
298 Appendix B: Packet Switching Mechanisms
Summary
CEF is the recommended switching mechanism in today’s large-scale IP networks and ISP
networks. Support for some of the QoS functions can be limited to specific packet-
switching modes. In particular, all distributed QoS functions, where QoS functions run on
a router’s individual line cards instead of on the central processor card, require distributed
CEF.
Efficient for traffic characteristics where there
is a small number of long-duration flows,
typically sourced by file transfer applications.
Efficient for traffic characteristics where there
is a large number of short-duration flows,
typically sourced ...