RouterGeek

When would you need this: When are setting up your own Frame-Relay network. Usually, it is used for lab setup.

Special Requirements: A Cisco router with at least two serial interfaces.

This setup is mainly done for lab experiments because operating a Cisco router as an actual Frame-Relay Switch requires alot of Serial interfaces.

As a start, you need to keep in mind that when a Cisco router operates as a frame-relay switch, it wil stop operating as an IP router. No IP routing process will occur during the Frame-Relay operations. The router will become exclusively a frame-relay switch.

Before you start configuration, draw the network topology and mark on it the numbers of DLCIs that will be used. What the frame-realy switch does is receiving a frame with a certain DLCI number from one interface and forwarding it to a different interface after assigning it a different DLCI number. With that said, now we move on to the configuration:

1. Enable Frame-Relay Switching operation on the router's global configuration:

Router(config)#frame-relay switching

2.Configure the two (or more) interfaces that will participate in the frame-relay switching process

Router(config-if)#no ip address

Router(config-if)#encapsulation frame-relay

Router(config-if)#logging event subif-link-status

Router(config-if)#logging event dlci-status-change

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Read the rest of the article in the Router Geek Book: Guide to Cisco Routers Configuration