[nsp] ATM switching on a 7200

[Bob Collie]

Thanks for all of the feedback, guys!  Now that it is settled that I
can't do it using my existing equipment, does anyone have any
suggestions of a cheap solution to achieve the same results that I
described?  I'd prefer to just replace the sw7200 per my diagram.

NB-cheap also allows for non-Cisco, but just as long as it is reliable.

Thanks again all,
-Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert E. Seastrom [mailto:rs at seastrom.com] 
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 8:32 AM
To: Bob Collie
Cc: Kostas Anagnopoulos; cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
Subject: Re: [nsp] ATM switching on a 7200



"Bob Collie" <bob at ena.com> writes:

> Agreed; however you can do Frame Relay switching on the 7200 as well 
> as FR-ATM and vice versa Internetworking at the packet level, so why 
> can't you do ATM switching?

Because Frame Relay can be thought of as just being a studlier verson of
HDLC/PPP (or a stripped down X.25 depending on whether you're a
glass-half-empty or glass-half-full type) and is handled completely in
software.  ATM, on the other hand, is viewed by the router through a SAR
(segmentation and reassembly) chip.  All of the ATM-ish stuff is handled
by the SAR; the router CPU never sees the ATM cells, just reassembled
packets.

Hope this helps,

                                        ---Rob