Supervisor Engine (Cisco) Explained

The Cisco Supervisor Engine serves as the central processing unit for numerous Cisco switches.^[1] Over time, the supervisor engine has undergone multiple iterations. While it functions as the management component for many routers, the switch's capability often surpasses that of the supervisor engine. This is attributed to the fact that in most switches, numerous functions are accelerated by Application-specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chips.

Abridged list of features:

• 802.1q VLAN
• Spanning Tree Protocol
• Ether Channel
• Jumbo Frames
• (E)IGRP, OSPF, RIP (2), Static Routing
• BGP, IS-IS
• QOS
• Some have Layer 3 and 4 Switching

Specifications

Supervisor Engine	Mpps^[2]	Switching Layer	Bandwidth^[3]	CPU Frequency	Max Ram	Max Flash	OS	Minimum IOS
1	15	2	1.232	25 MHz Motorola 68k	128MB	16MB	CatOS	N/A
2	30	2	18	150 MHz Mips R4700	128MB	16MB	CatOS	N/A
2+	48	4	64	266 MHz R4700	256MB	32MB	CatOS/IOS
3	15	4	?	150300 MHz	256MB	?	IOS	12.1(8a)
4	48	4	64	333 MHz	512MB	128MB	IOS	12.1(12c)
5	136	4	102	400800 MHz	512MB	?	IOS	12.2(18)
6	250	4	320	1.3 GHz	1GB	?	IOS	12.2(40)
720	400450	5	720	600 MHz	2GB	64MB	CatOS/IOS
32		5	32	300 MHz			IOS
2T^[4]	720	5	2080		4GB	2GB	IOS

Details

Supervisor Engine I

• 68EC040
• Chassis: 2900, 2948G, 2980G, 4000, 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500, 7600

Supervisor Engine II

• MIPS R4700
• Chassis: 2926, 4000, 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500, 7600

Supervisor Engine II+

• MIPS R4700
• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Chassis: 2926, 4000, 4500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 6500, 7600

Supervisor Engine III

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Max DRAM: 256MB SD
• Redundant Capable
• Netflow accelerator card

Supervisor Engine IV

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Max Flash: 64MB (supplemental Compact Flash optional)

Supervisor Engine V

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Chassis: 4500

Supervisor Engine 6

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Chassis: 4500 "E" Series

Supervisor Engine 32

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Chassis: 6000, 6500, 7600
• A low cost, reduced version of the 720
• Policy Feature Card 3b
• MSFC 2A?

Supervisor Engine 720

• Cisco Express Forwarding
• Policy Feature Card 3A, 3B, 3BXL
• Chassis: 6500, 7600

MSFC1-3

• Multi-Layer Switch Feature Card

See also

• Cisco IOS
• Catalyst switch
• Catalyst 6500
• Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches

References

• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps663/products_tech_note09186a00801a5d58.shtml
• http://www.ciscosystems.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps4324/product_data_sheet09186a00801fcaba.pdf
• http://www.cisco.ac/application/pdf/en/us/guest/products/ps4324/c1167/ccmigration_09186a008011b8da.pdf
• http://www.berkcom.com/resources/cisco/C6500_ccmigration_09186a00800887fd.pdf
• http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps663/products_tech_note09186a0080094645.shtml
• Book: CCNP: Cisco Lan Switch Configuration. Lammle . Todd . Todd Lammle . Spangenberg . Ward . Padjen . Robert . James . Compton . James Compton . Hardback . 1st . Cisco Certification Series . 1999 . SYBEX, Network Press. San Francisco . 0-7821-2571-9. 624. CCNP: Cisco Lan Switch Configuration .
• Book: Cisco Catalyst LAN Switching. Rossi . Louis . Louis Rossi . Rossi . Louis . Rossi . Thomas . Steven . Elliot . Softback . 1st . Cisco Technical Expert . 2000 . Mcgraw Hill. New York . 0-07-134982-0. 394. Cisco Catalyst LAN Switching .
• Book: Cisco catalyst switch troubleshooting handbook. Chan . Jason . Arteaga . Frank . 2004 . Cisco catalyst switch troubleshooting handbook .
• Book: Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks. Building Cisco Multilayer Switched Networks.
• Book: Cisco LAN Switch Configuration Handbook.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Types of Cisco Switches > Implementing Cisco IP Switched Networks (SWITCH) Foundation Learning Guide: Network Design Fundamentals Cisco Press . 2023-06-13 . www.ciscopress.com.
2. Million 64k Packets switched Per Second
3. in gigabits
4. Web site: Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engine 2T Data Sheet.