Meta Description: Protect your network core with Omada Switch’s Control Plane Policing (CPP). Discover how our hardware-based CPU protection, precise 1 kbps rate limiting, and comprehensive protocol coverage keep your business online.

When building a SMB & Enterprise network, we often obsess over forwarding speeds and port bandwidth. But there is a critical question that is frequently overlooked: Is the "brain" (CPU) of your switch secure?

If your network is hit by a malicious attack or a traffic storm, the switch's CPU can instantly become overloaded, causing the entire network to crash. To solve this pain point, Omada switches have introduced enterprise-grade CPP (Control Plane Policing) protection. Today, we are unveiling this "black technology" that makes your network impregnable.

What is CPP and Why Does Your Network Need It?

Imagine your switch’s CPU is a busy traffic police officer. If thousands of cars (data packets) rush towards the officer all at once, he becomes overwhelmed and the entire traffic system collapses.

CPP (Control Plane Policing) acts as a personal bodyguard for this officer. Its core mission is to identify and filter out malicious or unnecessary traffic attempting to flood the CPU. By ensuring the CPU only processes essential instructions, CPP prevents overload and guarantees network stability even while under attack.

How Omada Switches CPP Works?

Omada switches CPP isn’t just a software feature; it is built on a pure hardware architecture. This means it protects the CPU without consuming any of the CPU’s own resources.

We utilize the following core technologies to create this powerful safety net:

1. EPCL Hardware Engine (Egress Policy Control List): Omada leverages the EPCL engine within the switching chip to intercept traffic directly in the packet processing pipeline. It’s like setting up an intelligent checkpoint at a highway exit, identifying and filtering packets before they ever reach the CPU.

2. RFC 2697 Standard & SrTcm Algorithm: To control traffic with pinpoint accuracy, we adopt the standard RFC 2697 Single Rate Three Color Marker (SrTcm) algorithm. The system marks traffic streams as "Green" (pass), "Yellow" (exceed but allow), or "Red" (drop), managing every data flow with the precision of a traffic light system.

3 Key Benefits of Omada CPP for Your Business

Compared to other products on the market, what tangible value does Omada’s CPP protection bring to you?

1. Extreme Precision Control Many competitors offer coarse rate-limiting granularity (often only accurate to 128 pps). In contrast, Omada CPP achieves 1 kbps-level ultra-fine rate limiting. This allows you to fine-tune network policies with delicate precision—blocking attacks without accidentally stifling normal management traffic.

2. Comprehensive Protection Coverage We support rate limiting for max 74 types of protocol packets (e.g., on S6500-/S7500- series models), far exceeding many competitors (some only support around 40 types). Whether it’s ARP spoofing, DHCP flooding, or complex routing protocol oscillation, Omada handles it all calmly, eliminating security blind spots.

3. Simple & Intuitive Management Forget complex mapping configurations. Omada offers straightforward policy management. You can directly set rate-limit or drop policies for specific protocols (like HTTP, SSH, OSPF, etc.). The system comes with 13 built-in policies (1 Global + 12 User-defined), giving you the flexibility to adapt to complex enterprise scenarios effortlessly.

Conclusion

The Omada Switch’s CPP feature, powered by the EPCL hardware engine and RFC 2697 traffic control technology, provides a "bulletproof vest" for your network core. No matter how harsh the network environment becomes, it ensures your switch’s "brain" remains clear and efficient, keeping your business always online.

Note: Software supporting CPP functionality for Omada Switches is being released. You can already get FW of some model, like SG3428X V1.30, SG3428XMP V3.20, SG3210 V3.20,  SG2428LP V1, SX3016F V1.20, SG2008 V4.20, SG2016 V1.20.