General Guidelines

  • When you enable MLS, the RSM or externally attached router continues to handle all non-IP protocols while offloading the switching of IP packets to the MLS-SE.

  • Do not confuse MLS with the NetFlow switching supported by Cisco routers. MLS uses both the RSM or directly attached external router and the MLS-SE. With MLS, you are not required to use NetFlow switching on the RSM or directly attached external router; any switching path on the RSM or directly attached external router will work (process, fast, and so on).

Note

The 10/100BaseTX and 100BaseFX Backbone Fast Ethernet Switching modules for the Catalyst 5000 have onboard hardware that optimizes MLS performance.

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