Cisco 7200
| Cisco 7200 Series | |
 | |
| Manufacturer: | Cisco Systems |
|---|---|
| Positioning: | High Speed Router |
| Throughput: | 100 kpps - 2 mpps |
| Size: | 3 RU |
| Release Date: | unknown |
Contents |
[edit] Architecture
The 7200 series consists of 4 basic components: the chassis, the Network Processing Engine (NPE), I/O Controller, and Port Adapters (PA).
The 7200 is a centralized software routing platform (except for the NSE-1). All forwarding is done on the NPE.
[edit] Chassis
The chassis holds all the components as well as houses the backplane. The chassis comes in 4 flavors. Either 2 PA slots(7200), 4 PA slots (7204, 7204VXR), 6 PA slots (7206, 7206VXR), or a single PA fixed configuration (7201, 7302).
[edit] Models
Chassis can be split into two categories. The older non-VXR, or classical chassis or the newer VXR chassis. The VXR chassis replaced the classics chassis with a new backplane capable of 1gbps (when used with the NPE-300, NPE-400, NPE-G1, NPE-G2, and NSE-1) and includes a Multiservice Interchange (MIX).
MIX supports switching of DS0 time slots through the midplane as well as distribution of clocking through the midplane. The VXR utilizes two full duplex 8.192 Mbps time division multiplexing (TDM) streams between each PA and the MIX.
The classic 7200 chassis (7202, 7204, and 7206) support NPE-100, NPE-150, and NPE-200 only as well as only earlier PA cards.
The VXR chassis (7204-VXR, and 7206-VXR) support the NPE-175, NPE-225, NPE-300, NPE-400, NPE-G1, NPE-G2, and NSE-1) and most PA cards.
| Part Number | PA Slots | Size | EOL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7202 | 2 | 3U | Yes | |
| 7204 | 4 | 3U | Yes | |
| 7206 | 6 | 3U | Yes | |
| 7204VXR | 4 | 3U | No | |
| 7206VXR | 6 | 3U | No | |
| 7201 | 1 | 1U | No | Replaces the 7301 |
| 7301 | 1 | 1U | Yes |
[edit] Network Processing Engines
The NPE is the processing engine for the 7200 and contains the CPU, memory, and PCI controller.
[edit] Models
| Part Number | CPU | Performance | Onboard Ports | I/O board | EOL? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NPE-100 | 150Mhz R4700 MIPS | 100kpps | None | Required | Yes (4/30/2000) |
| NPE-150 | 150Mhz R4700 MIPS | 150kpps | None | Required | Yes (4/30/2000) |
| NPE-175 | 200Mhz RM5270 MIPS | 177kpps | None | Required | Yes (5/15/2000) |
| NPE-200 | 150Mhz R5000 MIPS | 200kpps | None | Required | Yes (1/1/2002) |
| NPE-225 | 262Mhz R4700 MIPS | 233kpps | None | Required | No |
| NPE-300 | 262Mhz RM7000 MIPS | 353kpps | None | Required | Yes (12/31/2001) |
| NPE-400 | 350Mhz RM7000 MIPS | 420kpps | None | Required | No |
| NPE-G1 | 2x 700Mhz BCM1250 MIPS | 1mpps | 3 Copper/GBIC 10/100/1000 | Optional | No |
| NSE-1 | 262mhz RM7000 MIPS | 300kpps* (w/o PXF) | None | Required | Yes (3/2/2004) |
| NPE-G2 | 1.66ghz MPC7448 PPC | 2mpps | 3 Copper/SPF 10/100/1000 | Optional | No |
[edit] NPE-G1
The NPE-G1 contains two BCM1250 processors running at 700mhz, but in a normal 7200 chassis only one processor is ever used. The other processor is only used in a UBR chassis for controlling DOCSIS functions and cannot be used for fowarding.
The NPE-G1 is the first NPE to include both the functionality of a I/O board and a NPE. The use of an additional I/O is not required, but an I/O board can still be utilized and takes over control of the console and aux ports.
The NPE-G1 also has 3 dual-media on-board Gigabit Ethernet interfaces that can use either a GBIC or 10/100/1000 RJ-45 port. These ports are numbered in IOS as starting at GigabitEthernet0/1 to GigabitEthernet0/3 to allow for a I/O-GE+E which would use GigabitEthernet0/0.
[edit] NSE-1
Unlike the other NPE's avalible to the 7200 the NSE includes two modular boards . One board houses the processor engine (CPU, Memory, PCI controller). This board is identical to a NPE-300. There is also a network controller board which houses a Parallel eXpress Forwarding (PXF) ASIC. This ASIC is also known as the Toaster.
This Toaster offloads the packet switching off the CPU onto the ASIC in order to speed up processing power.
Support for the NSE-1 has been very lacking is not recommenced for any install.
[edit] Input/Output Boards
Input/Output controllers (I/O Board) is separate from the NPE (except for the NPE-G1 and NPE-G2 which contain the I/O board functions on the NPE itself but can utilize an external I/O board if desired).
The I/O board consists of NVRAM, a Boot ROM, two environmental sensors, internal flash memory to store files (IOS), two external PC card slots for Flash memory cards, a dual UART controller for the console and aux ports, and any number of interfaces
[edit] Models
| Model number | Ports |
|---|---|
| C7200-I/O-GE+E | |
| C7200-I/O-2FE | 2 Fast ethernet |
| C7200-I/O-2E | 2 Ethernet |
| C7200-I/O-FE | 1 Fast Ethernet |
| C7200-I/O-FE-MII | 1 Fast ethernet |
| C7200-I/O | None |
[edit] Other uses for the I/O slot
With the introduction of the NPE-G1 and continued in the release of the NPE-G2 the I/O boards functions have been included on the NPE itself. This allows for the I/O slot to be used for other purposes like additional PA slot or VPN acceleration.
[edit] Port Adapters
Port Adapters in the 7200 connect to the PCI backplane and provide network connectivity.
Port adapters on the 7200 are split onto two PCI backplanes. The left PA slots (slots 1,3,5) use one backplane and the right PA slots (slots 2,4,6). If you have a NPE-400 or lower the I/O slot shares the PCI bus with slots 2,4, and 6. NPE-G1 and higher has a dedicated bus for the I/O slot.
[edit] Bus Subscription
As not to overload each one of the PCI busses every PA and I/O board are assigned either bandwidth points or a bandwidth designation.
Older NPEs (NPE-100, NPE-150, NPE-175, NPE-200, NPE-225) use the bandwidth designation method. Each PA can be either high, medium, or low designation.
Newer NPE (NPE-300, NPE-400, NPE-G1, NPE-G2 and NSE-1) use bandwidth points. PA cards are assigned a certain point value with the total points per PCI plane not to exceed 600 points.
Although you can oversubscribe the the backplane by exceeding the bandwidth designation or bandwidth points per bus, it is not recommended and is not supported by Cisco TAC.
