco Express Forwarding |
Feature Name |
Releases |
Feature Configuration Information |
---|---|---|
CEF/dCEF - Cisco Express Forwarding |
Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1 |
This module contains information about Cisco Express Forwarding and describes the required and optional tasks for verifying Cisco Express Forwarding operation. Cisco Express Forwarding is an advanced Layer 3 IP switching technology. It optimizes network performance and scalability for all kinds of networks: those that carry small amounts of traffic and those that carry large amounts of traffic in complex patterns, such as the Internet, and networks characterized by intensive web-based applications or interactive sessions. In Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1, this feature was introduced on the Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers. No commands were introduced or modified for this feature. |
CEF Support for IP Routing between IEEE 802.1Q vLANs |
Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1 |
In Cisco IOS XE Release 2.1, Cisco Express Forwarding support for IP routing between IEEE 802.1Q vLANs was introduced on Cisco ASR 1000 Series Aggregation Services Routers. No commands were introduced or modified for this feature. |
adjacency --A relationship formed between selected neighboring routers and end nodes for the purpose of exchanging routing information. Adjacency is based upon the use of a common media segment by the routers and nodes involved.
Cisco Express Forwarding --A Layer 3 switching technology. Cisco Express Forwarding can also refer to central Cisco Express Forwarding mode, one of two modes of Cisco Express Forwarding operation. Cisco Express Forwarding enables a Route Processor (RP) to perform express forwarding. Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding is the other mode of Cisco Express Forwarding operation.
distributed Cisco Express Forwarding --A type of Cisco Express Forwarding switching in which line cards maintain identical copies of the Forwarding Information Base (FIB) and adjacency tables. The line cards perform the express forwarding between port adapters; this relieves the Route Processor of involvement in the switching operation.
FIB --forwarding information base. A component of Cisco Express Forwarding. The router uses the FIB lookup table to make destination-based switching decisions during Cisco Express Forwarding operation. The router maintains a mirror image of the forwarding information in an IP routing table.
IPC --interprocess communication. The mechanism that enables the distribution of Cisco Express Forwarding tables from the Route Processor (RP) to the line card when the router is operating in distributed Cisco Express Forwarding mode.
label disposition --The removal of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) headers at the edge of a network. In MPLS label disposition, packets arrive on a router as MPLS packets and, with the headers removed, are transmitted as IP packets.
label imposition --The action of putting a label on a packet.
LER --label edge router. A router that performs label imposition.
LFIB --label forwarding information base. The data structure used by switching functions to switch labeled packets.
LIB --label information base. A database used by a label switch router (LSR) to store labels learned from other LSRs, as well as labels assigned by the local LSR.
line card --A general term for an interface processor that can be used in various Cisco products.
LSP --label switched path. A sequence of hops (Router 0...Router n). A packet travels from R0 to Rn by means of label switching mechanisms. An LSP can be chosen dynamically, based on normal routing mechanisms, or it can be configured manually.
LSR --label switch router. A Layer 3 router that forwards a packet based on the value of a label encapsulated in the packet.
MPLS --Multiprotocol Label Switching. An emerging industry standard for the forwarding of packets along the normal routing paths (sometimes called MPLS hop-by-hop forwarding).
prefix --The network address portion of an IP address. A prefix is specified by a network and mask and is generally represented in the format network/mask. The mask indicates which bits are the network bits. For example, 1.0.0.0/16 means that the first 16 bits of the IP address are masked, making them the network bits. The remaining bits are the host bits. In this example, the network number is 10.0.
RIB --Routing Information Base. A central repository of routes that contains Layer 3 reachability information and destination IP addresses or prefixes. The RIB is also known as the routing table.
RP --Route Processor. The processor module contains the CPU, system software, and most of the memory components that are used in the router. It is sometimes called a supervisory processor.
VPN --Virtual Private Network. The result of a router configuration that enables IP traffic to use tunneling to travel securely over a public TCP/IP network.
VRF --A Virtual Private Network (VPN) routing/forwarding instance. A VRF consists of an IP routing table, a derived forwarding table, a set of interfaces that use the forwarding table, and a set of rules and routing protocols that determine what goes into the forwarding table. In general, a VRF includes the routing information that defines a customer VPN site that is attached to a provider edge (PE) router.
Cisco and the Cisco Logo are trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1005R)
Any Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and phone numbers used in this document are not intended to be actual addresses and phone numbers. Any examples, command display output, network topology diagrams, and other figures included in the document are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any use of actual IP addresses or phone numbers in illustrative content is unintentional and coincidental.