What is a characteristic of a switch virtual interface (SVI)?
- Although it is a virtual interface, it needs to have physical hardware on the device associated with it.
- An SVI is created in software and requires a configured IP address and a subnet mask in order to provide remote access to the switch.
- SVIs come preconfigured on Cisco switches.
- SVIs do not require the no shutdown command to become enabled.
Answers Explanation & Hints: Cisco IOS switches have physical ports for devices to connect to, but also have one or more switch virtual interfaces (SVIs). These are virtual interfaces, because there is no physical hardware on the device associated with them, rather they are created in software. The virtual interface provides a means to remotely manage a switch over a network that is using IP. Each switch comes with one SVI appearing in the default configuration “out-of-the-box.” The default SVI is interface VLAN1. The no shutdown command needs to be issued to activate this interface.