Effects of SPAN port configuration on Cisco 4507R+E switch.

[Sundeep Dsouza]

Hi All,

I read quite a few documents on configuring SPAN on a cisco switch but none of them mention any limitations or any kind of CPU load it can have on a switch. I need to configure this on one of our switches and would like to know if there are any implications related to SPAN.

Regards

[Reza Sharifi]

Hi,

If you are running IOS 12.2(19) or later release, you can monitor the CPU to see if there is any impact when SPAN is turned on.

Have a look at this doc:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps663/products_tech_note09186a00804cef15.shtml#tools

HTH

[Sundeep Dsouza]

Hi Reza,

I actually do not want to reach to that stage where after turning on SPAN I run into CPU issues hence I wanted to know if there are any issues with SPAN.

I have used SPAN earlier in production networks but the network where I configured SPAN was not huge enough. The current network has lots of VLAN and traffic passing across so I am kinda skeptical.

Regards

[fb_webuser]

From my own experience I've tried span on a 4500 and 6500 for a complete VLANs and it was fine I even have IPSs running in promiscuous mode witch requires SPAN and it's working fine.

so, have no fear

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Posted by WebUser Ahmed Rasmy

[helenio]

I'm asking myself the same question, how SPAN can load the CPU, in particular if you monitor more 10G port on a 4500. Do you have a feedback about issue above ?

[Sundeep Dsouza]

Your best bet would be to turn span on and keep a close eye on your CPU levels.

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