Cisco Certified Expert Network Consultants

Cisco's Catalyst family of modular and fixed managed switches offers speed and intelligence at the access, distribution, and core levels of converged voice, HD video, and data networks for organizations that range from small businesses and branches to multi-campus enterprises and SPs. Progent's Cisco-certified consultants can provide remote and onsite support for Catalyst family switches to help your organization to plan a cost-effective network topology that meets your unique business needs, set up pilot testing, install Catalyst switches, establish and verify a sound security strategy, automate system management and performance tracking, deliver repair and maintenance services, maximize switch performance, and configure Catalyst's fault-tolerant solutions to achieve non-stop operation, Progent can assist you to manage and troubleshoot your legacy Catalyst switches or upgrade smoothly to the latest versions of Catalyst switches adhering to leading practices to make sure that you realize the highest return from your investment in your IT infrastructure.

The demand for smart, fast switching is the result 0f a combination of fairly recent networking patterns whose overall effect is a virtual avalanche of traffic:

• Cloud networking and a consequent demand for massive network virtualization
• The pervasiveness of always-connected mobile devices
• Data guzzling rich media apps
• Social business technologies
• The popularity of Big Data in enterprise data analytics

Private, public and hybrid clouds are only operationally realistic by utilizing virtualization on a massive scale. Virtualized data centers radically reduce costs by permitting very high resource utilization and demanding very little data center space and energy consumption. But this also means that comparatively limited resources have to accommodate substantial amounts of data traffic. The BYOD paradigm has created a steep rise in the number of mobile clients that have be handled by IT networks, and these clients run a great deal of bandwidth-intensive, HD video apps. Social business applications are displacing traditional email as the primary driver for workforce collaboration and is producing a growing thirst for bandwidth. Businesses who want to stay competitive are resorting to Big Data technology to search through vast and varied silos of corporate data, which as a result produces Big Network Traffic. All of these trends are relatively recent, and combined they cause a critical need for an advanced class of switches that offer much more capacity, control, uptime and manageability than previous solutions were designed to deliver.

Cisco's current portfolio of Catalyst switches are designed for the distribution/core levels of campus deployments where mobile and stationary workers must be supported with predictable high throughput, secure access control, tight segregation, application intelligence, and wired and wireless convergence. Cisco's Catalyst switches address the demand for speed and intelligence with features that include high-port-count 10, 40, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet services, switching capacity of up to 11.4 Tbps for each chassis and double that for each system, a comprehensive collection of technologies including Easy Virtual Network to facilitate the deployment of VLANs, Virtual Switching System technology for stateful failover with instant virtual switch restoration and 99.999% uptime, IPv4 and IPv6 capability, Application Visibility and Control to optimize system utilization, and advanced QoS tools for HD video data control.

Cisco Catalyst switches allow businesses of any size to build smart switching and routing services into their network infrastructure, creating an environment that can handle real-time requirements, scale to support future capacity demands, guard vital data, and differentiate and control tasks to enhance network productivity.

Catalyst 2960 Swiches and 3560-CX Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 2960-CX is a fixed-port switch that is ultra-compact, fanless, power efficient, and includes a variety of mounting alternatives. The switch incorporates eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports and has an option for Power over Ethernet. Cisco's Catalyst 3560-CX appliance is a fixed-configuration managed switch housed in a compact, noiseless and low-power unit that can be placed almost anywhere outside a wiring closet. Models are available with 8 or 12 1-GE ports or with six 1-GE ports plus 2 multigigabit ports. Two or four uplinks are available, and PoE+ power is also an option.

Cisco's Catalyst 2960-L line consists of entry-level fixed-configuration managed switches intended for small offices, retail venues, and other environments where space is at a premium. These low-profile switches have 8 to 48 GE ports and either 2 or 4 SFP uplink ports. Power over Ethernet support reduces clutter and fan-free design for 16- and 24-port models eliminates noise. RJ-45 interfaces support 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-T SFP-ports.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR Series switches enhance the 2690-S line by delivering switching throughput of up to 216 Gbps and providing Cisco's FlexStack-Plus stacking technology via a live-swappable plug-in that allows 8 Catalyst switches in a stack with 80 Gbps of stacking performance. Catalyst 2900 Series switches also work with NetFlow-Lite for flow-based traffic monitoring. Cisco's Catalyst 2960-XR switch features Layer 3 dynamic routing, offering the simplicity of using one device for Layer 2 and Layer 3 routing.

Cisco Catalyst 3650 and 3850 Series Switches
Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 switches are fixed-configuration, stackable access switches powered by Cisco's IOS XE operating system and incorporating full wireless network controller functionality that lets you converge wired and wireless networks on a single platform powered by one operating system. Cisco has models with 24 or 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports with Power over Ethernet plus (PoE+), four 1GE or four 10GE uplink ports, and capacity for up to 9 Catalyst switches per stack. All models provide expandable Quality of Service, fast failover for high uptime, software support for IPv4 and IPv6 routing, multicast, and enhanced security features.

Because wireless data traffic is present at the Catalyst 3000 family switch, administrators can identify and assign priorities to wireless data using Cisco's FNF solution and sophisticated Quality of Service features for a better wireless user experience and quicker problem isolation. Fast Ethernet switching can handle the high-throughput called for by the new 802.11ac Wave 2 wireless specification on currently in-place cabling infrastructure. (For information about Progent's consulting and support services for Cisco's 802.11ac Wi-Fi technology, and Meraki cloud-managed access points, visit Planning and Deployment Support for Cisco Wireless Technology.)

The Cisco Catalyst 3650 offers stacking throughput as high as 160 Gbps and supports as many as 25 wireless access points and 1000 wireless clients per stack. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 delivers stacking throughput of 480 Gbps and can control as many as 50 wireless access points and 2000 Wi-Fi clients per stack. Catalyst 3850 SFP Fiber Switches incorporate 12 or 24 1G fiber ports at line rate on every port, offering long distance connectivity, enhanced security, and a consistent wired and wireless user experience.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-E and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Catalyst 4500-E Series and and Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are designed for campus and distribution deployments where space for infrastructure hardware is limited. Running Cisco's IOS XE software, the Catalyst 4500-E and Catalyst 4500-X product lines simplify network virtualization by supporting Cisco's Easy Virtual Network (EVN) and VSS solutions. Network virtualization makes it possible to segment a hardware network into a number of virtual networks whose data planes and control planes are logically segregated. This makes possible the high resource utilization, protection, resilience, and simplified management required for Cloud computing or other situations where a single infrastructure must be shared by software and services that must operate in total privacy from one another. EVN simplifies the process of creating VNs and can be expanded to 32 VNs for each switch. EVN incorporates features of Multi-virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) and adds additional features including VNET Tags and a simple way for duplicating replicating routes connecting VNs. VSS technology makes it possible to set up Catalyst 4500-E and 4500-X Series platforms to produce non-stop VNs with optimized traffic load balancing.

Cisco Catalyst 4500E Switches
The Supervisor Engine for for the Catalyst 4500-E modular switch has an integrated wireless network controller that works with Cisco's Unified Access solution for wired and wireless convergence. The Supervisor Engine 8-E is the first Cisco Catalyst supervisor to support wired as well as wireless services on a single platform powered by Cisco's IOS XE. Features include Cisco's Flexible NetFlow technology for application visibility encompassing both wired and Wi-Fi networks, TrustSec wired/wireless security, predictable Quality of Service for wired and Wi-Fi networks, plus the expansion of Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO) to include wireless data traffic for world-quality high availability.

Available in chassis that have from three to 10 plug-in slots, Catalyst 4500-E Series switches with Supervisor 8-E can handle as many as 384 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, up to 192 Gigabit Ethernet non-blocking fiber connections, 96 10-Gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, and eight 10GE uplinks. The Catalyst 4500-E Supervisor Engine 8-E delivers up to 928 Gbps of wired throughput for each system and as much as 20 Gbps of wireless termination capacity. 50 wireless access points and 2000 wireless clients can be supported on each switch, and 250 access points and 4000 clients can be supported in a dual-switch installation without requiring a separate wireless network controller.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4500-X switches are fixed 10-Gigabit Ethernet aggregation switches that can provide 800 Gbps of core switching performance per device. The Catalyst 4500-X supports up to 32 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports on the baseboard and eight additional 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports on the expansion module for a maximum of 40 10GE ports. Eight 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports can be added via a separate module. In addition to providing non-stop performance and easy management, Cisco's virtual switching system technology on Catalyst 4500-X switches provides increased system throughput of as much as 1.6 Tbps by activating all possible bandwidth between VSS-linked Catalyst 4500-X Series switches. Additional advanced features include Flexible NetFlow technology for application visibility, TrustSec protection, and wire-rate IPv6 forwarding.

Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Catalyst 6800 Series switches are campus core switches that incorporate the field-proven DNA of the Catalyst 6500 line of switches, which were introduced more than a decade ago and which have been steadily improved since then. Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 switches offer identical general features and operation, and the modular Catalyst 6807-XL switch supports the Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 2T and its extensive family of line cards and modules. This cross compatibility and commitment to ongoing enhancement preserves your infrastructure expenditures and allows you to update your network backbone with little downtime or management staff training.

Shared attributes of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco Catalyst 6800 modular switches that have Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T include the Cisco ISE technology for convenient, centralized administration to put in place unvarying policy across a distributed network, VSS Quad Sup SSO (VS4O) capability for maximum uptime via multi-level failover, and Cisco's LISP protocol to facilitate roaming and mobility and to simplify network virtualization and migration to IPv6. Additional virtual networking features to segment specific user groups and support the unique security/compliance and Quality of Service policy requirements of each group include Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN, full Multiprotocol Label Switching, Easy Virtual Network (EVN), VPN Routing and Forwarding-aware technology for Network Address Translation (NAT) NetFlow, GRE for v4/v6, and Layer 2 geographic extensions with VPLS. For converged wired and wireless networking, the Wireless Services Module 2 (WiSM2) for Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 modular switches includes support for up to 1000 wireless access points and 15,000 wireless clients.

Catalyst 6500-E Switches
The Catalyst 6500-E family of modular switches are intended for aggregation and enterprise core networks that need maximum availability and high concentrations of 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 1 GE fiber, and/or 10 and 40 GE ports. Models have three to 13 slots and accept a broad selection of interfaces. Integrated service modules enable wireless management, traffic monitoring, and security. Only E-Series versions of Cisco's broad line of 6500 switches accept Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T.

The Cisco Catalyst 6503-E has a 4RU form factor, holds 3 slots, and delivers as much as 180 Gbps of switching bandwidth on each slot. The Cisco Catalyst 6503-E switch supports up to 97 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections, up to 99 1GE fiber access ports, 34 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports.

The high-end Catalyst 6513-E switch has a 19RU, 13-slot chassis and offers as much as 180 Gbps of bandwidth on each slot, providing a total system bandwidth as high as 4 Tbps. A Virtual Switching System configuration can handle 8 Tbps of throughout. The Cisco Catalyst 6513-E switch supports up to 529 10/100/1000 Ethernet access ports, up to 534 1GE fiber ports, 180 10GE access ports, and up to 44 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports.

Catalyst 6800 Switches
Catalyst 6800 switches are programmable backbone platforms designed to deliver best-of-breed 10/40/100 GE support. The Cisco Catalyst 6880-X switch is a fixed-configuration, small form factor device for high-density Ethernet intended for small or midsize enterprise campus backbones. The 6880-X switch delivers as much as 2 Tbps throughput and features four slots for plug-in port cards. The maximum port density on one chassis is 80 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 10GE connections or as many as 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports. With Cisco's Virtual Switching System, a two-chassis system can provide 4 Tbps bandwidth and support up to 158 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections or 10-Gigabit Ethernet access ports or as many as 20 40GE ports.

The modular Catalyst 6807-XL switch comes in a 10 RU chassis with 7 expansion slots and accepts existing Supervisor Engine 2T line cards and modules. (Two slots are reserved for the Supervisor Engine and five are for expansion modules.) The Cisco Catalyst 6807-XL switch can deliver up to 880 Gbps of switching throughput on each slot and a total of 11.4 Tbps of full-duplex switching performance while supporting up to 240 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 1GE fiber ports, up to 80 10GE access ports or 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet connections. an 6807-XL system configured with VSS can handle 22.8 Tbps of switching capacity, 480 10/100/1000 Ethernet connections or 1GE fiber ports, up to 160 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or 40 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports.

End-of-Life Catalyst Switches Still Supported by Progent
Progent's Cisco CCIE-certified consultants have extensive backgrounds providing remote and onsite consulting and troubleshooting services for older Catalyst switches which have reached End of Life or End of Support. These outdated Catalyst switches usually cost more to manage and maintain than contemporary models, deliver lower capacity and fewer features, and in some situations may expose businesses to regulatory and liability risks. Progent are available to help your business to maintain and repair these older Cisco products and can in addition help you to plan and implement seamless upgrades to newer products from the Catalyst family or to solutions from the Cisco Nexus line of switches which take advantage of Catalyst technology. Older Cisco Catalyst models for which Progent offers support include:

Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 Series
Cisco's Catalyst Express 500 line of fixed-configuration switches are intended for organizations with as many as 250 employees and provide the dependability, security, extensibility, and features small businesses require at an economical price. Power over Ethernet support makes it simple to install network devices like VoIP phones and IP cameras.

Versions of the Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 managed switches support from 8 to 24 10/100/1000BASE-T ports as well as optional backup power supplies with automatic switch-over for additional reliability. Integration with Cisco access points helps organizations to set up a local wireless environment rapidly and effectively. The Catalyst Express 500 and 520 platform provides strong protection against malicious attacks thanks to the Cisco Self-Defending Network strategy and Clean Access solutions.

Cisco Catalyst 2940 Switch
Catalyst 2900 non-modular, managed 10/100 switches provide basic workgroup networking for small to midsize organizations. These wire-rate desktop switches offer Cisco IOS Software features for basic data, video, and voice support at the edge of the network. The Cisco Catalyst 2940 line of switches are compact, entry-level devices with eight Fast Ethernet connections and a single integrated Fast Ethernet or Gbit uplink. The enclosures can be installed outside the wiring cabinet in space-constrained locations like on a user's desk or in a conference room.

Catalyst 2960-S Switch
The Catalyst 2960-S Series are fixed-configuration switches intended for small companies and branch offices. Current models incorporate either 24 or 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, four 1-Gigabit or two 10-GB Ethernet uplinks, and deliver switching capacity of 176 Gbps. Cisco's FlexStack feature allows up to four 2960-S chassis to be combined in a stack to perform as one switching unit that offers 40 Gbps of stacking performance and that reduces administrative expense with single-switch configuration. Cisco's IPv6 First Hop Security (FHS) capability guards networks against address theft and other attacks.

Catalyst 3560 Family Switches
The Catalyst 3560 Series is a line of non-modular switches that features IEEE 802.3af and Cisco Power over Ethernet functionality in Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet configurations. The Cisco Catalyst 3560 is an ideal Layer 2 switch for midsize business network access or branch-offices, offering both Gigabit and Power over Ethernet (PoE) options for high efficiency while facilitating the installation of key technology including VoIP, Wi-Fi, video monitoring, and building management systems. IT managers can deploy comprehensive intelligent features such as QoS, rate limiting, access control lists, multicast administration, and broadband IP routing with the ease of traditional LAN switching.

The Catalyst 3560 Series has a powerful array of features that allow for network scalability and enhanced availability via IP routing plus a full complement of Spanning Tree Protocol improvements aimed to maximize throughput in a Layer 2 network. Enhancements to the standard Spanning Tree Protocol, such as PVST+, and Uplink Fast, as well as enhancements like Flex Links interfaces, contribute to network uptime. Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus supports Layer 2 traffic sharing on backup connections to efficiently use the extra bandwidth inherent in a redundant architecture.

Important routing mechanisms such as OPSF, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol, BGP, static routing, and Policy Based Routing increase network capacity; Protocol Independent Multicast helps improve utilization of network resources; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite (VRFLite) secures data.

Catalyst 3750 Series Switches
For mid-size organizations and corporate branches, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switch eases integration of unified technologies and accommodates changing competitive environments by offering configuration versatility, ability to manage unified network patterns, and automatic set up of smart network services. In addition, the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series is designed for high-density 1000 Ethernet deployments and incorporates a wide range of switches that address the connectivity, aggregation, and backbone-interface demands of small or midsized systems.

The Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switch has either the IP Base or the Services image. The IP Base image capabilities include advanced quality of service, rate-management, ACLs, and simple static and Routing Information Protocol routing capability. The IP Services image offers a richer set of enterprise network features, including advanced hardware-based IP unicast and multicast routing.

StackWise technology is a stacking architecture designed for Gigabit Ethernet. This technology is intended to respond to installs, deletions, and redeployments while providing dependable operation. Cisco StackWise technology combines up to nine separate switches into one logical device, using special stack-interface cables and stacking software. Each of the switches can be any combination of the Cisco Catalyst 3750 Series switches and the Catalyst 3750-E Series. The stack operates as a single switching unit that is managed by a master switch, elected from one of the stack of switches. The control switch intelligently builds and keeps current all the switching and optional routing tables. A working stack can accept new switches or delete old switches without service interruption.

How Progent Can Assist Your Business with Cisco Catalyst Series Switches
Progent can provide the online or on-premises services of Cisco CCIE-certified consultants who have broad experience delivering Catalyst switch technology support for small and medium sized businesses, branches, enterprise campuses, data centers, Cloud networks, and service providers. Progent's skills include Cisco's Catalyst and Nexus lines of managed switches and with Cisco's IOS, IOS-XR and NX-OS operating systems. Services available from Progent's experts for Cisco Catalyst switches include pilot testing, network analysis and monitoring, network architecture planning, upgrades and project management, network virtualization, wired and wireless convergence, management automation, performance optimization, problem mitigation, disaster recovery and business continuity planning, and data security and compliance testing and validation.

Progent has broad expertise with open standards as well as with Cisco-owned protocols associated with switching and routing such as Border Gateway Protocol, MPLS, Protocol Independent Multicast, VPNs, ISIS, VLANs, Cisco FabricPath, VPC, OTV, VRRP, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), VSS, and Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP). Progent's network consultants also offer deep knowledge of important networking technologies including TCP/IP protocols, IPv4/IPv6, EIGRP, Routing Information Protocol, and Internet Group Management Protocol. Progent's CISSP-ISSAP certified information security consultants can show you how to develop an enterprise-wide security strategy and deploy Cisco Catalyst switches so that they provide maximum support for your network security policies.

If you need ultra high Ethernet density or extremely low latency Cisco switches for an enterprise-class data center, Progent can assist your organization to evaluate, design, and manage a transition to Nexus switches. For information about Progent's consulting capabilities for Cisco's Nexus Series switches, refer to Nexus Switch configuration and support services. Progent can also assist you to connect Catalyst data center switches with Meraki aggregation switches. (See Cisco Meraki switch integration consultants.)

To find out more information concerning Progent's professional assistance for Cisco networking products, choose a subject:

• Introduction to Cisco Expertise
• Fast and Affordable Remote Assistance from a CCIE Network Engineer
• Cisco Firepower Series Firewalls: Configuration and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500-X Firewall with Cisco Firepower Services: Setup and Management Expertise
• Cisco ASA 5500 Firewall Engineering Assistance
• Cisco PIX Series Firewall Engineering Help
• Cisco Routers Engineering Expertise
• Cisco Wireless Network Design Support
• Cisco Aironet Wireless Access Points Design Support
• Cisco Small Business 100, 300 and 500 WiFi Access Points System Design Help
• Cisco WiFi Controllers Consultants
• Meraki Access Points Consulting Services
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and Cisco CallManager Configuration and Troubleshooting
• Cisco VoIP Phones and IP Video Phones Consulting Services and Wireless IP Phone Integration
• Cisco Jabber Deployment Services
• Cisco Nexus Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Meraki MS Switches Support and Troubleshooting Expertise
• Cisco VPN Consulting Assistance
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Design Expertise for Cisco-based Datacenters
• Network Optimization Expertise for Internet Service Providers
• Remote Network Management Solutions for Cisco-powered Environments

In order to contact Progent about engineering support for Cisco technology, call 1-800-993-9400 or refer to Contact Progent.