Lexmark IBM 9077 - Manual (Page 32)

14 IBM 9077 SP Switch Router: Get Connected to the SP Switch
Figure 8. Conventional Routers
The SP Switch Router provides near wire-speed packet forwarding while
using standard routing protocols. This ensures interoperability with other
network technologies and does not require a specific network architecture,
such as ATM. It works equally well in large and small networks. At each hop
where a routing switch is used, routes are processed at Layer 3 but the
packet is forwarded at Layer 2 (see Figure 9 on page 15). In the case of the
SP Router, the route processing is done through hardware, so all processing
is done at near-wire speed.
Router
Router
Router
Unswitched Data
Switched Data
1
2
3
4
5
Disadvantages:
Shared data paths
All processing done on Layer 3
Slow softwarebased processing
Layer 3
Layer 2
Router Router
..... ........ .....
...... ......
...
.
.... ..
..
....
Process
Packets Process
Packets