Cisco Network Consulting and Support

The Catalyst family of modular and fixed-configuration switches provides speed and intelligence at the access, distribution, and core areas of converged voice, video, and high bandwidth data networks for organizations that range in size from small businesses and branches to multi-campus enterprises and SPs. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE consultants can provide remote and onsite support for Catalyst family switches to help your organization to design a cost-effective network topology that meets your specific business requirements, set up pilot testing, install Catalyst switches, establish and verify a sensible security and compliance strategy, streamline network management and monitoring, provide troubleshooting and support services, optimize switch capacity, and set up Catalyst's fault-tolerant technology for near-zero downtime.

Progent can assist you to manage and repair your older Catalyst switches or migrate with minimal disruption to current models of Catalyst switches adhering to leading practices to make sure that you receive the maximum business value from your investment in your network.

The demand for smart, high-performance switching is the result 0f a combination of fairly recent computing trends whose net effect is a cyber avalanche of traffic:

• Cloud and IoT networking and a consequent reliance on massive network virtualization
• The pervasiveness of BYOD computing
• Bandwidth-intensive HD video applications
• Social media for business
• The rise of Big Data in analytics
• Ever more sophisticated cyberattacks like ransomware

Cisco's current lineup of Catalyst switches are designed for the distribution/core levels of enterprise campus deployments where mobile and stationary workers must be supported with consistent high speed, strict client access management, careful segregation, application awareness, and wired/wireless convergence. Cisco's Catalyst switches address the need for performance and intelligence with features such as high-density 10, 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet support, switching throughput over 25 Tbps for each appliance, a powerful suite of technologies including Easy Virtual Network to simplify the deployment of virtual networks, VSS technology for stateful interchassis failover with instant backup switch restoration and "five nines" (99.999%) availability, IPv4 and IPv6 capability, Application Visibility and Control (AVC) to maximize system resource usage, and advanced Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities for critical data prioritization.

Cisco Catalyst switches enable organizations of all sizes to benefit from incorporating smart switching features into their network infrastructure, creating an ecosystem that can handle current requirements, expand to accommodate future growth, guard sensitive data, and differentiate and manage processes to optimize network operations.

Catalyst 1000 Series Fixed Ethernet Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 1000 Series access switches are small form factor, fixed-configuration switches intended for smaller businesses and branch offices with as many as 250 workers and with minimal in-house IT support. Cisco's Catalyst 1000 line includes fanless models for noiseless operation outside a wiring closet in an office environment. Mounting kits include desktop, wall mount, rack mount, and DIN rail mount. Created as a simple replacement for Cisco Catalyst 2960-L or 2960-Plus Series deployments, Cisco's Catalyst 1000 line includes versions with 8 to 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 24 to 48 Fast Ethernet 10/100M Mbps ports.

Catalyst 1000 configuration and administration are simple via a web UI or command-line interface, cybersecurity is enterprise-class, and Power over Ethernet capability with a dynamically allocated power budget of 740W allows a wide variety of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. As many as eight Catalyst 1000 Gbit Ethernet Series switches can be controlled together with single IP. All Catalyst Series 1000 models are nonblocking line-rate switches, and all are powered by Cisco's familiar IOS Software. Quality-of-Service capabilities include egress queues for each port plus priority packet queuing to provide optimized performance for time-critical data. Catalyst Series 1000 switches also support Shaped Round Robin scheduling and WTD congestion avoidance.

Cisco Catalyst 9000 Series Fixed and Modular Managed Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 9000 line of managed switches offers modular and fixed appliances and can support all deployment models including access, distribution, and core switching. The Cisco Catalyst 9000 line includes switches with the right price/performance to connect workers and things in environments ranging from small businesses and branch offices to the largest enterprises. Catalyst 9000 Series switches can be set up to implement any combination of onsite deployments, private/public clouds, and hybrid networks. Modern network management platforms and cutting-edge cybersecurity features lower cost of ownership by streamlining operations and protecting vital network assets. Cisco's 9000X family of switches offer converged switching/routing, introducing the first mix of 400G optical transceivers along with full multigigabit and PoE ports.

With double the backplane stacking bandwidth for around half the price of the end-of-life Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches they are intended to replace, Catalyst 9200 Series switches are a natural infrastructure update for small branches and midsize campus deployments. The 9200 product line includes switches that support 24 or 48 ports with full Power over Ethernet; 80-160 Gbps stacking performance; and Layer 3 features that include Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing, EIGP distance routing protocol, IS-IS, and routed access. Cisco Catalyst 9200 switches are powered by the Cisco IOS XE operating system.

The Catalyst 9200 offers 160-Gbps backplane stacking bandwidth, features onsite-replaceable redundant power supplies and fans, and accepts swappable network modules with 4x1G, 4x1/10G, 2x25G, or 2x40G uplink. Cisco's Catalyst 9200 Enhanced VN model allows up to 32 Virtual Networks and offers 160-Gbps backplane stacking bandwidth. The Catalyst 9200L offers 80-Gbps stacking throughput. The Catalyst 9200L multigigabit and the Catalyst 9200 multigigabit offer wireless performance optimization with 8 or 12 mGig Ethernet ports up to 10G.

Cisco's Catalyst 9300 Series switches are fixed, stackable appliances for ultra-high-density access switching. Advanced capabilities available with various models in the Catalyst 9300 family include 1T stacking throughput, stackable SFP fiber, up to 448 mGig ports and 288 ports of 90W UPOE+ with an 8-unit configuration, end-to-end IPsec tunnel with AES-256 with MACsec 256-bit encryption and performance up to 100G, HA fans and power supplies, plus data stack cables common throughout the entire Catalyst 9300 family.

Powered by Cisco IOS XE, appliances in the Catalyst 9300 family offer automated provisioning, API-based configuration, high-granularity visibility for near realtime monitoring, and transparent software updates. Advanced security features include Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) as well as AES-256 MACsec and IPSec encryption, plus Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies with Image signing and Secure Boot. Cloud cybersecurity is strengthened because Catalyst 9300 switches have the ability to host the Cisco Umbrella agent directly. This allows businesses to implement their DNS policies at user or group level to block BYOD or IoT users from accessing dangerous websites.

The entry-level Cisco Catalyst 9300L switch provides up to 320G stacking performance and offers 12 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G ports and 36 10M/100M/1G ports. The 9300L uses fixed rather than modular uplink components for 4 1G, 4 10G, or 2 40G ports. The Cisco Catalyst 9300 switch features 480G of backplane stacking performance and supports 48 100M/1G/2.5G/5Gbps Ethernet ports, 24 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10Gbps ports, or 48 1G SFP ports. Modular uplink speeds supported are 1G, 10G, 25G, or 40G. The high-end Cisco Catalyst 9300X switch delivers 1T stacking bandwidth and supports 48 10G Ethernet ports. The 9300X accepts uplink modules with dual-rate 100G/40G, multirate 25G/10G/1G, or multigigabit. Cisco 90W Universal Power Over Ethernet+ (UPOE+) supports IoT-intensive environments such as smart buildings. Hardware is available to provide 100G IPsec.

Cisco's Catalyst 9400 Series devices are modular switches based on the Cisco IOS XE operating system and targeted for midsize and large campus access deployments. Offering twice the throughput and more than four times the chassis bandwidth as the Catalyst 6500 it is built to replace, Cisco's Catalyst 9400 portfolio ushers switch technology into the modern age of connectivity driven by security, mobility, Internet of Things, and cloud.

Catalyst 9400 switches are available with 4-slot, 7-slot, and 10-slot chassis. Two slots on each chassis are reserved for high-availability supervisor cards, leaving 2, 5, or 8 slots open for line cards. Max capacity per line-card slot is 480G. Switching capacity can achieve 1.44 Terabits per second and forwarding performance on Supervisor Module is as high as 9 Tbps with the 10-slot chassis. All Catalyst 9400 switches offer 90W UPOE+ on every access port, protected segmentation with Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) and N+N/N+1 power redundancy for high resilience. The Catalyst 9400 4-slot switch can support 96 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, 5G/10G mGig ports, or 10G SFP+ ports. The Catalyst 9400 7-slot supports 240 ports, and the Catalyst 9400 10-slot supports 384 ports. All Catalyst 9400 appliances can support 2 non-blocking 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP uplinks and 8 non-blocking 10 Gigabit SFP+ uplinks.

The Catalyst 9500 product line includes fixed core and edge services switches intended for the enterprise campus. Catalyst 9500 models are based on the Cisco IOS XE operating system and the series incorporates the first network technology to deliver switching rates above 25 Tbps.

Catalyst 9500 appliances provide up to 6.4 Terabits per second switching capacity with forwarding speed as high as 2 Bpps. Catalyst 9500 switches can provide up to 32 nonblocking 100 Gigabit QSFP28 ports, 32 nonblocking 40G QSFP+ ports, 48 nonblocking 25 Gigabit SFP28 ports, or 48 nonblocking 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports. You can configure Multichassis EtherChannel across Cisco StackWise-Virtual members for high availability.

Catalyst 9500X products can provide as high as 25.6 Tbps switching performance with up to 2 Bpps forwarding speed. Catalyst 9500X devices deliver up to 28 nonblocking 40/100 GB QSFP28 optical ports or 8 nonblocking 40/100/200/400 Gigabit QSFP-DD ports. The 9500X line also includes hardware capability for line-rate 256-bit 802.1AE MACsec and WAN-MACsec1 encryption.

Catalyst 9600 Series switches are modular core and distribution switches intended for the enterprise campus. The 6-slot chassis with a Catalyst 9600X Series Supervisor delivers switching performance as high as 25.6 Terabits per second and can support up to 256 nonblocking 10/25/50 G ports, 96 nonblocking 40/100G Gigabit ports, or 8 nonblocking 200/400 GE QSFP-DD ports. The Catalyst 9600 switch also supports dual-rate 40G/100G and 10G/25G optics. Two chassis slots are dedicated for high-availability supervisors. You can combine a variety of line cards for core and aggregation deployments. The chassis is equipped with a passive backplane, making it possible to change out fan tray, power supplies, and line cards without disrupting operation.

Legacy Catalyst Models Still Supported by Progent
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified network consultants have broad backgrounds providing online and on-premises consulting and troubleshooting services for early-generation Catalyst switches which have reached End of Life (EOL). These outdated Catalyst switches often cost more to operate and maintain than contemporary switches, deliver less performance and fewer features, and in some cases may expose organizations to regulatory and liability issues. Progent's consultants are available to help your business to maintain and troubleshoot these legacy switches and can also assist you to design and implement seamless upgrades to current products from the Catalyst line or to solutions from Cisco's Nexus line of switches which build upon Catalyst technology.

Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 Family of Switches
The Catalyst Express 500 and 520 line of managed Ethernet switches are designed for companies with up to 250 workers and deliver the dependability, security, scalability, and features small and mid-sized companies need at an affordable price. PoE support makes it easy to add network devices such as VoIP phones and closed-circuit TV cameras.

Models of the Catalyst Express 500 switches offer from 8 to 24 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet ports plus the option of redundant power with auto fail-over for extra reliability. Integration with Cisco wireless access points helps businesses to set up a wireless LAN environment rapidly and effectively. The Catalyst Express 500 platform provides solid security against viruses thanks to Cisco's Self-Defending Network strategy and Cisco Clean Access solutions. Catalyst 2940 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 2900 non-modular, managed Ethernet switches provide fundamental workgroup networking for small to midsize businesses (SMBs). These wire-rate desktop switches offer IOS Software features for simple mixed-media traffic control at the edge of the network. The Cisco Catalyst 2940 Series switches are small, stackable switches with eight Fast Ethernet ports plus a single built-in Fast or Gigabit Ethernet uplink. The enclosures can be installed away from the wiring cabinet in cramped locations such as on or under a worker's desk or in a conference room.

Catalyst 2960-S Series Switch
The Catalyst 2960-S Series are fixed switches intended for small businesses and branches. Available versions incorporate 24 or 48 1Gb Ethernet ports, four 1GE or two 10GE uplinks, and deliver switching capacity of up to 176 Gbps. Cisco's FlexStack feature permits as many as four 2960-S chassis to be grouped in a FlexStack stack to perform like one switch that offers 40 Gbps of stacking performance and that reduces management costs because of single-switch configuration. IPv6 First Hop Security capability protects networks against IPv6 address interception and malicious threats.

Catalyst 3560 Family Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 3560 Series is a selection of non-modular switches that includes IEEE 802.3af and Power over Ethernet capability in 10/100 and 10/100/1000 Ethernet configurations. The Catalyst 3560 is an ideal Layer 2 switch for small enterprise LAN connectivity or branch-offices, combining both Gigabit and Power over Ethernet (PoE) configurations for high productivity while facilitating the deployment of key technology including Voice over IP, Wi-Fi, video monitoring, and remote video kiosks. IT managers can activate comprehensive smart services including quality of service, rate limiting, access control lists, multicast management, and high-performance IP routing while maintaining the ease of conventional LAN switching.

The Catalyst 3560 switch has a powerful array of capabilities that allow for network scalability and enhanced resilience via IP routing plus a complete suite of Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) enhancements aimed to increase availability in a Layer 2 network. Improvements to the conventional STP Protocol, such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), and Port Fast, combined with innovations such as Flex Links Layer 2 interfaces, contribute to network uptime. Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+) supports Data Link Layer traffic balancing on backup links to efficiently use the extra capacity inherent in a redundant architecture.

Important technologies such as Open Shortest Path First (OPSF), EIGRP, BGP, static routing, and PBR increase system capacity; Protocol Independent Multicast improves utilization of network resources; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite protects network traffic.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Family Switches
For mid-size businesses and corporate branches, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 switch facilitates integration of unified applications and accommodates changing competitive needs by providing setup flexibility, ability to manage converged network traffic, and management-free set up of smart system functions. Also, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series is designed for high-volume 1000 Ethernet environments and incorporates a diverse range of switches that address the access, aggregation, and backbone-interface demands of small or mid-size deployments.

Cisco's Catalyst 3750 switch has the IP Base image or the IP Services image. The IP Base image capabilities include industry-leading quality of service (QoS), rate-limiting, access control lists (ACLs), and basic static and Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routing support. The IP Services image offers a richer selection of enterprise-level features, including sophisticated built-in IP unicast/multicast routing.

StackWise technology is an architecture optimized for Gigabit Ethernet. This technology is designed to respond to additions, deletions, and redeployments while providing dependable operation. StackWise technology unites up to 9 individual switches into a single logical device, utilizing special stack-interconnect cables and utilities. Any of the switches can be any combination of the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series and Cisco's Catalyst 3750-E Series. The stack operates as an individual switching device that is managed by a master switch, elected from among the member switches. The control switch intelligently creates and updates all the switching and optional routing databases. A working stack can accommodate new devices or delete existing switches with no operational interruption.

Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches and Catalyst 3560-CX Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 2960-CX is a fixed-configuration switch that is compact, fanless, low power, and allows a variety of mounting alternatives. The Catalyst 2960-CX incorporates eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two 1-GE uplinks and has an option for Power over Ethernet. Cisco's Catalyst 3560-CX is a fixed-port switch housed in a compact, quiet and low-power unit that can be mounted virtually anywhere outside a wiring closet. Models are offered with 8 or 12 1-GE ports or with 6 1-GE ports and two multigigabit Ethernet ports. Two or four uplinks are offered, and Power over Ethernet is also an option.

Cisco's Catalyst 2960-L line includes value-priced fixed-port managed switches designed for branch offices, retail venues, and other places where space is at a premium. These compact switches include eight to 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and either two or four Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) uplink ports. PoE support reduces clutter and fan-free design for the 8- versions does away with noise. RJ-45 connectors handle 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-T SFP-based ports.

Catalyst 2960-X and Catalyst 2960-XR Series switches enhance the 2690-S family of switches by offering switching capacity of up to 216 Gbps and providing Cisco's FlexStack-Plus stacking technology via a live-swappable module that can combine 8 Catalyst switches in a stack capable of 80 Gbps of stacking throughput. Catalyst 2900 family switches also support NetFlow-Lite for flow-based traffic monitoring. Cisco's Catalyst 2960-XR Series switch is capable of L3 dynamic routing, providing the convenience of having a single switch for Layer 2 and Layer 3 routing.

Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 switches are fixed-configuration, stackable network access switches based on Cisco's IOS XE OS and incorporating comprehensive wireless network controller capability that allows you to converge wired and wireless networks on a single platform powered by a single OS. Cisco has models with either 24 or 48 built-in 1Gb Ethernet ports with PoE+, four 1-Gigabit or four 10GE uplink connections, and capacity for as many as 9 switches in a FlexStack stack. All versions provide modular QoS, stateful switchover for high availability, support in software for IPv4 and IPv6 routing, multicast routing, and advanced security.

Since wireless traffic is present at the Catalyst 3000 Series switch, network managers can spot and prioritize wireless data by means of Cisco's FNF solution and advanced QoS features for a better user environment and quicker problem mediation. Multigigabit Ethernet switching supports the high-throughput called for by the latest 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless standard using currently in-place cabling solutions. (To find out about Progent's support for Cisco's 802.11ac Aironet Wi-Fi technology, and Cisco's Meraki cloud-managed access points, visit Configuration and Troubleshooting Support for Cisco Wireless Products.)

The Cisco Catalyst 3650 switch delivers stacking bandwidth of up to 160 Gbps and can control as many as 25 Wi-Fi APs and 1000 Wi-Fi users on each switch. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 switch delivers stacking throughput as high as 480 Gbps and can control up to 50 wireless access points and 2000 wireless clients per switch or stack. Catalyst 3850 SFP Fiber Switches incorporate 12 or 24 1G fiber data ports at line rate on every port, providing far reaching connections, enhanced protection, and an identical wired and wireless user experience.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-E and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4500-E Series and and Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are intended for campus access and distribution deployments where space for networking hardware is at a premium. Running Cisco's IOS XE control software, the Catalyst 4500-E and 4500-X product lines simplify network virtualization by supporting Cisco's EVN and Virtual Switching System (VSS) solutions. Virtualization makes it possible to divide a hardware network into multiple virtual networks (VNs) whose data and control planes are logically segregated. This makes possible the economy, protection, recoverability, and manageability required for Cloud environments or other scenarios where a single infrastructure is used by software and services that must run in complete privacy from one another. EVN streamlines the task of deploying virtual networks and scales to 32 VNs for each switch. EVN utilizes the capabilities of Multi-virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) and provides additional features such as VNET Trunks and an easy technique for duplicating replicating routes connecting VNs. VSS technology makes it easy to configure Catalyst 4500-E and 4500-X Series platforms to produce non-stop VNs with optimized traffic load balancing.

Catalyst 4500-E Switches
Cisco's Supervisor Engine 8-E for the Catalyst 4500-E modular switch includes a built-in wireless network controller that supports Cisco's Unified Access solution for wired/wireless convergence. this is the first Catalyst supervisor engine to enable wired as well as wireless services on a single platform powered by IOS XE. Features included are Cisco's FNF solution for traffic analytics encompassing wired and Wi-Fi networks, Cisco TrustSec/SGT2 wired and wireless data security, predictable Quality of Service for wired and wireless networks, and the extension of NSF/SSO to include wireless data traffic for world-class availability.

Available in chassis with from three to 10 slots, Cisco Catalyst 4500-E switches with Supervisor 8-E can handle up to 384 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, up to 192 Gigabit Ethernet fiber fiber connections, 96 10GE fiber ports, and eight 10GE uplinks. The Catalyst 4500-E Supervisor Engine 8-E provides up to 928 Gbps of wired capacity for each system and as much as 20 Gbps of wireless termination performance. 50 wireless APs and 2000 wireless clients can be handled per switch, and up to 250 APs and 4000 wireless users can be managed in a dual-switch deployment without a standalone wireless network controller.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4500-X switches are fixed 10-Gigabit Ethernet aggregation switches that can deliver 800 Gbps of core switching capacity per chassis. The Catalyst 4500-X switch supports as many as 32 10GE ports on the baseboard and eight more 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports on the optional expansion module for a total of 40 10GE ports. Eight 10GE uplinks can be added with a separate module. In addition to providing non-stop operation and easy manageability, Cisco's virtual switching system technology on Catalyst 4500-X switches offers increased system performance of as much as 1.6 Tbps by activating all possible capacity between redundant Catalyst 4500-X switches. Additional features include FNF technology for capacity planning, TrustSec security, and wire-rate IPv6 forwarding.

Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 switches are campus core platforms that share the proven technology of the Catalyst 6500 family of switches, which first appeared over a dozen years ago and which have been continually improved ever since. Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series switches provide the same general features and operation, and the modular Catalyst 6807-XL switch accepts the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 2T and its portfolio of line cards and modules. This backwards compatibility and program of continual enhancement preserves your information technology investment and permits you to upgrade your network with little downtime or management staff retraining.

Common attributes of Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco Catalyst 6800 modular switches that have Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T include Cisco's Identity Services Engine for simple, single-point control to ensure consistent policy across a distributed environment, VSS technology for maximum uptime through multi-level switchover, and Cisco's LISP protocol to support roaming and mobility and to streamline network virtualization and transition to IPv6. Additional virtualization features to partition specific user groups and support the unique security/compliance and QoS policy requirements of every group include L2/L3 VPN, complete Multiprotocol Label Switching, EVN, VRF-aware applications for NAT NetFlow, IPv6 over IPv4 GRE Tunnel Protection, and L2 geographic extensions with VPLS. For converged wired and wireless networking, the Wireless Services Module 2 controller Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series modular switches can manage up to 1000 APs and 15,000 wireless clients.

Cisco Catalyst 6500-E Series Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 6500-E family of modular switches are designed for distribution and enterprise backbone environments that need maximum uptime and high densities of 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 1 GE fiber, and/or 10 and 40 GE access ports. Available versions have three to 13 slots and accept a broad selection of modules. Integrated service modules enable wireless, traffic monitoring, and security and compliance. Only E-Series versions of Cisco's extensive line of Catalyst 6500 switches work with Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T.

The entry-level Cisco Catalyst 6503-E has a 4RU chassis, holds 3 slots, and delivers as much as 180 Gbps of switching bandwidth on each slot. The Catalyst 6503-E switch supports 97 1-Gigabit Ethernet connections, up to 99 1GE fiber connections, up to 34 10GE ports, and 8 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports.

The high-end Cisco Catalyst 6513-E has a 19RU, 13-slot form factor and can deliver 180 Gbps of performance per slot, providing a total system capacity as high as 4 Tbps. A Virtual Switching System configuration can handle 8 Tbps of capacity. The Catalyst 6513-E Series switch can support up to 529 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 534 Gigabit Ethernet fiber ports, 180 10GE connections, and 44 40GE access ports.

Catalyst 6800 Switches
Catalyst 6800 switches are programmable backbone platforms intended to deliver best-of-breed 10/40/100 GE support. The Cisco Catalyst 6880-X switch is a fixed-configuration, small form factor switch for high-density Ethernet intended for small or midsize enterprise campus cores. The 6880-X supports up to 2 Tbps switching throughput and features four slots for plug-in port cards. The top port concentration per chassis is 80 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections or 10-Gigabit Ethernet connections or up to 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports. With VSS, these switches can deliver 4 Tbps throughput and handle up to 158 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or as many as 20 40GE access ports.

The modular Cisco Catalyst 6807-XL switch has a 10-rack-unit chassis with 7 expansion slots and accepts existing Supervisor Engine 2T cards and modules. (Two slots are reserved for the Supervisor Engine and five are for expansion modules.) The Catalyst 6807-XL switch offers as much as 880 Gbps of switching bandwidth on each slot and 11.4 Tbps of switching capacity while handling up to 240 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections or Gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, up to 80 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or up to 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports. A two-chassis 6807-XL system with Cisco's Virtual Switching System can support 22.8 Tbps of switching bandwidth, 480 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 1GE fiber ports, 160 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or 40 40GE connections.

How Progent Can Assist You with Catalyst Series Switches
Progent offers the remote or onsite expertise of CCIE-certified network consultants who have broad experience providing Catalyst switch technology solutions for small and medium sized businesses, branches, enterprises, data centers, Cloud environments, and SPs. Progent's practice areas include Catalyst and Nexus lines of smart switches and Cisco's IOS, IOS-XR and NX-OS operating systems. Consulting and support services available from Progent for Cisco Catalyst switches include proof-of-concept testing and validation, system analysis, network architecture planning, upgrades and project management, virtualization, wired/wireless convergence, management automation, capacity planning, troubleshooting, business continuity planning, and data security and compliance assessment and verification.

Progent offers deep expertise with open standards as well as with Cisco-owned protocols and technologies related to switching and routing such as BGP, MPLS, Protocol Independent Multicast, VPNs, STP, VLANs, Cisco FabricPath, VPC, HSRP, Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, OSPF, Virtual Switching System (VSS), and Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP). Progent's network consultants also offer deep knowledge of crucial networking technologies including TCP/IP, IPv4, IPv6, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP), Routing Information Protocol (RIP), and IGMP. Progent's CISSP-ISSAP certified network security and compliance consultants can show you how to create an enterprise-wide security and compliance strategy and implement Cisco Catalyst switches so they provide optimal support for your security posture.

If you need the highest available density or extremely low latency switches for a world-class data center, Progent can help you to analyze, design, and implement a migration to Nexus switches. To find out about Progent's consulting services for Nexus switches, see Cisco Nexus Switch consulting services available from Progent. Progent can also help you to integrate Catalyst core switches with Meraki aggregation switches. (See Cisco Meraki switch integration consultants.)

To learn more details about Progent's engineering help for Cisco technology, select a subject:

• Introduction to Cisco Support
• Timely Remote Support from a CCIE Consultant
• Cisco Firepower Firewalls: Integration and Management Services
• ASA 5500-X Firewall with Cisco Firepower Services: Integration and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewalls Management Assistance
• PIX Series Firewall Engineering Assistance
• Cisco Routers Consulting Services
• Cisco Wireless Deployment Services
• Cisco Aironet Wireless APs Deployment Support
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 Wireless APs Consulting Expertise
• Catalyst 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6/6E Wireless APs Planning, Deployment and Troubleshooting Consulting
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Support Services
• Meraki Wireless Access Points Deployment Help
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Integration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP (VoIP) Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting and Cisco Wireless VoIP Phone Integration
• Cisco Jabber Integration Expertise
• Nexus Switches Configuration and Maintenance Services
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN and Security Integration Support
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunking and Cisco CUBE Integration Expertise
• Cisco Duo MFA two-factor authentication services for at-home workers
• Infrastructure Design for Cisco-based Data Centers
• Network Optimization Expertise for ISPs
• Streamlined Network Management Strategies for Cisco-based Infrastructure

To contact Progent about professional assistance for Cisco technology, call 1-800-993-9400 or go to Contact Progent.