Cisco – the difference between bootflash and flash and slot0 slot1

cisco

In a typical Cisco router or switch when we give the command "show file systems" it gives a list of file systems available.

Some of those are
bootflash:
flash:
slot0:
slot1:

Could you please help me understanding the differences among them, specially between bootflash and flash.
Thank you in advance.

Best Answer

The list of available file systems differs by platform and operation. Refer to your product documentation or use the show file systems EXEC command to determine which prefixes are available on your platform. File system prefixes are listed as following:

  • bootflash: Boot Flash memory. Bootflash is a generic term normally used for the flash of both route flash and switch flash.
  • disk0: Rotating media.
  • flash: Flash memory. This prefix is available on all platforms. For platforms that do not have a device named flash:, the prefix flash: is aliased to slot0:. Therefore, you can use the prefix flash: to refer to the main Flash memory storage area on all platforms.
  • flh: Flash load helper log files.
  • ftp: FTP network server.
  • null: Null destination for copies. You can copy a remote file to null to determine its size.
  • nvram: NVRAM. Also where the configuration is saved when you copy run start.
  • rcp: Remote copy protocol network server.
  • slavebootflash: Internal Flash memory on a slave RSP card of a router configured for high system availability (HSA).
  • slavenvram: NVRAM on a slave Route/Switch Processor (RSP) card of a router configured for HSA.
  • slaveslot0: First PCMCIA card on a slave RSP card of a router configured for HSA.
  • slaveslot1: Second PCMCIA card on a slave RSP card of a router configured for HSA.
  • slot0: First PCMCIA Flash memory card.
  • slot1: Second PCMCIA Flash memory card.
  • system: Contains the system memory, including the running configuration. tftp: TFTP network server.
  • xmodem: Obtain the file from a network machine using the Xmodem protocol.
  • ymodem: Obtain the file from a network machine using the Ymodem protocol.

Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/ios/12_2/configfun/configuration/guide/ffun_c/fcf006.html

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