Chapter 11. Cisco IOS Software Switching Services

This chapter presents background and configuration information for the IOS switching services:

• 11-1 Fast Switching

• 11-2 Cisco Express Forwarding

• 11-3 NetFlow Switching

• 11-4 Multilayer Switching

Switching in a router is the process of moving a packet from one interface to another interface. Every router performs some form of switching. The most common form of switching is process switching, and it is performed by almost all routers. Process switching is what happens when a router interrupts the CPU to perform a route table lookup. All Cisco router switching paths are initiated by a process-switched packet, but other switching paths allow the router to move packets more rapidly through the device. The switching paths discussed in this chapter are Cisco algorithms that provide faster and more robust switching methods .