Glossary

An empty panel used to fill vacant subslots on a SIP. For proper operation, a SIP should be fully installed with either functional SPAs or blank filler plates.

Describes the dimension of a SPA that occupies two, vertically aligned SIP subslots.

Field-programmable device. General term for any hardware component implemented on switch cards that supports separate software upgrades. SIPs and SPAs must have the right FPD version to function properly; an FPD incompatibility will disable all interfaces on the SPA or all SPAs within the SIP.

An FPD image package is used to upgrade FPD images. Whenever a Cisco IOS image is released that supports SPAs, a companion SPA FPD image package is also released for that Cisco IOS software release.

Online insertion and removal. Feature supported by SIPs and SPAs allowing removal of the cards while the switch and the cards are activated, without affecting the operation of other cards or the switch. Although this removal can be done while the SIP or SPA is activated, it is generally recommended that you gracefully deactivate the hardware using the appropriate commands for your platform prior to removal of the hardware.

Small form-factor pluggable optical transceiver. A type of fiber-optic receptacle device that mounts flush with the front panel to provide network connectivity.

Describes the dimension of a SPA that occupies a single SIP subslot, or half of the SIP.

SPA interface processor. A SIP is a platform-specific carrier card that inserts into a switch slot like a line card. A SIP can hold one or more SPAs in its subslots, depending on the SIP type. The SPA provides the network interface. The SIP provides the connection between the route processor (RP) and the SPA.

Shared port adapter. A SPA is a modular, platform-independent port adapter that inserts into a subslot of a compatible SIP carrier card to provide network connectivity and increased interface port density. The SPA provides the interface between the network and the SIP.

Secondary slot on a SIP where a SPA is installed. The primary slot is the chassis slot on the switch.