Understanding Key Router Components
Purpose
Inspect the Routing Engine and the Packet Forwarding Engine to ensure that the router is handling general routing operations and is forwarding packets properly.
What Are the Key Router Components
The router consists of two major architectural components:
- Packet Forwarding Engine—This high-performance, application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-based component provides Layer 2 and Layer 3 packet switching, route lookups, and packet forwarding.
- Routing Engine—Provides Layer 3 routing services and network management.
The Packet Forwarding Engine and the Routing Engine perform their primary tasks independently, although they constantly communicate through a 100-Mbps internal link. This arrangement provides streamlined forwarding and routing control and the capability to run Internet-scale backbone networks at high speeds. Figure 12 illustrates the relationship between the Packet Forwarding Engine and the Routing Engine.
