Cisco 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, double-wide Layer 2 and Layer 3 enhanced EtherSwitch service module, with PoE support

The Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service modules connect to Cisco 2900 series and Cisco 3900 series routers through the service module console Gigabit Ethernet port to a serial interface on the router. This Gigabit Ethernet port gives the appearance of a Layer 3 port to the router.

The Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service modules also provide a physical Gigabit Ethernet serializer/deserializer integrated circuit transceiver High-Speed Intrachassis Module Interconnect (HIMI) interface. In the Cisco 2900 series and Cisco 3900 series routers, the HIMI link on the Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service modules is connected to the router internal Gigabit Ethernet backplane. This link is used for interconnection between other interface cards or network modules attached to the router Gigabit Ethernet backplane bypassing the router host CPU, thus increasing CPU performance by decreasing CPU processing.

To access the Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service module, establish a session from the router over the serial interface to the Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service module. To exchange and monitor control messages between the Cisco enhanced EtherSwitch service module and the router, a Router Blade Configuration Protocol (RBCP) stack operates concurrently on active IOS sessions running on both the router and the service module.