Catalyst Series Switches Consulting Services From CCIE and CCNP Certified Professionals
The Cisco Catalyst family of modular and fixed-configuration switches provide intelligence and performance at the core, distribution, and access levels of networks for organizations that range in size from small businesses and branch offices to global enterprises and service providers. The need for intelligent switching is fueled by four important trends:
Growth in desktop processing ability
Introduction of bandwidth-consuming applications
Expansion of confidential data on the network
Greater variety of appliances like IP phones and cameras and wireless LAN bridges
The latest line-of-business applications demand higher bandwidth resulting in a need to differentiate and manage network traffic. Applications like digital voice need a higher priority to network bandwidth than less performance-sensitive applications like File Transfer Protocol or, for messaging, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is not any longer acceptable, for example, for a large file transfer destined to one port on a switch to increase the latency, and lower the intelligibility, in voice data destined to a different port on the same switch. This situation is eliminated by ensuring that voice traffic is appropriately classified and expedited throughout the network.
Cisco Catalyst switches implement industry-leading Quality of Service (QoS) to help ensure that network traffic is differentiated and assigned priorities, and that bottlenecks are eliminated. Set up of Quality of Service (QoS) is greatly streamlined through automatic Quality of Service, a process that senses Cisco IP phones and sets up the switch for the right categorization and egress buffering. This optimizes traffic hierarchies and network accessibility without requiring your IT group to devise a complicated set up plan.
Through Catalyst switches for small and midsize businesses, Cisco allows businesses to realize all the benefits of incorporating intelligent services into their network architecture. Catalyst switches make it possible to deploy capabilities that make the network infrastructure responsive to handle real time requirements, scalable to facilitate future growth, secure so as to guard sensitive data, and capable of differentiating and managing processes to enhance network operations.
Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 Series Switches The Catalyst Express 500 family of fixed-configuration switches are designed for businesses with up to 250 employees and deliver the reliability, protection, scalability, and feature set small businesses need at an affordable price. Power over Ethernet support makes it easy to add network appliances like wireless access points and closed-circuit TV cameras.
Models of the Catalyst Express 500 managed switches support from 8 to 24 10/100/1000BASE-T ports plus optional backup power with automatic switch-over for extra reliability. Interoperation with Cisco wireless access points allows organizations to build a local wireless environment rapidly and easily. The Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 family offers advanced security against malicious attacks thanks to the Cisco Self-Defending Network technology and Clean Access agents.
Catalyst 2900 Line Cisco Catalyst 2900 fixed-configuration, managed 10/100 switches offer basic workgroup networking for small to medium-sized organizations. These wire-speed desktop switches offer IOS Software functions for basic mixed-media traffic services at the network edge.
The Catalyst 2940 family of managed switches are small, entry-level devices with 8 Ethernet connections and a single built-in Fast or Gigabit Ethernet uplink. They can be installed outside the wiring cabinet in cramped locations such as on or under a worker's desk or in a conference room. Catalyst 2940 switches work with Cisco's IOS control software for comprehensive security and simple administration.
Cisco 2960 Series switches are compact and silent for use in work spaces next to employees instead of in wiring cabinets. Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series switches come in 24-port and 48-port Gbit Ethernet models and are offered in two types. Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches configured with Cisco LAN Lite IOS Software provide entry-level protection, QoS, and high availability at an affordable cost. Cisco 2960 switches configured with LAN Base software support Fast Ethernet and Gbit connectivity and offer optional PoE. These versions also feature integrated security, including Network Admission Control, and advanced QoS.
Catalyst 3560 Series Switches The Catalyst 3560 family is a line of non-modular switches that features IEEE 802.3af and Cisco Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality in 10/100 Ethernet and 10/100/1000 Ethernet configurations. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 is a proven Layer 2 switch for midsize business network connectivity or satellite-office environments, offering both Gigabit and PoE options for maximum efficiency and fast ROI while streamlining the deployment of the latest applications such a Voice over IP, WiFi, video surveillance, and remote video kiosks. Customers can deploy network-wide smart features such as high-end QoS, rate limiting, ACLs, multicast management, and broadband IP routing while maintaining the ease of traditional network switching.
The Catalyst 3560 Series switch is provided with a robust array of capabilities that allow for network scalability and enhanced availability via IP routing as well as a complete suite of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) improvements designed to increase throughput in an access Layer network. Improvements to the standard Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus, and Uplink Fast, plus advances like as Flex Links Layer 2 interfaces, optimize network efficiency. Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus allows for Data Link Layer load balancing on redundant connections to take advantage of the extra capacity inherent in a redundant architecture.
Advanced routing protocols such as OPSF, EIGRP, BGP, and Policy Based Routing increase network scale; PIM maximize network resources; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite secures traffic.
Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches For midsized organizations and enterprise local sites, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series switch facilitates deployment of converged technologies and adapts to changing competitive needs by providing configuration flexibility, support for converged network patterns, and automatic configuration of smart system services. In addition, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series is optimized for high-volume Gigabit environments and includes a wide range of switches that comply with connectivity, aggregation, or small-network backbone-interface demands.
Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series is available with either the IP Base or the Services image. The IP Base image capabilities include advanced QoS, rate-limiting, access control lists (ACLs) access control lists, and basic static and RIP routing capability. The IP Services image provides a richer selection of enterprise network functions, such as sophisticated hardware-based IP unicast and multicast routing.
StackWise technology is a mechanism optimized for Gigabit Ethernet. StackWise is intended to react to additions, deletions, and relocations while providing constant performance. Cisco StackWise unites as many as 9 individual switches into a single logical unit, utilizing special stack-interconnect cables and utilities. The individual switches can be any combination of Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series and the Catalyst 3750-E Series. The stack behaves as an individual switching device that is directed by a master switch, chosen from among the member switches. The master switch automatically builds and updates all the switching and optional routing tables. A deployed stack can accept new devices or remove existing switches with no service interruption.
Catalyst 4500 Switches Catalyst 4500 switches are targeted for enterprise LAN connectivity, satellite offices, Network Layer distribution points, small and medium-sized businesses, and metropolitan (metro) Ethernet installations. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 family consists of a selection of chassis containing from three to 10 expansion slots and a set of control mechanisms offering as high as 136 Gbps of layer 2 through layer 4 switching. Catalyst 4500 Series switches accept an extensive set of line cards, including dense 10/100 Ethernet, 10/100/1000 (either one with Power over Ethernet options), 100BASE-FX, 100BASE-LX10, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
The Catalyst 4500 Series has a value-oriented selection of enclosures: Catalyst 4510R (10 slots) with redundant supervisor option), Cisco Catalyst 4507R (7 slots) with backup supervisor option), Catalyst 4506 (six slots) and Catalyst 4503 (3 slots).
Cisco Catalyst 4900 Switches Cisco's Catalyst 4900 Series switches are wire-rate, low-latency, layers 2 through 4, single or dual rack unit (RU) solutions for top-of-rack aggregation. These devices are shipped with the IP Base image or the Enterprise Server image. The Enterprise Software image includes Shortest Path First, Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System, EIGRP, and BGP. Industry-leading reliability and maintainability are delivered with available internal 1 + 1 redundant hot-swappable A-to-B failover power supplies and hot-swappable fans.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 Series, based on the tested Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series switch architecture, offers exceptional performance and dependability for multilayer aggregation of high performance servers and workstations. Speed and expandability of intelligent system services is made possible with dedicated resources known as ternary content addressable memory. Plentiful TCAM resources (64K entries) support high function capacity, which provides wire-rate routing/switching performance with concurrent provisioning of services that include QoS and protection. This allows scalability for current traffic requirements with ample capacity for downstream expansion. The Catalyst 4948 switch offers 48 ports of wire-rate 10/100/1000BASE-T with four available wired ports that can support optional 1000BASE-X Small Form-Factor Pluggable CWDM transponders.
The Catalyst 4900M is a fixed/modular, two-rack managed switch with 320 Gbps performance. The switch includes 8 integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections and you can add two half-cards for additional ports. The Cisco Catalyst 4900M Series switch provides deployment flexibility through an expansive list of line-card modules to accommodate a mix of 1 or 10 GbE ports. The 4900M keeps expenses low by including integrated Ethernet ports but also protects equipment investments by accepting add-in cards for easy scalability.
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series is a high-throughput modular switch and router designed for consolidation of data center, corporate campus, and Wide Area Network in a single system. Enterprise Wide Area Network, Internet connectivity, data center connectivity features including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), high availability, quality of service (QoS), and security together with Cisco IOS Software versatility offer investment protection in the Local Area Network and extend that value proposition to the WAN.
Catalyst 6500 switches offer a broad selection of connectivity technologies ranging from DS0 to OC192/STM64, 10Mbps to 10 Gigabit line cards. Cisco Catalyst 6500 switches act as the core of corporate Wide Area Network architectures by providing advanced IP routing technologies, built-in IPv4, IPv6, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and high-performance integrated in a single platform. The Catalyst 6500 switch is the premier Cisco Layer 3 switching solution for the enterprise Wide Area Network, connectivity, aggregation, and core edge of the corporate infrastructure with advantages in expandability and flexibility such as 720 Gbps fabric capacity with Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 720, the power to scale as high as 400 Mpps switching/routing performance with distributed forwarding, 32 Gbps design for slower WAN aggregation, a fast CPU for Layer 3 protocol convergence and consistency, plus expandable IP routing and Multiprotocol Label Switching operation enhanced in hardware without throughput loss.
How Progent's Experts Can Help You with Catalyst Switches
Progent's CCIE qualified consultants can show you how to select and integrate Cisco switches in a way appropriate for your existing competitive requirements and your plans for future growth. Progent's Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts offer world-class troubleshooting for complex network problems, and Progent's remote support specialists can monitor your network operations and detect early-stage trouble spots and resolve them before they seriously disturb productivity. Progent's CISA certified security consultants can show you how to create a comprehensive security plan and implement switches so as to help support your security strategy.
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The Catalyst Express 500 family of fixed-configuration switches are designed for businesses with up to 250 employees and deliver the reliability, protection, scalability, and feature set small businesses need at an affordable price. Power over Ethernet support makes it easy to add network appliances like wireless access points and closed-circuit TV cameras.
Cisco Catalyst 2900 fixed-configuration, managed 10/100 switches offer basic workgroup networking for small to medium-sized organizations. These wire-speed desktop switches offer IOS Software functions for basic mixed-media traffic services at the network edge.
The Catalyst 3560 family is a line of non-modular switches that features IEEE 802.3af and Cisco Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality in 10/100 Ethernet and 10/100/1000 Ethernet configurations. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 is a proven Layer 2 switch for midsize business network connectivity or satellite-office environments, offering both Gigabit and PoE options for maximum efficiency and fast ROI while streamlining the deployment of the latest applications such a Voice over IP, WiFi, video surveillance, and remote video kiosks. Customers can deploy network-wide smart features such as high-end QoS, rate limiting, ACLs, multicast management, and broadband IP routing while maintaining the ease of traditional network switching.
For midsized organizations and enterprise local sites, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series switch facilitates deployment of converged technologies and adapts to changing competitive needs by providing configuration flexibility, support for converged network patterns, and automatic configuration of smart system services. In addition, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series is optimized for high-volume Gigabit environments and includes a wide range of switches that comply with connectivity, aggregation, or small-network backbone-interface demands.
Catalyst 4500 switches are targeted for enterprise LAN connectivity, satellite offices, Network Layer distribution points, small and medium-sized businesses, and metropolitan (metro) Ethernet installations. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 family consists of a selection of chassis containing from three to 10 expansion slots and a set of control mechanisms offering as high as 136 Gbps of layer 2 through layer 4 switching. Catalyst 4500 Series switches accept an extensive set of line cards, including dense 10/100 Ethernet, 10/100/1000 (either one with Power over Ethernet options), 100BASE-FX, 100BASE-LX10, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
Cisco's Catalyst 4900 Series switches are wire-rate, low-latency, layers 2 through 4, single or dual rack unit (RU) solutions for top-of-rack aggregation. These devices are shipped with the IP Base image or the Enterprise Server image. The Enterprise Software image includes Shortest Path First, Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System, EIGRP, and BGP. Industry-leading reliability and maintainability are delivered with available internal 1 + 1 redundant hot-swappable A-to-B failover power supplies and hot-swappable fans.
The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series is a high-throughput modular switch and router designed for consolidation of data center, corporate campus, and Wide Area Network in a single system. Enterprise Wide Area Network, Internet connectivity, data center connectivity features including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), high availability, quality of service (QoS), and security together with Cisco IOS Software versatility offer investment protection in the Local Area Network and extend that value proposition to the WAN.
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