Reference Guide

Content Addressable Memory (CAM) | 203
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Content Addressable Memory (CAM)
Content Addressable Memory (CAM) is supported on the following platforms: s z
• Content Addressable Memory
• When to Use CAM Profiling
• Important Points to Remember
• CAM Allocation
• Test CAM Usage
• View CAM-ACL settings
• Return to the Default CAM Configuration
• CAM Optimization
• Troubleshoot CAM Profiling
Content Addressable Memory
Content Addressable Memory (CAM) is a type of memory that stores information in the form of a lookup
table. On Dell Networking systems, the CAM stores Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding information,
access-lists (ACL), flows, and routing policies. On Dell Networking systems, there are one or two CAM
(Dual-CAM) modules per port-pipe depending on the type of line card.
When to Use CAM Profiling
The CAM profiling feature enables you to partition the CAM to best suit your application. For example:
• Configure more Layer 2 FIB entries when the system is deployed as a switch.
• Configure more Layer 3 FIB entries when the system is deployed as a router.
• Configure more ACLs (when IPv6 is not employed).
• Optimize the VLAN ACL Group feature, which permits group VLANs for IP egress ACLs. Refer to
Troubleshoot CAM Profiling on page 207.