Cisco's latest generation of smart switches are aimed at offering intelligence at the network edge, where one network environment talks with another one. The need for intelligence at the edge of the network is being driven largely by four key trends:
- Growth in desktop computing power
- Proliferation of throughput-consuming programs
- Expansion of confidential information on the LAN
- Larger variety of appliances, such as Voice over IP phones and wireless LAN bridges
The latest corporate applications demand higher bandwidth and create a need to differentiate and control traffic flow. Applications such as ERP and VoIP need a larger allocation of bandwidth than less time-sensitive applications such as FTP or, for messaging, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. It is no longer justifiable, for example, for a big download assigned to one port on a switch to increase the delay, and reduce the quality, in voice traffic destined to a different port on a given switch. This condition is eliminated by ensuring that voice processes are appropriately identified and prioritized across the environment.
Cisco switches deliver exceptional QoS to make sure that traffic is identified and prioritized, and that congestion is eliminated. Set up of Quality of Service (QoS) is greatly streamlined through automatic QoS (auto-QoS), a feature that senses Cisco IP phones and sets up the switch for the appropriate classification and exit buffering. This optimizes process hierarchies and system availability without requiring your IT group to devise a complicated set up strategy.
With Cisco Catalyst switches for small and medium-sized companies, Cisco enables IT managers to realize the full advantages of incorporating smart services into their networks. Catalyst Series switches allow you to deploy features that make the connectivity environment highly available to accommodate real time requirements, scalable to support future growth, safe enough to protect confidential information, and capable of classifying and managing processes to enhance network efficiency.
Cisco 2950 Family
Catalyst 2950-24 and 2950-12 non-modular, managed 10/100 switches offer fundamental small-group networking for small to medium-size organizations. These wire-rate desktop switches offer IOS Software features for simple data, video, and voice control at the network edge.
Catalyst 2950G-12, 2950G-24, 2950G-48, and 2950G-24-DC Series are stackable switches that offer wire-rate connections to the desktop and Gigabit uplink capability by means of a variety of optional Gbit Interface Converter (GBIC) products. These appliances, as well as the Catalyst 2950T-24 and 2950C-24 products, deliver smart services such as availability, security, and quality of service to the edge of the network by means of the convenient Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) Software web utility. The switches also come with Cisco Enhanced Image (EI) Software incorporated to implement intelligent services.
The Cisco Catalyst 2950C-24 Series offers 24 10/100 ports as well as 2 fixed 100BASE ports. The Cisco 2950T-24 Series offers a smooth upgrade path to Gigabit Ethernet by using in-place copper wiring infrastructure with 24 10/100 Ethernet ports as well as two fixed 10/100/1000BASE-T uplinks. Incorporated in the Catalyst 2950 is the CMS web-based utility, which enables support personnel to configure and repair multiple Cisco Catalyst desktop products utilizing a conventional browser.
Cisco Catalyst 3560 Switches
The Catalyst 3560 Series is a line of non-modular switches that features IEEE 802.3af and Cisco Power over Ethernet (PoE) functionality in 10/100 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet configurations. The Catalyst 3560 Series switch is an ideal access-layer switch for small enterprise network connectivity or branch-office environments, offering both 10/100/1000 and PoE configurations for maximum productivity and fast ROI while streamlining the installation of the latest applications including VoIP, wireless access, video surveillance, and building management systems. Customers can deploy comprehensive smart services including advanced quality of service, rate management, access control lists, multicast administration, and broadband IP routing while maintaining the ease of traditional network switching.
The Cisco Catalyst 3560 Series is equipped with a powerful array of capabilities that permit network expandability and enhanced availability through IP routing as well as a complete suite of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) improvements aimed to increase throughput in an access Layer network. Improvements to the standard STP Protocol, including PVST+, Uplink Fast, and Port Fast, as well as innovations like as Flex Links, maximize network uptime. PVST+ supports Layer 2 traffic sharing on backup connections to efficiently use the extra capacity associated with a redundant architecture.
Advanced routing mechanisms including Open Shortest Path First, EIGRP, BGP, static routing, and Policy Based Routing increase network scale; PIM optimizes network resources; and VRFLite secures traffic. data.
Cisco Catalyst 3750 Family Switches
For mid-size organizations and enterprise local sites, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch facilitates integration of converged applications and accommodates changing competitive environments by providing configuration flexibility, support for converged network patterns, and automatic configuration of smart system services. Also, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series switch is engineered for high-density 1000 Ethernet deployments and includes a wide selection of switches that comply with access, aggregation, or small-system backbone-connectivity demands.
The Cisco Catalyst 3750 switch is available with the IP Base or the Services image. The IP Base image capabilities include advanced quality of service, rate-limiting, ACLs, and simple static and RIP routing support. The IP Services image offers a broader set of enterprise-class functions, such as advanced built-in IP unicast/multicast routing.
Cisco StackWise technology is a stacking architecture designed for Gigabit Ethernet. This technology is intended to respond to installs, deletions, and redeployments while providing consistent performance. StackWise technology combines up to nine separate switches into a single functional unit, using special stack-interface cables and stacking software. Any of the switches can be any combination of Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series and the Catalyst 3750-E Series switches. The stack operates as an individual switching appliance that is directed by a control switch, chosen from one of the member switches. The control switch intelligently builds and keeps current all the switching and optional routing databases. A deployed stack can accommodate new switches or delete existing switches with no service discontinuity.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Family Switches
Cisco Catalyst 4500 switches are designed for large company Local Area Network access, satellite offices, Network Layer distribution locations, small and midsize businesses, and metro Ethernet deployments. The Catalyst 4500 Series comprises a selection of enclosures ranging from three to ten expansion slots and a set of supervisor mechanisms delivering as high as 136 Gbps of layer 2 through layer 4 switching. Cisco's Catalyst 4500 Series switches support an extensive set of line modules, including high-density 10/100 Ethernet, 10/100/1000BASE-T (either one with 802.3af Power over Ethernet [PoE] availability), 100BASE-LX10, 100BASE-BX-D, plus Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a value-oriented range of chassis: Cisco's Catalyst 4510R (10-module capacity) with redundant supervisor option), Cisco's Catalyst 4507R (7 slots) with backup supervisor option), Cisco Catalyst 4506 (6 expansion slots) and Catalyst 4503 (3 expansion slots).
Cisco Catalyst 4948 Switches
The Catalyst 4948 Series is a wire-rate, low-latency, Layer 2-4, 1 RU fixed-configuration unit for server aggregation. Based on the tested Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series switch architecture, the Cisco Catalyst 4948 Series provides high throughput and dependability for low density aggregation of high performance servers and workstations. High performance and expandability of intelligent network services is made possible with dedicated resources called ternary content addressable memory. Plentiful TCAM resources (64K entries) support high function density, which provides wire-speed routing and switching throughput with simultaneous support of services that include Quality of Service (QoS) and security. This allows expandability for today's traffic requirements with ample room for downstream growth.
The Catalyst 4948 offers 48 ports of wire-rate 10/100/1000 with 4 available wired ports that can support optional 1000BASE-X SFP optics. Industry-leading reliability and maintainability are provided with optional internal AC or DC 1 + 1 redundant hot-swappable A-to-B failover power supplies and redundant fans.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 switch can separate different data link layer network traffic concurrently, while conserving IP address capacity. The Cisco Catalyst 4948 Series can defend against IP spoofing assaults to the remainder of network with no modification of the server configuration.Such attempts can be recorded by the Cisco Catalyst 4948 Series for analysis.
Catalyst 6500 Family Switches
The Catalyst 6500 Series 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 connectivity features including Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), resilience, quality of service, and security together with Cisco IOS Software versatility offer investment protection in the LAN and expand that advantage to the Wide Area Network.
Catalyst 6500 Series switches support a wide array of interface technologies spanning from DS0 to OC192/STM64, 10Mbps to 10-GE line cards. Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series switches form the foundation of corporate Wide Area Network architectures by offering advanced IP routing, hardware-enabled IPv4 and 6, MPLS, and outstanding speed incorporated in a single platform. The Catalyst 6500 switch is the top Cisco Layer 3 switch for the enterprise WAN, access, aggregation, and core edge of the corporate network with benefits in scalability and flexibility that include 720 Gbps switch fabric backplane performance with Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 720, the power to expand as high as 400 Mpps performance with intelligent forwarding, 32 Gbps design for slower WAN aggregation, a high-speed CPU for Layer 3 interface convergence and stability, as well as expandable IP routing and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) functions accelerated in hardware with no performance impact.
How Progent Can Assist You with Cisco Catalyst Switching Solutions
Progent's CCIE qualified support professionals can help you select and integrate switches in a way that make sense for your current business needs and your plans for downstream growth. Progent's Cisco Certified Internetwork Experts offer world-class troubleshooting for the most challenging connectivity problems, and Progent's remote support specialists can monitor your network operations and detect incipient trouble spots and repair them so they don't significantly disturb productivity. Progent's CISA and CISM qualified network security consultants can assist you to develop a company-wide security policy and configure switches so they help support your security strategy.
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