|
|
The Cisco 7000 family supports any combination of Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, serial, channelized T3, and E3, multichannel E1/T1, IBM channel attachment, ATM, Packet OC-3, ISDN, and HSSI interfaces. These interfaces are contained on modular interface processor boards for the Cisco 7000 series and Cisco 7500 series, and are contained on port adapters for the Cisco 7200 series and Versatile Interface Processor (VIP). The interface processors and port adapters connect Cisco`s high-speed bus (or buses) to external networks.
All interface processors are modular, self-contained, 11 x 14 in. boards with one or more network interface connectors. All interface processors support online insertion and removal, which allows you to add, replace, or remove interface processors without interrupting the system power or entering any console commands.
Upgradable microcode on each interface processor contains board-specific software instructions. These microcode images come bundled with Cisco IOS software, and the images load automatically when a new software image is installed. (New microcode provides additional features and enhancements to interface processors.) Cisco optimizes each release of Cisco IOS software to work with the bundled microcode images.
Some interface processors consist of a single motherboard, and others consist of a motherboard with a companion board such as a physical layer interface module (PLIM) or a port adapter. For example, the AIP (see the following figure) contains a PLIM, which determines the type of ATM connection.
Interface processors such as the FSIP, FEIP, or VIP2 contain port adapters that attach to the motherboard. The following figure shows a VIP2with two different port adapters.
Figure 17-51: Port Adapters on the VIP2 (Horizontal Orientation Shown)
The factory installs PLIM and port adapter configurations according to the interface processor ordered.The following sections list and describe the interface processors available for the Cisco 7000 series and Cisco 7500 series routers.