Benefits of VSX

  • Control plane:

    • Dual control plane for better resiliency

    • Unified management (synchronized configuration and easy troubleshooting)

    • Independently software upgradable with near zero downtime

    • In-chassis redundancy for the 8400 series switches and device level redundancy for all other platforms, such as for the 8320 series switches.

  • Layer 2 distributed LAGs (aggregation switches to access switches):

    • Loop-free L2 multipathing (active-active)

    • Rapid failover

    • Simple configuration

    • No Spanning Tree Required

  • Layer 3 distributed LAGs (core switches to aggregate switches)

    • Distributed Layer 3 over VSX pair (various options: Routed Only Ports (ROPs), Switched Virtual Interfaces (SVIs), or LAG SVIs)

    • Unified datapath (active-active first hop gateway)

    • Layer 3 ECMP and layer 2 VSX (highly fault tolerant)

  • Active Gateway:

    • Active-Active first hop gateway (VIP)

    • Simple configuration (one command)

    • No gateway protocol overhead

    • DHCP relay redundancy