Specifications

CHAPTER
13-1
Cisco MWR 2941 Mobile Wireless Edge Router Release 3.5 Software Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.1(3)MR
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13
Configuring Cisco Express Forwarding
This module contains information about Cisco Express Forwarding and describes the required and
optional tasks for configuring a load-balancing scheme for Cisco Express Forwarding traffic.
Load-balancing allows you to optimize resources by distributing traffic over multiple paths.
Cisco Express Forwarding is an advanced Layer 3 IP switching technology. It optimizes network
performance and scalability for all kinds of networks: those that carry small amounts of traffic and those
that carry large amounts of traffic in complex patterns, such as the Internet and networks characterized
by intensive web-based applications or interactive sessions.
The following sections describe Cisco Express Forwarding:
• Information About Cisco Express Forwarding, page 13-1
• Configuring Cisco Express Forwarding, page 13-6
• Configuration Examples for Configuring a Load-Balancing Scheme for Cisco Express Forwarding
Traffic, page 13-11
Information About Cisco Express Forwarding
Before using Cisco Express Forwarding or distributed Cisco Express Forwarding, you should understand
the following:
• Cisco Express Forwarding Benefits—Improved Performance, Scalability, and Resilience, page 13-1
• Media Supported by Cisco Express Forwarding, page 13-2
• Main Components of Cisco Express Forwarding Operation, page 13-3
• FIB Overview, page 13-3
• Cisco Express Forwarding Adjacency Tables Overview, page 13-4
• Cisco Express Forwarding Operation Modes—Central and Distributed, page 13-5
Cisco Express Forwarding Benefits—Improved Performance, Scalability, and
Resilience
Cisco Express Forwarding offers the following benefits:
• Improved performance—Cisco Express Forwarding is less CPU-intensive than fast switching route
caching. As a result, more CPU processing power can be dedicated to Layer 3 services such as
quality of service (QoS) and encryption.