System default (no license required) | *Comprehensive layer 2 feature set: VLAN, IEEE 802.1Q trunking, Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD; standard and aggressive), Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), and Spanning Tree Protocol guard *Security: Authentication, Authorization, and Accounting (AAA), Access Control Lists (ACLs), storm control, and configurable Control-Plane Policing (CoPP) *Management features: Cisco Data Center Network Manager (DCNM) support, Secure Shell Version 2 (SSHv2) access, Cisco Discovery Protocol, Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), syslog *Monitoring features: Advanced buffer monitoring, Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) and Encapsulated RSPAN (ERSPAN) |
Base license | *Layer 3 IP routing: Inter-VLAN Routing (IVR), static routes, Routing Information Protocol Version 2 (RIPv2), ACLs, Open Shortest Path First Version 2 (OSPFv2; limited to 256 routes), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) stub, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), and Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) |
Essential License (N3K) | *Advanced layer 3 IP routing: OSPFv2, EIGRP, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), and Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS), and Virtual Routing and Forwarding Lite (VRF-Lite) and Telemetry Features: Buffer Drop Capture (BDC), High Delay Capture (HDC) and INT |