The Cisco Catalyst family of modular and fixed-configuration switches provide intelligence and speed at the core, aggregation, and access tiers of networks for organizations that range in size from small businesses and branch offices to global enterprises and service providers. The demand for intelligent switches is being driven by four key trends:
- Increase in desktop processing power
- Introduction of throughput-intensive programs
- Presence of confidential information on the network
- Greater variety of appliances like Internet voice and WLAN access points
The latest corporate applications demand more bandwidth and create the necessity to differentiate and control network traffic. Applications such as digital voice must have more network bandwidth than less performance-sensitive applications like File Transfer Protocol or, for messaging, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is no longer acceptable, for example, to have a big file transfer assigned to one port on a switch to extend the delay, and lower the quality, in voice data destined to another port on a given switch. This condition is avoided by ensuring that voice processes are properly identified and prioritized throughout the network.
Cisco Catalyst switches deliver industry-leading QoS to help ensure that network traffic is identified and prioritized, and that congestion is eliminated. Set up of QoS is dramatically streamlined through automatic QoS, a feature that detects 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 network management department to devise a complicated set up plan.
Through Cisco Catalyst switches for small and midsize businesses, Cisco allows customers to realize the full benefits of adding intelligent services into their infratstructure. Catalyst Series switches allow you to deploy capabilities that make the connectivity environment responsive to handle real time requirements, expandable to facilitate growth, secure so as to guard confidential information, and configurable for differentiating and prioritizing processes to improve network efficiency.
Catalyst Express 500 Switches
Cisco's Catalyst Express 500 family of managed Ethernet switches are intended for businesses with up to 250 employees and deliver the dependability, security, scalability, and feature set small companies need at an economical price. PoE support makes it easy to add network appliances like wireless access points and closed-circuit cameras.
Versions of the Cisco Catalyst Express 500 managed switches support up to 24 10/100/1000BT ports plus optional backup power supplies with auto fail-over for additional dependability. Interoperation with Cisco wireless access points helps businesses to build a local wireless network quickly and easily. The Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 platform offers advanced protection against malicious attacks With the Cisco Self-Defending Network technology and Clean Access solutions.
Catalyst 2900 Line
Catalyst 2900 Series non-modular, managed Ethernet switches provide basic small-group connectivity for small to medium-size businesses (SMBs). These wire-speed desktop appliances offer IOS Software features for simple data, video, and voice control at the network edge.
The Cisco 2940 line of switches are small, stackable switches with eight Fast Ethernet ports plus one integrated Fast or Gigabit Ethernet uplink. They can be installed outside the wiring closet in space-constrained office spaces such as on or under a user's desk or in a conference room. Catalyst 2940 devices use Cisco's IOS software for comprehensive protection and easy administration.
Cisco 2960 switches are small and quiet for use in office spaces next to employees rather than in wiring cabinets. Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series switches come in 24 and 48 port Gigabit Ethernet version and are offered in two types. Catalyst 2960 switches with Cisco LAN Lite Software provide basic security, quality of service, and high availability at an affordable cost. Cisco 2960 switches with Cisco LAN Base software support Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet connectivity and are available with PoE. These versions also offer built-in security, which includes NAC, and advanced QoS.
Cisco Catalyst 3560 Switches
The Catalyst 3560 family is a selection of fixed-configuration switches that includes IEEE 802.3af and Power over Ethernet functionality in 10/100 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet implementations. The Catalyst 3560 switch is a proven Layer 2 switch for midsize business network access or satellite-offices, offering both 10/100/1000 and PoE configurations for maximum efficiency and fast ROI while facilitating the installation of new applications such a Voice over IP, wireless connectivity, video surveillance, and remote video kiosks. IT managers can deploy comprehensive intelligent features including high-end quality of service (QoS), rate management, ACLs, multicast management, and broadband IP routing with the ease of conventional LAN switching.
The Cisco Catalyst 3560 family switch is equipped with a powerful set of features that allow for network scalability and enhanced resilience via IP routing plus a full suite of STP enhancements aimed to maximize availability in an access Layer LAN. Improvements to the conventional STP Protocol, including PVST+, and Uplink Fast, as well as advances such as Flex Links interfaces, maximize network efficiency. PVST+ allows for Layer 2 load balancing on redundant links to efficiently use the additional bandwidth associated with a redundant architecture.
Advanced routing protocols such as OPSF, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol, Border Gateway Protocol, static routing, and PBR increase network scale; Protocol Independent Multicast maximize system resources; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite (VRFLite) secures traffic.
Cisco Catalyst 3750 Family Switches
For mid-size organizations and enterprise local offices, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch eases deployment of converged applications and adapts to changing business needs by providing setup versatility, support for converged network traffic, and management-free configuration of smart system functions. In addition, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series switch is engineered for high-volume Gigabit environments and incorporates a wide selection of switches that meet access, aggregation, or small-system backbone-interface demands.
The Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch is available with either the IP Base image or the Services image. The IP Base image features include advanced quality of service (QoS), rate-management, ACLs, and simple static and RIP routing support. The IP Services image provides a richer selection of enterprise network features, including advanced built-in IP unicast/multicast routing.
Cisco StackWise technology is a mechanism designed for Gigabit Ethernet. Cisco StackWise is designed to respond to installs, deletions, and relocations while maintaining constant performance. Cisco StackWise combines up to nine separate switches into a single logical unit, using custom stack-interconnect cables and stacking utilities. Any of the switches can be any mix of the Catalyst 3750 Series switches and the 3750-E Series. The stack behaves as a single switching unit that is directed by a master switch, elected from one of the member switches. The master switch intelligently builds and keeps current all the switching and user-selected routing databases. A deployed stack can accept new switches or remove old devices with no operational discontinuity.
Catalyst 4500 Series Switches
Catalyst 4500 Series switches are designed for corporate LAN connectivity, branch offices, Network Layer distribution locations, small and midsize businesses, and metropolitan Ethernet installations. The Cisco's Catalyst 4500 family comprises a selection of enclosures containing from three to ten expansion slots and a set of control engines delivering up to 136 Gbps of Layer 2-4 switching. Catalyst 4500 family switches support a rich variety of line cards, including dense 10/100BASE-T, 10/100/1000 (either one with Power over Ethernet availability), 100BASE-LX10, 100BASE-BX-D, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a price-performance range of chassis: Catalyst 4510R (10 slots) with backup supervisor capability), Cisco's Catalyst 4507R (seven slots) with redundant supervisor option), Catalyst 4506 (six expansion slots) and Catalyst 4503 (3 slots).
Cisco Catalyst 4900 Family Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4900 Series switches are wire-speed, low-latency, layer 2 through layer 4, single or dual RU devices for the data center. Catalyst 4900 switches are available with the IP Base image or the Enterprise Server image. The Enterprise Server image includes Shortest Path First, IS-IS, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol, and BGP. Exceptional reliability and serviceability are delivered with optional internal AC or DC 1 + 1 hot-swappable fault-tolerant power supplies and redundant cooling fans.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 Series switch, based on the tested Catalyst 4500 Series switch hardware and software architecture, provides high performance and dependability for low density, multilayer aggregation of high performance servers and workstations. High performance and scalability of intelligent network functions is enabled through specialized resources known as ternary content addressable memory. Ample TCAM resources (64,000 entries) enable high feature capacity, offering wire-rate routing and switching throughput with concurrent support of features such as Quality of Service (QoS) and protection. This allows expandability for current network requirements with plenty of room for downstream expansion. The Cisco Catalyst 4948 offers 48 ports of wire-rate 10/100/1000 Ethernet with four available ports that can support 1000BASE-X SFP optics.
High performance and scalability of smart system functions is made possible through specialized technology known as ternary content addressable memory (TCAM). Ample TCAM resources (64K entries) support high feature density, offering wire-rate routing and switching performance with concurrent provisioning of services that include Quality of Service and security. This helps ensure scalability for today's network needs with ample capacity for future growth. The Catalyst 4948 Series switch provides 48 ports of wire-rate 10/100/1000BASE-T with four alternative ports that can support optional 1000BASE-X Small Form-Factor Pluggable CWDM transponders.
The Cisco Catalyst 4900M is a semi-fixed, dual-rack unit with 320 Gbps capacity. The switch includes eight fixed 10 GbE ports and you can add two plug-in cards for additional ports. The Cisco Catalyst 4900M switch offers configuration versatility through an expansive list of line-card accessories to support a mix of 10/100/1000 or 10 GbE ports. The Catalyst 4900M keeps expenses low by including integrated ports but also safeguards equipment investments by allowing add-in cards for easy scalability.
Catalyst 6500 Family Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 6500 switch is a high-performance modular switch/router engineered for convergence of data center, campus, and WAN in one device. Corporate WAN, Internet access, data center access features including Multiprotocol Label Switching, high availability, quality of service, and protection combined with Cisco IOS Software scalability offer investment protection in the LAN and expand that advantage to the WAN.
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches support a wide array of interface technologies spanning from DS-0 to OC-48, 10Mbps to 10-GE modules. Catalyst 6500 switches form the core of enterprise Wide Area Network architectures by offering advanced IP routing, hardware-enabled IPv4 and 6, MPLS, and top-level throughput integrated in one platform. The Catalyst 6500 Series switch is the top Cisco Layer 3 switching platform for the enterprise Wide Area Network, connectivity, aggregation, and core edge of the enterprise infrastructure with benefits in expandability and versatility that include 720 Gbps switch fabric performance with Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Supervisor Engine 720, the ability to expand as high as 400 Mpps switching/routing performance with distributed forwarding, 32 Gbps design for slower Wide Area Network aggregation, a high-performance CPU for Layer 3 interface convergence and consistency, plus expandable IP routing and MPLS operation accelerated in silicon without performance impact.
How Progent's Consultants Can Assist You with Cisco Catalyst Products
Progent's CCIE certified service experts can help you select and deploy Cisco switches in a manner appropriate for your existing competitive needs and your plans for downstream growth. Progent's Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts offer enterprise-class technical support for the most challenging network problems, and Progent's remote service specialists can track your network operations and detect incipient trouble spots and resolve them so they don't significantly disturb productivity. Progent's CISSP qualified network security specialists can show you how to design a comprehensive security plan and set up Cisco switches so as to help support your protection strategy.
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