Reference Guide

Interfaces | 439
Physical Interfaces
The Management Ethernet interface is a single RJ-45 Fast Ethernet port on the Route Processor Module
(RPM) of the C-Series and E-Series and on each unit of the S4810 and S4820T. It provides dedicated
management access to the system. The other S-Series (non-S4810 or S4820T) systems supported by FTOS
do not have this dedicated management interface, but you can use any Ethernet port configured with an IP
address and route.
Line card interfaces support Layer 2 and Layer 3 traffic over the 10/100/1000, Gigabit, and 10-Gigabit
Ethernet interfaces. SONET interfaces with PPP encapsulation support Layer 3 traffic. These interfaces
(except SONET interfaces with PPP encapsulation) can also become part of virtual interfaces such as
VLANs or port channels.
Link detection on ExaScale line cards is interrupt-based rather than poll-based, which enables ExaScale
cards to bring up and take down links faster.
For more information on VLANs, see Bulk Configuration and for more information on port channels, see
Port Channel Interfaces.
Configuration Task List for Physical Interfaces
By default, all interfaces are operationally disabled and traffic will not pass through them.
The following section includes information about optional configurations for physical interfaces:
• Overview of Layer Modes
• Configure Layer 2 (Data Link) Mode
• Management Interfaces
• Auto-Negotiation on Ethernet Interfaces
• Adjust the keepalive timer
• Clear interface counters
Overview of Layer Modes
On all systems running FTOS, you can place physical interfaces, port channels, and VLANs in Layer 2
mode or Layer 3 mode.
FTOS Behavior: S-Series systems use a single MAC address for all physical interfaces while E-Series and
C-Series use a unique MAC address for each physical interface, though this results in no functional difference
between these platforms.