Q&A
© 2009 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Q.
Are there any feature differences between the ES3 and ES2?
A.
The ES3 performs Layer 2/3 switching in hardware and offers full feature parity with the Cisco Catalyst 3560-E
IP Base and IP Services universal feature sets. The ES2 service module is based on the Cisco Catalyst 2960
Series desktop switches; it performs Layer 2 switching in hardware and offers full feature parity with the Cisco
Catalyst 2960 LAN Base image.
Table 2.
Differences Between ES2 and ES3 EtherSwitch Service Modules
Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch
Service Module
Description
Cisco ES2 Enhanced EtherSwitch
Service Module
●
Entry-level, lower-cost solution
●
Layer 2 switching in hardware
●
Full feature parity with the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base image
●
Power over Ethernet; up to 1014 watts per chassis on Cisco 3900 Series router
◦
IEEE 802.3af PoE support, up to 15.4 watts per port
◦
Cisco Prestandard PoE
Cisco ES3 Enhanced EtherSwitch
Service Module
●
Best-of-class Ethernet switching
●
High-density Gigabit Ethernet support
●
Layer 2/3 switching in hardware
◦
Multicast routing
◦
IPv6 routing, and access control list (ACL) in hardware
●
Full feature parity with the Cisco Catalyst 3560-E IP Base and IP Services Universal images
◦
IP Base feature set, which includes advanced quality of service (QoS), a suite of security features, rate
limiting, ACLs, basic static and Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routing capability, and Hot Standby
Router Protocol (HSRP)
◦
The IP Services feature set, which provides a richer set of enterprise-class features, including
advanced hardware-based IP Unicast and IP Multicast routing; Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing
Protocol (EIGRP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Protocol
Independent Multicast (PIM), and IPv6 routing; OSPFv3; EIGRPv6; IP Service-Level Agreement
(IPSLA) packet monitoring; Cisco Port Security; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite (VRF Lite)
●
Cisco EnergyWise technology, an innovative architecture that promotes companywide sustainability by
reducing energy consumption across an entire corporate infrastructure; Cisco EnergyWise technology
can help your company measure the power consumption of network infrastructure and network-attached
devices and manage power consumption with specific policies, reducing power consumption to realize
increased cost savings; potentially any powered device is affected
●
Power over Ethernet; up to 1014 watts per chassis on a Cisco 3900 Series router
◦
Cisco Enhanced PoE (ePoE), up to 20 watts per port
◦
IEEE 802.3af PoE support, up to 15.4 watts per port
◦
Cisco Prestandard PoE
Q.
Can I upgrade from the ES2 to the ES3 module with software?
A.
No, the ES3 service module performs Layer 2/3 switching in hardware and ES2 service module performs Layer
2 switching in hardware and cannot be upgraded with software.
Q.
What are the differences between the Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch Service Modules and the existing
network modules (NME-X-23ES-1G-P, NME-X-23ES-1G, NME-16ES-1G-P, NME-16ES-1G)?
A.
The Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch Service Modules are based on Cisco Catalyst 3560-E desktop switches, and
they offer the same features and software as these switches. Also, the new Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch
modules provide a 1-Gbps connection to the MGF for intermodule communication that does not burden the
router CPU.
The existing Cisco EtherSwitch Network Modules (NME-X-23ES-1G-P, NME-X-23ES-1G, NME-16ES-1G-P, and
NME-16ES-1G) offer the same features and software as the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series desktop switches.
Q.
Do the Cisco Enhanced EtherSwitch Service Modules interoperate with the existing Cisco EtherSwitch
Network Modules?
A.
Yes, a service-module adapter card provides backward compatibility with the existing network modules;
therefore, both the new and NME-16ES-1G-P, NME-16ES-1G,NM-16ESW, and NM-16ESW-1GIG network
modules can coexist in the ISR G2 integrated services routers.
