Cisco Network Consultants

Cisco's latest generation of smart switches focus on providing intelligence at the edge of the network, where one network communicates with another. The demand for intelligence at the network edge is being driven primarily by four important developments:

• Growth in PC processing power
• Proliferation of throughput-consuming applications
• Expansion of confidential data on the network
• Larger variety of appliances, e.g. IP phones and WLAN access points

Cisco switches deliver exceptional Quality of Service (QoS) to help ensure that network traffic is identified and prioritized, and that congestion is avoided. Set up of QoS is greatly simplified through automatic QoS, a process that senses Cisco IP phones and sets up the switch for the appropriate categorization and egress queuing. This enhances process hierarchies and system availability without requiring your IT group to implement a complex configuration plan.

Through Cisco Catalyst switches for small and midsize companies, Cisco allows customers to get the full benefits of incorporating smart services into their infratstructure. Catalyst switches make it possible to install features that make the connectivity environment highly available to accommodate time-critical requirements, scalable to facilitate growth, secure so as to protect confidential information, and configurable for classifying and controlling traffic flows to enhance network efficiency.

Catalyst 2950 Family
Catalyst 2950-24 and 2950-12 non-modular, managed 10/100 switches offer fundamental workgroup connectivity for small to medium-size businesses. These wire-speed desktop appliances deliver IOS Software features for simple mixed-media traffic control at the network edge.

Catalyst 2950G-12, 2950G-24, 2950G-48, and 2950G-24-DC Series switches are stackable devices that offer wire-speed connections to the desktop and Gigabit uplink capability using several optional Gbit Interface Converter products. These appliances, as well as the Cisco Catalyst 2950T-24 and 2950C-24 devices, offer intelligent features such as resiliency, protection, and QoS to the edge of the network using the simple Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) web-based interface. These devices also come with Cisco EI Software incorporated to support intelligent services.

The Catalyst 2950C-24 provides 24 auto-sensing 10/100 ports plus 2 fixed 100BASE ports. The Catalyst 2950T-24 offers a smooth upgrade solution to Gigabit Ethernet by utilizing existing twisted-pair wiring environments with 24 10/100 ports as well as two dedicated 10/100/1000BASE-T uplinks. Incorporated in the Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series is the Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) Software web utility, which enables network managers to set up and repair several Cisco Catalyst desktop products using a conventional web browser.

Cisco Catalyst 3560 Switches
Cisco’s Catalyst 3560 family is a selection of fixed-configuration switches that features IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard Power over Ethernet capability in Fast Ethernet and 10/100/1000 implementations. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 is an ideal Layer 2 switch for midsize business network access or branch-office environments, offering both Gigabit Ethernet and Power over Ethernet options for maximum productivity and fast ROI while facilitating the installation of new technology including VoIP, wireless access, video monitoring, and building management systems. Customers can deploy networkwide smart features such as advanced quality of service (QoS), rate limiting, access control lists (ACLs), multicast administration, and broadband IP routing while maintaining the simplicity of conventional LAN switching.

The Catalyst 3560 family switch is equipped with a robust set of features that allow for network expandability and enhanced availability through IP routing plus a complete complement of Spanning Tree Protocol enhancements aimed to maximize availability in a Layer 2 LAN. Improvements to the conventional Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), Uplink Fast, and Port Fast, plus innovations like as Flex Links, optimize network uptime. PVST+ allows for Data Link Layer load sharing on redundant connections to take advantage of the extra capacity inherent in a redundant design.

Advanced protocols such as Open Shortest Path First (OPSF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Border Gateway Protocol, and static routing increase network scale; Protocol Independent Multicast maximize network resources; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite (VRFLite) secures traffic. data.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series Switches
For mid-size organizations and enterprise local sites, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch eases deployment of converged applications and accommodates changing competitive needs by providing setup versatility, ability to manage unified network traffic, and management-free configuration of intelligent network functions. In addition, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series is engineered for high-volume Gigabit Ethernet environments and includes a wide range of switches that comply with access, aggregation, or small-system backbone-connectivity demands.

The Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switch is offered with the IP Base or the IP Services image. The IP Base image functions include advanced QoS, rate-limiting, access control lists (ACLs) access control lists, and simple static and Routing Information Protocol routing capability. The IP Services image provides a richer selection of high-end features, including sophisticated hardware-based IP unicast and multicast routing.

StackWise technology is a stacking architecture optimized for Gigabit interfaces. StackWise is intended to respond to additions, deletions, and redeployments while maintaining consistent performance. StackWise unites as many as nine individual switches into a single logical unit, utilizing special stack-interconnect cables and stacking utilities. Any of the switches can be any combination of the Catalyst 3750 switches and the Cisco Catalyst 3750-E Series. The stack operates as an individual switching device that is directed by a master switch, selected from one of the stack of switches. The control switch automatically creates and updates all the switching and user-selected routing databases. A running stack can accept new members or delete old members without operational discontinuity.

Catalyst 4500 Family Switches
Catalyst 4500 switches are targeted for large company Local Area Network access, local offices, Network Layer distribution points, small and midsize businesses (SMBs), and metro Ethernet installations. The Catalyst 4500 Series consists of a selection of enclosures ranging from 3 to 10 slots and a set of supervisor engines offering up to 136 Gbps of layers 2 through 4 switching. Cisco Catalyst 4500 family switches support an extensive variety of interface cards, including high-density 10/100 Ethernet, 10/100/1000BASE-T (both with 802.3af Power over Ethernet [PoE] availability), 100BASE-LX10, 100BASE-BX-D, plus Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.

The Cisco Catalyst 4500 family offers a value-oriented selection of chassis: Cisco Catalyst 4510R (10 expansion slots) with redundant supervisor capability), Cisco Catalyst 4507R (seven expansion slots) with redundant supervisor capability), Cisco's Catalyst 4506 (6 expansion slots) and Cisco Catalyst 4503 (3 slots).

Catalyst 4948 Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 switch is a wire-rate, low-latency, layers 2 through 4, one RU fixed-configuration unit for top-of-rack aggregation. Based on the tested Catalyst 4500 Series design, the Catalyst 4948 switch offers exceptional performance and dependability for low density, multilayer aggregation of fast servers and desktops. High performance and scalability of intelligent network services is made possible through dedicated mechanisms known as ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). Plentiful TCAM resources (64,000 entries) support high function capacity, which provides wire-speed routing/switching throughput with concurrent support of services such as Quality of Service (QoS) and protection. This allows expandability for today's network requirements with ample room for downstream expansion.

The Catalyst 4948 switch offers 48 ports of wire-speed 10/100/1000BASE-T with four alternative ports that can accommodate optional 1000BASE-X SFP CWDM transponders. Exceptional reliability and maintainability are delivered with available AC or DC redundant hot-swappable A-to-B failover power units and redundant cooling fans.

The Catalyst 4948 Series switch can isolate discrete data link layer network traffic at the same time, while conserving IP address space. The Catalyst 4948 Series can prevent IP spoofing attempt to the rest of network with no change to the server configuration.These attempts can be logged by the Catalyst 4948 Series switch for auditing.

Catalyst 6500 Series Switches
The Catalyst 6500 Series switch is a high-throughput modular switch and router engineered for convergence of data center, corporate campus, and WAN in a single system. Corporate WAN, Internet connectivity, data center connectivity functions including Multiprotocol Label Switching, resilience, QoS, and protection together with Cisco IOS Software versatility provide investment protection in the Local Area Network and extend that value proposition to the Wide Area Network.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 switches offer a wide array of interface options ranging from DS-0 to OC-48, 10Mbps to 10 Gigabit line cards. Catalyst 6500 switches act as the core of enterprise Wide Area Network architectures by providing advanced IP routing technologies, built-in IPv4, IPv6, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), and outstanding speed incorporated in one platform. The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series is the premier Cisco Layer 3 switch for the enterprise WAN, access, aggregation, and core edge of the enterprise network with advantages in expandability and versatility that include 720 Gbps switch fabric capacity with Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engine 720, the ability to scale up to 400 Mpps performance with distributed forwarding, 32 Gbps design for low-speed Wide Area Network aggregation, a high-speed CPU for Layer 3 protocol convergence and consistency, as well as expandable IP routing and Multiprotocol Label Switching operation accelerated in silicon without throughput deterioration.

How Progent's Experts Can Help You with Cisco Catalyst Switches
Progent's CCIE certified support professionals can assist you to select and deploy Cisco switches in a manner that make sense for your current IT requirements and your plans for future expansion. Progent's CCIE offer world-class technical support for the most challenging connectivity problems, and Progent's on-line support professionals can track your system operations and detect incipient problems and resolve them so they don't seriously impact your network. Progent's CISM and CISSP certified network security engineers can help you create a company-wide security policy and deploy Cisco switches so they help enforce your security plans.

To find out more information about Progent's professional support for Cisco solutions, choose a subject: