Cisco Expert Network Consultants

The Catalyst family of modular and fixed managed switches offers speed and intelligence at the access, aggregation, and backbone levels of converged voice, video, and data networks for organizations that range from small businesses and branches to global enterprises and service providers. Progent's Cisco-certified consultants offer online and onsite expertise with Catalyst family switches to help you to design an efficient network architecture that addresses your specific business requirements, configure proof-of-concept testing, install Catalyst switches, implement and validate a sound security and compliance plan, automate network management and monitoring, provide repair and maintenance services, maximize switch performance, and set up Catalyst's fault-tolerant solutions for near-zero downtime.

Progent can help you to manage and troubleshoot your legacy Catalyst switches or upgrade smoothly to current versions of Catalyst switches following leading practices to ensure that you get the highest return from your investment in your IT infrastructure.

The demand for smart, fast switching is the result 0f a confluence of fairly recent networking trends whose overall impact is a virtual avalanche of data traffic:

• Cloud and IoT computing and an associated reliance on massive virtualization
• The proliferation of BYOD computing
• Data guzzling rich media applications
• Social business technologies
• The popularity of Big Data in data analytics
• Increasingly advanced cyberattacks like ransomware

Cisco's current portfolio of Catalyst switches are designed for the distribution/core layers of enterprise campus deployments where office employees must be provided for by offering predictable high throughput, strict access management, tight segregation, application intelligence, and wired/wireless convergence. Catalyst series switches are designed to meet the demand for performance and intelligence with capabilities such as high-port-count 10G/40G/100G support, switching performance more than 25T per switch, a comprehensive collection of technologies including Easy Virtual Network (EVN) to facilitate the deployment of VLANs, Virtual Switching System technology for stateful interchassis failover with instant virtual switch recovery and 99.999% availability, IPv6 support, Application Visibility and Control (AVC) to optimize network resource usage, and advanced Quality of Service tools for business-critical data control.

Catalyst switches allow organizations of all sizes to benefit from incorporating intelligent switching and routing services into their network infrastructure, creating an ecosystem that can meet current requirements, scale to accommodate expected capacity demands, guard vital data, and separate and control processes to optimize network operations.

Catalyst 1000 Series Fixed Ethernet Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 1000 Layer 2 network access switches are small form factor, fixed switches intended for smaller businesses and branch offices with as many as 250 users and with minimal in-house IT expertise. The Catalyst 1000 Series includes fanless versions for silent operation outside a wiring closet in an office environment. Mounting options include desktop, wall mount, standard rack mount, and DIN rail mount. Designed as an easy upgrade for Cisco Catalyst 2960-L or 2960-Plus deployments, the Catalyst 1000 line includes models with 8 to 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports or 24 to 48 Fast Ethernet 10/100M ports.

Catalyst 1000 configuration and administration are simple using a web UI or command-line interface, security is enterprise-grade, and PoE+ ports with an automatically distributed power budget of 740W supports a broad range of IoT deployments. Up to eight Catalyst 1000 Gigabit Ethernet Series switches can be managed at once with single IP. All Catalyst Series 1000 models are nonblocking line-rate devices, and all are powered by Cisco's familiar IOS operating system software. Quality-of-Service capabilities include egress queues on every port as well as priority queuing to deliver wire-speed performance for data, IP voice, and video traffic. Catalyst 1000 switches also offer SRR service scheduling and Weighted Tail Drop congestion management.

Catalyst 9000 Series Fixed and Modular Managed Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 9000 line of switches includes modular and fixed appliances and supports all deployment scenarios including access, aggregation, and core switching. The Cisco Catalyst 9000 family offers switches with the appropriate price/performance to connect people and things in scenarios from small businesses and branch offices to the largest enterprises. Catalyst 9000 switches can be configured to implement any mix of onsite facilities, private and public clouds, and hybrid networks. Unified network management tools and cutting-edge cybersecurity features reduce cost of ownership by streamlining operations and safeguarding vital network assets. Cisco's 9000X series of managed switches offer converged switching/routing, delivering the first combination of 400G optical transceivers plus full mGig Ethernet and PoE ports.

With twice the stacking bandwidth at about half the price of the end-of-life Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches they are designed to replace, Cisco's Catalyst 9200 Series switches are a compelling network improvement for small branches and midsize campus deployments. The Catalyst 9200 family includes models that offer 24 or 48 ports with full Power over Ethernet; 80-160 Gbps backplane stacking bandwidth; and Layer 3 capabilities such as OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, and routed access. Catalyst 9200 switches are powered by the Cisco IOS XE operating system.

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

Cisco's Catalyst 9300 Series switches are fixed, stackable units for ultra-high-density access switching. Advanced features available with various models in the Catalyst 9300 product line include 1T backplane stacking capacity, stackable high-speed fiber, up to 448 mGig Ethernet ports and 288 ports of 90W UPOE+ with an 8-device stack, line rate IPsec with AES-256 Encryption and performance as high as 100G, redundant fans and power, plus data stack cables compatible across the complete Catalyst 9300 family.

Powered by Cisco IOS XE, devices in the Catalyst 9300 product line support auto device provisioning, API-based configuration, granular visibility for near realtime monitoring, and seamless software updates. Security features include Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) along with AES-256 MACsec and IPSec encryption, plus Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies with Image signing and Secure Boot. Cloud cybersecurity is enhanced because Catalyst 9300 switches have the ability to host the Cisco Umbrella agent directly. This allows organizations to implement their DNS filtering policies granularly to block BYOD or IoT users from accessing dangerous websites.

The entry-level Cisco Catalyst 9300L switch delivers up to 320G backplane stacking capacity and supports 12 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G ports and 36 10M/100M/1G ports. The 9300L utilizes fixed rather than modular uplink components for 4 1G, 4 10G, or 2 40G uplink ports. The Cisco Catalyst 9300 appliance features 480G of backplane stacking bandwidth and can provide 48 100M/1G/2.5G/5Gbps ports, 24 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10Gbps Ethernet ports, or 48 1G SFP ports. Modular uplink speeds available are 1G, 10G, 25G, or 40G. The top-of-the-line Cisco Catalyst 9300X switch delivers 1T backplane stacking throughput and supports 48 10G port density. The 9300X supports uplink modules with dual-rate 100G/40G, multirate 25G/10G/1G, or mGig. Cisco 90W UPOE+ supports IoT-intensive applications. Hardware is available to provide 100G IPsec.

Cisco's Catalyst 9400 Series devices are modular switches based on Cisco IOS XE and designed for midsize and large campus access deployments. Delivering twice the throughput and more than quadruple the chassis bandwidth as the legacy Catalyst 6500 line it is built to replace, the Catalyst 9400 family brings switch capability into the modern age of networking impelled by security, mobility, Internet of Things, and cloud.

Catalyst 9400 appliances are available with 4-slot, 7-slot, and 10-slot chassis. Two of the slots on each chassis are dedicated to high-availability supervisor cards, leaving 2, 5, or 8 slots open for line cards. Maximum bandwidth scalability for each line-card slot is 480 Gbps. Switching performance can achieve 1.44 Tbps and forwarding rate on Supervisor Module can reach 9 Tbps for the 10-slot chassis. All Catalyst 9400 appliances offer 90W UPOE+ on every port, protected network segmentation with Software-Defined Access (SD-Access) and N+N/N+1 power redundancy for high resilience. Cisco's Catalyst 9400 4-slot switch supports 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 switches can provide 2 non-blocking 40G Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable uplinks and 8 non-blocking 10G SFP+ uplinks.

Cisco's Catalyst 9500 family consists of fixed core and edge services appliances intended for the enterprise campus. Catalyst 9500 models are based on the Cisco IOS XE operating system and the the family includes the first network technology to provide switching speeds higher than 25 Terabits per second.

Catalyst 9500 appliances deliver as high as 6.4 Terabits per second switching performance with forwarding speed up to 2 Bpps. Catalyst 9500 switches can support as many as 32 nonblocking 100 GB QSFP28 optical ports, 32 nonblocking 40 Gigabit QSFP+ ports, 48 nonblocking 25 Gigabit SFP28 ports, or 48 nonblocking 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports. You can configure Multichassis EtherChannel across StackWise-Virtual members for high resiliency.

Catalyst 9500X products can provide up to 25.6 Tbps switching performance with up to 2 Bpps forwarding speed. Catalyst 9500X devices support up to 28 nonblocking 40/100 GB QSFP28 optical ports or 8 nonblocking 40/100/200/400 G QSFP-DD ports. The 9500X product line also includes hardware support for line-rate 256-bit 802.1AE Media Access Control Security (MACsec) and WAN-MACsec1 encryption.

Cisco's Catalyst 9600 Series switches are modular core and distribution switches intended for the enterprise campus. The 6-slot 9600 Series chassis with a Catalyst 9600X Series Supervisor delivers switching performance as high as 25.6 Tbps and can contain up to 256 nonblocking 10/25/50 G ports, 96 nonblocking 40/100G G ports, or 8 nonblocking 200/400 G QSFP-DD ports. The Catalyst 9600 switch also supports dual-rate 40G/100G and 10G/25G optics. Two chassis slots are dedicated for redundant supervisors. You can mix and match a variety of line cards for core and aggregation deployment scenarios. The chassis has a passive backplane, so you can change out fan tray, power supplies, and line cards without disrupting operation.

Legacy Catalyst Switches Supported by Progent's Consultants
Progent's Cisco certified consultants have broad experience providing remote and onsite support expertise for older Catalyst switches for which Cisco has announced End of Life or End of Support. These outdated switches often cost more to operate and maintain than contemporary products, deliver less performance and fewer features, and in some situations can subject businesses to regulatory compliance and even liability issues. Progent's consultants are available to help your business to support and troubleshoot these legacy switches and can also help you to design and execute non-disruptive upgrades to current products from the Catalyst family or to devices from Cisco's Nexus line of network switches which take advantage of Catalyst design experience.

Cisco Catalyst Express 500 and 520 Family
Cisco's Catalyst Express 500 and 520 family of Layer 2 switches are intended for companies with as many as 250 workers and provide the dependability, protection, scalability, and feature set small and mid-sized businesses need at an economical cost. Power over Ethernet capability makes it simple to install network appliances like wireless access points and closed-circuit TV cameras.

Models of the Catalyst Express 500 managed switches offer from 8 to 24 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet ports as well as optional redundant power with auto switch-over for additional reliability. Integration with Cisco access points allows organizations to build a local wireless network quickly and easily. The Catalyst Express 500 family offers strong security against malicious attacks With Cisco's Self-Defending Network technology and Cisco Clean Access agents. Catalyst 2940 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 2900 Series fixed-configuration, managed 10/100 switches provide fundamental small-group networking for small to medium-size businesses. These wire-rate desktop switches deliver Cisco IOS Software functions for basic mixed-media traffic services at the network edge. The Cisco 2940 line of managed switches are compact, stackable devices featuring eight Fast Ethernet ports plus a single built-in Fast Ethernet or Gbit uplink. They can be deployed away from the wiring closet in space-constrained locations like on or under a user's desk or in a classroom.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Switch
The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series are fixed switches intended for small businesses and branches. Available models feature 24 or 48 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, four 1-Gigabit or two 10GE uplinks, and provide throughput as high as 176 Gbps. Cisco's FlexStack technology permits up to four Catalyst 2960-S chassis to be grouped in a stack to perform like one switching unit that provides 40 Gbps of stacking performance and that reduces operational expense because of single-switch configuration. IPv6 First Hop Security (FHS) technology guards networks against IPv6 address theft and malicious attacks.

Cisco Catalyst 3560 Family Switches
The Catalyst 3560 family is a selection of non-modular switches that features IEEE 802.3af and PoE capability in Fast Ethernet and Gigabit configurations. Cisco's Catalyst 3560 switch is a proven Layer 2 switch for small enterprise network connectivity or satellite-office environments, combining both 10/100/1000 and Power over Ethernet (PoE) configurations for high productivity while streamlining the deployment of vital technology including VoIP, wireless access, video surveillance, and remote video kiosks. Customers can deploy comprehensive intelligent features including quality of service (QoS), rate management, access control lists (ACLs), multicast administration, and fast IP routing with the simplicity of conventional LAN switching.

The Catalyst 3560 Series switch is equipped with a robust set of features that allow for network scalability and higher resilience via IP routing plus a full suite of Spanning Tree Protocol improvements designed to increase throughput in a Layer 2 LAN. Improvements to the standard Spanning Tree Protocol, such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), and Uplink Fast, as well as innovations like Flex Links interfaces, contribute to network uptime. PVST+ supports Data Link Layer traffic sharing on backup connections to take advantage of the extra capacity inherent in a redundant architecture.

Efficient routing mechanisms such as Open Shortest Path First (OPSF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), static routing, and Policy Based Routing improve system capacity; Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) helps improve resource utilization; and Virtual Route Forwarding Lite protects network traffic.

Cisco Catalyst 3750 Family Switches
For mid-size businesses and corporate branch offices, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series switch eases integration of converged applications and adapts to evolving competitive environments by providing setup flexibility, ability to manage unified network patterns, and automatic configuration of intelligent system services. Also, Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series is engineered for high-density Gigabit Ethernet environments and includes a wide selection of switches that meet the access, distribution, and backbone-connectivity demands of small or mid-size networks.

Cisco's Catalyst 3750 switch includes the IP Base image or the IP Services image. The IP Base image functions include advanced quality of service (QoS), rate-limiting, ACLs, and basic static and Routing Information Protocol (RIP) routing capability. The IP Services image offers a broader set of enterprise-class functions, including sophisticated hardware-based IP unicast/multicast routing.

Cisco StackWise technology is an architecture optimized for Gigabit interfaces. StackWise is designed to react to installs, deletions, and redeployments while maintaining predictable performance. Cisco StackWise technology combines as many as nine separate switches into one functional unit, using custom stack-interface cables and stacking software. The individual switches can be any mix of Cisco's Catalyst 3750 Series and Cisco's Catalyst 3750-E switches. The stack behaves as a single switching unit that is managed by a master switch, elected from one of the stack of switches. The control switch automatically creates and keeps current all the switching and user-selected routing tables. A working stack can accommodate new devices or remove existing members without operational interruption.

Cisco Catalyst 2960 Swiches and 3560-CX Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 2960-CX is a fixed-port managed switch that is compact, fanless, power efficient, and allows a variety of mounting alternatives. The device has eight 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports and two 1-GE uplinks and optionally provides Power over Ethernet (PoE). Cisco's Catalyst 3560-CX is a fixed-port switch housed in a compact, quiet and low-power enclosure that can be mounted almost anywhere convenient. Models are available with 8 or 12 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports or with six 1-GE ports plus 2 multigigabit Ethernet ports. Two or four uplinks are available, and Power over Ethernet is also available.

Cisco's Catalyst 2960-L family includes entry-level fixed-configuration switches designed for small offices, retail venues, and other environments where space is limited. These compact appliances include eight to 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports and either two or four SFP uplink ports. PoE support saves space and fanless design for 16- and 24-port models does away with noise. RJ-45 interfaces support 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T and 1000BASE-T SFP-ports.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and Catalyst 2960-XR Series switches improve on the 2690-S line of switches by delivering switching capacity of 216 Gbps and providing Cisco's FlexStack-Plus Stacking by means of a hot-swappable module that allows 8 Catalyst switches in a stack with 80 Gbps of stacking performance. Catalyst 2900 Series switches also work with NetFlow-Lite for conserving forwarding data for analysis. Cisco's Catalyst 2960-XR switch features L3 dynamic routing, providing the simplicity of using one device for Layer 2 and Layer 3 routing.

Cisco Catalyst 3650 and 3850 Series Switches
Cisco Catalyst 3650 and Catalyst 3850 switches are fixed-configuration, stackable access switches based on Cisco's IOS XE operating system and featuring comprehensive wireless network controller capability that lets you control wired and wireless infrastructure on a one device powered by a single operating system. Cisco has versions with either 24 or 48 built-in 1Gb Ethernet ports with Power over Ethernet plus, four 1-Gigabit or four 10-GB Ethernet uplinks, and support for up to nine switches in a FlexStack stack. All models provide expandable QoS, stateful failover for high uptime, support in software for IPv4/IPv6 routing, multicast routing, and enhanced security features.

Because wireless data traffic is visible at the Catalyst 3000 Series switch, it is possible to identify and prioritize wireless traffic using Cisco's FNF technology along with advanced Quality of Service capabilities for an improved user experience and faster problem mediation. Multigigabit Ethernet switching supports the high-bandwidth defined by the new 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi specification on existing cabling solutions. (To find out about Progent's consulting services for Cisco's 802.11ac Aironet wireless technology, and Cisco's Meraki cloud-managed access points, refer to Configuration and Troubleshooting Support for Cisco Wireless Products.)

The Cisco Catalyst 3650 Series switch offers stacking performance of up to 160 Gbps and can control up to 25 Wi-Fi access points and 1000 wireless users on each switch. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series switch delivers stacking throughput as high as 480 Gbps and supports up to 50 Wi-Fi access points and 2000 wireless clients on each stack. Cisco Catalyst 3850 SFP Fiber Switches incorporate 12 or 24 1G fiber connections at line rate on every port, offering far reaching connectivity, enhanced security, and an identical wired/wireless experience.

Catalyst 4500-E Series and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Catalyst 4500-E and and Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are intended for access and distribution environments where physical space for infrastructure equipment is at a premium. Running Cisco's IOS XE operating system, the Catalyst 4500-E and 4500-X families facilitate virtualization by supporting Cisco's Easy Virtual Network (EVN) and VSS solutions. Virtualization makes it possible to divide 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, recoverability, and manageability needed for Cloud computing or other situations where a common resource pool is used by software and services that must operate in total privacy from one another. EVN simplifies the task of creating virtual networks and scales to 32 VNs per switch. Easy Virtual Network incorporates the capabilities of Multi-VRF and provides new technologies such as VNET Tags and a simple way for duplicating replicating routes between VNs. Virtual Switching System technology makes it possible to set up Catalyst 4500-E and Catalyst 4500-X Series platforms to create non-stop virtual networks with advanced load balancing.

Catalyst 4500-E Switches
Cisco's Supervisor Engine for for the Catalyst 4500-E modular switch has a built-in wireless network controller that works with Cisco's Unified Access technology for wired and wireless convergence. this is the initial Catalyst supervisor to support wired as well as wireless services on a single switch based on Cisco's IOS XE software. Features include Cisco's Flexible NetFlow technology for application visibility encompassing both wired and Wi-Fi networks, TrustSec/SGT2 wired/wireless security, predictable QoS for wired and Wi-Fi clients, plus the expansion of Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO) to cover Wi-Fi data traffic for enterprise-class high availability.

Available in chassis that have from three to 10 plug-in slots, Catalyst 4500-E Series switches can support as many as 384 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports, up to 192 1GE fiber fiber ports, 96 10-Gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, and eight 10GE uplink ports. The Catalyst 4500-E Supervisor Engine 8-E delivers as much as 928 Gbps of wired access per system and as much as 20 Gbps of wireless termination capacity. 50 Wi-Fi APs and 2000 Wi-Fi clients can be supported per chassis, and 250 APs and 4000 wireless users are managed in a dual-switch deployment without requiring a standalone wireless controller.

Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches
Cisco's Catalyst 4500-X Series switches are fixed 10GE aggregation platforms that can provide as much as 800 Gbps of core switching performance per device. The Catalyst 4500-X switch can have up to 32 10GE ports on the baseboard and eight additional 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports on the expansion module for a total of up to 40 non-blocking 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports. Eight 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplinks are also available via another module. In addition to providing zero-downtime performance and easy manageability, Cisco's VSS technology on Catalyst 4500-X switches offers higher system performance of as much as 1.6 Tbps by activating all available capacity between redundant Catalyst 4500-X Series switches. Additional features include FNF solution for traffic analysis, TrustSec protection, and wire-rate IPv6 forwarding.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches
Catalyst 6500 and Catalyst 6800 Series switches are campus core platforms that share the field-proven DNA of the Catalyst 6500 family of switches, which first appeared more than a decade ago and which have been continually improved since then. Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 switches offer the same general features and operational consistency, and the modular Catalyst 6807-XL accepts the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Supervisor Engine 2T and the associated portfolio of line cards and service modules. This backwards compatibility and program of ongoing enhancement preserves your infrastructure investment and allows you to update your network backbone with minimal business disruption or IT staff training.

Common features of Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series and Catalyst 6800 Series modular switches equipped with the Supervisor Engine 2T include Cisco's ISE technology for convenient, single-point administration to ensure consistent policy throughout a distributed environment, VSS technology for maximum uptime via multi-level switchover, and Cisco's LISP protocol to support roaming and device mobility and to streamline virtualization and transition to IPv6. Other virtualization tools to segment specific user groups and serve the special security and QoS policy requirements of each group include Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN, full MPLS, Easy Virtual Network, VRF-aware technology for Network Address Translation NetFlow, IPv6 over IPv4 GRE Tunnels, and L2 geographic extensions with VPLS. For converged wired/wireless environments, the Wireless Services Module 2 (WiSM2) controller Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series modular switches supports up to 1000 wireless APs and 15,000 wireless users.

Catalyst 6500-E Series Switches
The Cisco Catalyst 6500-E line of modular switches are designed for distribution and enterprise core environments that require world-class availability and high densities of 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 1 GE fiber, and/or 10 and 40 GE access ports. Models come with three to 13 slots and accept a wide range of interfaces. Integrated service modules support wireless, network analysis, and security and compliance. Just E-Series versions of Cisco's broad family of Catalyst 6500 switches are compatible with Cisco's Supervisor Engine 2T.

The entry-level Cisco Catalyst 6503-E has a 4RU form factor, holds 3 slots, and offers up to 180 Gbps of switching capacity per slot. The Catalyst 6503-E supports 97 1-Gigabit Ethernet ports, up to 99 Gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, up to 34 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports, and 8 40GE access ports.

The high-end Catalyst 6513-E switch has a 19RU, 13-slot chassis and offers as much as 180 Gbps of throughput per slot, providing a system bandwidth as high as 4 Tbps. A VSS configured system can deliver up to 8 Tbps of bandwidth. The Catalyst 6513-E Series switch offers a maximum of 529 10/100/1000 Ethernet access ports, up to 534 1GE fiber connections, 180 10GE access ports, and 44 40GE access ports.

Catalyst 6800 Switches
Catalyst 6800 switches are campus backbone switches designed to deliver best-of-breed 10/40/100 GE services. The Catalyst 6880-X switch is a fixed-configuration, small form factor platform for high-density Ethernet designed for small or medium-size enterprise campus backbones. The Catalyst 6880-X switch supports as much as 2 Tbps bandwidth and features four slots for plug-in port cards. The maximum port density on one chassis is 80 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports or 10GE ports or as many as 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet access ports. With Cisco's Virtual Switching System, a two-chassis system can provide 4 Tbps performance and support up to 158 1 Gigabit Ethernet access ports or 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports or up to 20 40GE access ports.

The modular Cisco Catalyst 6807-XL switch comes in a 10 RU chassis that has 7 expansion slots and accepts existing Supervisor Engine 2T line cards and modules. (Two of the slots are for the Supervisor Engine and five are for expansion modules.) The Catalyst 6807-XL offers as much as 880 Gbps of switching capacity per slot and up to 11.4 Tbps of switching performance while supporting up to 240 1 Gigabit Ethernet connections or 1GE fiber ports, up to 80 10GE ports or 20 40-Gigabit Ethernet ports. A two-chassis 6807-XL system with VSS can support 22.8 Tbps of switching bandwidth, 480 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports or Gigabit Ethernet fiber connections, 160 10GE access ports or 40 40GE connections.

How Progent Can Help You with Cisco Catalyst Series Switches
Progent offers the online or on-premises support services of Cisco CCIE-certified consultants who have extensive backgrounds delivering Catalyst switch support for small and midsize businesses, branches, campuses, data centers, Cloud networks, and service providers. Progent's skills include Catalyst and Nexus families of managed switches and with Cisco's IOS, IOS-XR and NX-OS operating systems. Services offered by Progent for Cisco Catalyst switches include proof-of-concept testing and validation, system analysis and monitoring, network architecture design, migrations and project management, virtualization, wired/wireless convergence, network management, performance optimization, problem mitigation, disaster recovery planning, and data security and compliance testing and remediation.

Progent has broad knowledge of open standards and with Cisco-owned protocols and technologies associated with switching and routing such as BGP, MPLS traffic engineering, Protocol Independent Multicast, VPNs, Spanning-Tree Protocol, VLANs, FabricPath, VPC, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Virtual Switching System (VSS), and LISP. Progent's network specialists also have experience with crucial technologies such as TCP/IP protocols, IPv4, IPv6, Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol, Routing Information Protocol, and Internet Group Management Protocol. Progent's CISSP-ISSAP certified network security consultants can show you how to develop a comprehensive security strategy and implement Catalyst switches so they offer optimal support for your security policies.

If you need the highest available density or sub-microsecond latency Cisco switches for an enterprise-class data center, Progent can help your organization to evaluate, plan, and manage a transition to Cisco's Nexus Series switches. To learn about Progent's consulting and support services for Nexus switches, see Cisco Nexus Switch consulting and support services. Progent can also help you to integrate Catalyst core switches with Cisco Meraki distribution switches. (See Cisco Meraki switch integration consultants.)

For additional information about Progent's engineering help for Cisco technology, pick a subject:

• Introduction to Cisco Engineering Services
• Fast Online Help from a CCIE Consultant
• Cisco Firepower Series Firewalls: Integration and Management Services
• ASA 5500-X Firewalls with Cisco Firepower Services: Integration and Troubleshooting Support
• ASA 5500 Firewall Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco PIX Series Firewall Engineering Help
• Cisco Routers Consulting Support
• Cisco Wireless Engineering Support
• Cisco Aironet Wireless APs Design Expertise
• Cisco Small Business WiFi APs Deployment Expertise
• Cisco Catalyst 802.11ax Wireless APs Solution Design, Deployment and Troubleshooting Services
• Cisco Wireless Controllers Integration Consulting
• Cisco Meraki Access Points Consulting Help
• Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM or Unified CM) and CallManager Consulting and Troubleshooting
• Cisco Voice over IP Phones and IP Video Desktop Phones Consulting Services and Wireless IP Phone Solutions
• Cisco Jabber Deployment Expertise
• Nexus Switches Consulting and Support Expertise
• Cisco Meraki MS Switches Configuration and Maintenance Expertise
• Cisco Security and VPN Integration Expertise
• SIP and CUBE Integration Solutions: SIP Trunks and CUBE Integration Expertise
• Infrastructure Design for Cisco-based Datacenters and Colocation Centers
• Network Design Consulting for ISPs
• Remote Network Management Strategies for Cisco-powered Environments