Catalyst 6500 High Switch Proc

Sat Nov 15 21:35:28 UTC 2008

Hello.

I've run into a bit of a snag and I hope some folks here may be able to 
enlighten.  From time to time I check the 'sh platform hardware 
capacity' command on our Catalyst 6509s and have noticed this item:

CPU Resources
  CPU utilization: Module             5 seconds       1 minute       5 
minutes
                   5  RP               1% /  0%             
3%              4%
                   5  SP              82% / 27%            
62%             73%

This is shown on two 6509 switches that we operate as Core layer 
devices.  This value goes up to 85-90% during periods of peak traffic 
and I'm concerned that this may be a problem.

Checking 'sh proc cpu' is usually 10% or less.

I've gone over this document backwards and forwards and none of the 
situations outlined seem to apply here:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/products_tech_note09186a00804916e0.shtml

One thing to note, is that our main ACL for ingress traffic is applied 
here due to historical reasons.  It's roughly 5000 single host entries 
at present.  We also use these devices for NDE.

I'm probably missing some other key details, but what could influence 
the SP like this?  Any insight would be appreciated.

--
Philip L.