What is the mode of cisco switches?

The switching mode determines whether the switch begins forwarding the frame as soon as the switch has read the destination details in the packet header or waits until the entire frame has been received and checked for cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors before forwarding them to the network.

The switching mode is applicable to all packets being switched or routed through the hardware and can be saved persistently through reboots and restarts.

The switch operates in either of the following switching modes:

Cut-Through Switching Mode

Cut-through switching mode is enabled by default. Switches operating in cut-through switching mode start forwarding the frame as soon as the switch has read the destination details in the packet header. A switch in cut-through mode forwards the data before it has completed receiving the entire frame.

The switching speed in cut-through mode is faster than the switching speed in store-and-forward switching mode.

Store-and-Forward Switching Mode

When store-and-forward switching is enabled, the switch checks each frame for cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors before forwarding them to the network. Each frame is stored until the entire frame has been received and checked.

Because it waits to forward the frame until the entire frame has been received and checked, the switching speed in store-and-forward switching mode is slower than the switching speed in cut-through switching mode.

reference http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/datacenter/nexus3000/sw/layer2/503_U3_1/b_Cisco_n3k_Layer_2_Switching_Config_503_U31/b_Cisco_n3k_Layer_2_Switching_Config_503_U31_chapter_01000.html