Cisco Catalyst 2960-24TC-S Switch

Cisco Catalyst 2960-24TC-S Switch:

• 24 Ethernet 10/100 ports and 2 dual-purpose Gigabit Ethernet uplinks with LAN Lite software

Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite Software

Cisco offers a family of reliable, high-performance managed switches designed specifically for your medium-sized business. The Cisco Catalyst^® 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite software provide the security and performance that your business applications demand and are scalable to support your continually evolving network environment. By providing these capabilities in your network foundation, you can improve the availability of your critical applications, protect your business information, more easily accommodate expanding services, and optimize your network bandwidth to more effectively deliver information and applications.

Cisco Catalyst^® 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite software are fixed-configuration, standalone switches that provide desktop Fast Ethernet connectivity for entry-level wiring closet and small branch-office networks. These switches simplify the migration from nonintelligent hubs and unmanaged switches to a fully scalable managed network. The LAN Lite Cisco IOS^® Software provides entry-level security, quality of service (QoS), and availability capabilities while lowering the network total cost of ownership.

The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches offer:

• Dual-purpose uplinks for Gigabit Ethernet uplink flexibility, allowing use of either a copper or a fiber uplink; each dual-purpose uplink port has one 10/100/1000 Ethernet port and one Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP)-based Gigabit Ethernet port, with one port active at a time
• Scalable and secure network management
• Baseline Network Admission Control based on users, ports, and MAC addresses
• Easy network configuration, Cisco IOS Software updates, and troubleshooting using Cisco Network Assistant software
• QoS for traffic classification and shaping to prioritize various applications
• Single IP address, syslog, and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) management for a stack of up to 16 switches
• Auto configuration using Smartports
• Enhanced troubleshooting for link connectivity problems and cable diagnostics
• QoS and support for multicast services
• Limited lifetime hardware warranty
• Software updates at no additional cost

Features and Benefits:

Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite software provide:

Security
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches support security features that can help your business protect important information, keep unauthorized people off the network, guard privacy, and maintain uninterrupted operation.

The Cisco Identity-Based Networking Services (IBNS) solution provides authentication, access control, and security policy administration to secure network connectivity and resources. Cisco IBNS in the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Series prevents unauthorized access and helps ensure that users get only their designated privileges.

With Cisco IBNS you can dynamically administer granular levels of network access. Using the 802.1x standard and the Cisco Secure Access Control Server (ACS), you can assign users a VLAN upon authentication, regardless of where they connect to the network. This setup allows your IT department to enable strong security policies without compromising user mobility, and with minimal administrative overhead.

You can use port security to limit access on an Ethernet port based on the MAC address of the device to which it is connected. You also can use it to limit the total number of devices plugged into a switch port, thereby protecting the switch from a MAC flooding attack as well as reducing the risks of rogue wireless access points or hubs.

You can use the MAC Address Notification feature to monitor the network and track users by sending an alert to a management station so that your network administrators know when and where users entered the network. Secure Shell Protocol Version 2 (SSHv2) and SNMPv3 encrypt administrative and network-management information, protecting your network from tampering or eavesdropping. TACACS+ or RADIUS authentication enables centralized access control of switches and restricts unauthorized users from altering the configurations. Alternatively, you can configure a local username and password database on the switch itself. Fifteen levels of authorization on the switch console and two levels on the web-based management interface allow you to give different levels of configuration capabilities to different administrators.

Ease of Use: Deployment
Ease-of-use features include but are not limited to:

• Smartports enable fast and easy configuration of Cisco recommended best-practice security and QoS features, encapsulating years of Cisco networking expertise.
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) autoconfiguration of multiple switches through a boot server eases switch deployment.

The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches are equipped with features that allow for network scalability and higher availability through multicast filtering as well as a complete suite of Spanning Tree Protocol enhancements for maximizing availability in a Layer 2 network.

Enhancements to the standard Spanning Tree Protocol, such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), UplinkFast, and PortFast, help to maximize network uptime. PVST+ allows for Layer 2 load sharing on redundant links to efficiently use the extra capacity inherent in a redundant design. UplinkFast, PortFast, and BackboneFast all greatly reduce the standard 30- to 60-second Spanning Tree Protocol convergence time. The Loopguard and bridge-protocol-data-unit (BPDU) Guard enhancements provide Spanning Tree Protocol loop avoidance.

Quality of Service
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches offer QoS features to help ensure that network traffic is classified and prioritized and that congestion is avoided in the best possible manner. To implement QoS, the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches first identify traffic flows or packet groups, and then classify or reclassify these groups using the 802.1p Class of Service (CoS) field. The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches support four egress queues per port, giving your network administrators more control in assigning priorities for the various applications on the LAN. At egress, the switches perform congestion control and scheduling, the algorithm or process that determines the order in which queues are processed. The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches support Shaped Round Robin (SRR) and Strict Priority Queuing. The SRR algorithm helps ensure differential prioritization.

Management
The new Express Setup feature simplifies the initial configuration of a switch. Now you can set up the switch through a web browser, eliminating the need for terminal-emulation programs and the command-line interface (CLI). Express Setup reduces the cost of deployment by helping less-skilled personnel set up switches quickly and easily.

Cisco Network Assistant is a PC-based network-management application optimized for LANs with up to 250 users. Offering centralized management of Cisco switches, routers, and wireless LAN (WLAN) access points, it supports a wide range of Cisco Catalyst intelligent switches from the Cisco Catalyst 2960 through the Cisco Catalyst 4506 Switch. Through a user-friendly GUI, you can configure and manage a wide array of switch functions and start the device manager of Cisco routers and Cisco wireless access points. A few mouse clicks enable the Cisco recommended security, availability, and QoS features without the need to consult a detailed design guide. The Security wizard automatically restricts unauthorized access to servers with sensitive data. Smartports and wizards save time for network administrators, reduce human errors, and help ensure that the configuration of the switch is optimized for these applications. You can download Cisco Network Assistant from the Cisco Website for free.

In addition to Cisco Network Assistant, Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Lite Switches provide for extensive management using SNMP network-management platforms such as the CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS). CiscoWorks LMS is a suite of powerful management tools that simplify the configuration, administration, monitoring, and troubleshooting of Cisco networks. It integrates these capabilities into a world-class solution for improving the accuracy and efficiency of your operations staff, while increasing the overall availability of your network. It supports more than 400 different device types, providing:

• Network discovery, topology views, end-station tracking, and VLAN management
• Real-time network fault analysis with easy-to-deploy device-specific best-practice templates
• Hardware and software inventory management, centralized configuration tools, and syslog monitoring
• Network response time and availability monitoring and tracking
• Real-time device, link, and port traffic management, analysis, and reporting

Feature	Benefit
Ease of use and deployment	Express Setup simplifies initial configuration with a Web browser, eliminating the need for more complex terminal emulation programs and CLI knowledge. DHCP autoconfiguration of multiple switches through a boot server eases switch deployment. Autosensing on each 10/100 port detects the speed of the attached device and automatically configures the port for 10- or 100-Mbps operation, easing switch deployment in mixed 10- and 100-Mbps environments. Autonegotiating on all ports automatically selects half- or full-duplex transmission mode to optimize bandwidth. Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) helps enable dynamic trunk configuration across all switch ports. Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) automates the creation of Cisco Fast EtherChannel groups or Gigabit EtherChannel groups to link to another switch, router, or server. Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) allows the creation of Ethernet channeling with devices that conform to IEEE 802.3ad. This feature is similar to Cisco EtherChannel technology and PAgP. DHCP Server enables a convenient deployment option for the assignment of IP addresses in networks that do not have a dedicated DHCP server. DHCP Relay allows a DHCP relay agent to broadcast DHCP requests to the network DHCP server. 1000BASE-SX, 1000BASE-LX/LH, and 100BASE-FX physical interface support through a field-replaceable SFP module provides flexibility in switch deployment. The default configuration stored in flash memory helps ensure that the switch can be quickly connected to the network and can pass traffic with minimal user intervention. Automatic medium-dependent interface crossover (Auto-MDIX) automatically adjusts transmit and receive pairs if an incorrect cable type (crossover or straight-through) is installed on a copper port. A time-domain reflectometer (TDR) diagnoses and resolves cabling problems on copper ports. Configuration Rollback provides the capability to replace the current running configuration with any saved Cisco IOS Software configuration file. You can use this function to revert to a previous configuration state, effectively rolling back any configuration changes that were made since that configuration file was saved (future). DHCP Auto Install (Boot Host DHCP) and Auto Image Update allows the switch to automatically download a configuration file and Cisco IOS Software image (future).
Manageability
Superior manageability	Cisco IOS Software CLI support provides a common user interface and command set with all Cisco routers and Cisco Catalyst desktop switches. You can create VLAN trunks from any port using standards-based 802.1q tagging. Up to 64 VLANs per switch and up to 64 spanning-tree instances per switch are supported. Four thousand VLAN IDs are supported. Voice VLAN simplifies telephony installations by keeping voice traffic on a separate VLAN for easier administration and troubleshooting. Cisco VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) supports dynamic VLANs and dynamic trunk configuration across all switches. Internet Group Management Protocol Version 3 (IGMPv3) snooping provides fast client joins and leaves of multicast streams and limits bandwidth-intensive video traffic to only the requestors. For enhanced traffic management, monitoring, and analysis, the Embedded Remote Monitoring (RMON) software agent supports four RMON groups (history, statistics, alarms, and events). Layer 2 traceroute eases troubleshooting by identifying the physical path that a packet takes from source to destination. All RMON groups are supported through a Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) port, which permits traffic monitoring of a single port, or a group of ports, from a single network analyzer or RMON probe. Domain Name System (DNS) provides IP address resolution with user-defined device names. rivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) reduces the cost of administering software upgrades by downloading from a centralized location. Network Timing Protocol (NTP) provides an accurate and consistent timestamp to all intranet switches. Multifunction LEDs per port for port status; half-duplex and full-duplex mode; and 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, and 1000BASE-T indication as well as switch-level status LEDs for the system and a redundant power supply provide a comprehensive and convenient visual management system. Cisco Discovery Protocol Versions 1 and 2 help enable automatic switch discovery for network management tools and communicate voice VLAN information with Cisco IP Phones. Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) exchanges link and device information in multivendor networks.
Cisco Network Assistant software	Cisco Network Assistant is a no-charge, Windows-based application that simplifies the administration of networks of up to 250 users. It supports a wide range of Cisco Catalyst intelligent switches. With Cisco Network Assistant, you can manage Cisco Catalyst switches and launch the device managers of Cisco integrated services routers and Cisco Aironet® WLAN access points. The easy-to-use graphical interface provides both a topology map and front-panel view of the cluster and stacks. Configuration wizards need just a few user inputs to automatically configure the switch to optimally handle different types of traffic: voice, video, multicast, and high-priority data. A security wizard is provided to restrict unauthorized access to applications, servers, and networks. Upgrading the Cisco IOS Software on Cisco Catalyst switches is a simple matter of pointing and clicking, with one-click upgrades. Multidevice and multiport configuration capabilities allow administrators to save time by configuring features across multiple switches and ports simultaneously. The user-personalized interface allows modification of polling intervals, table views, and other settings. Alarm notification provides automated email notification of network errors and alarm thresholds.
Cisco Express Setup	Express Setup simplifies initial configuration of a switch through a web browser, eliminating the need for terminal emulation programs and CLI knowledge. The web interface helps less-skilled personnel quickly and simply set up switches, thereby reducing the cost of deployment.
CiscoWorks support	CiscoWorks network-management software provides management capabilities on a per-port and per-switch basis, providing a common management interface for Cisco routers, switches, and hubs. SNMPv1, v2c, and v3 and Telnet interface support delivers comprehensive in-band management, and a CLI-based management console provides detailed out-of-band management. Cisco Discovery Protocol Versions 1 and 2 help enable a CiscoWorks network-management station for automatic switch discovery. The CiscoWorks LMS supports the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches.
Availability and Scalability
Superior redundancy for fault backup	Cisco UplinkFast and BackboneFast technologies help ensure quick failover recovery, enhancing overall network stability and reliability. IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol provides rapid spanning-tree convergence, independent of spanning-tree timers, and the benefit of distributed processing. Per-VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree Plus (PVRST+) allows rapid spanning-tree reconvergence on a per-VLAN spanning-tree basis, without requiring the implementation of spanning-tree instances. Command-switch redundancy enabled in Cisco Network Assistant software allows designation of a backup command switch that takes over if the primary command switch fails. Unidirectional Link Detection Protocol (UDLD) and Aggressive UDLD allow unidirectional links to be detected and disabled to avoid problems such as spanning-tree loops. Switch port autorecovery (errdisable) automatically attempts to reenable a link that is disabled because of a network error. Bandwidth aggregation up to 8 Gbps through Cisco Gigabit EtherChannel technology and up to 800 Mbps through Cisco Fast EtherChannel technology enhances fault tolerance and offers higher-speed aggregated bandwidth between switches and to routers and individual servers.
Integrated Cisco IOS Software features for bandwidth optimization	Per-port broadcast, multicast, and unicast storm control prevents faulty end stations from degrading overall systems performance. IEEE 802.1d Spanning Tree Protocol support for redundant backbone connections and loop-free networks simplifies network configuration and improves fault tolerance. PVST+ allows for Layer 2 load sharing on redundant links to efficiently use the extra capacity inherent in a redundant design. IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol allows a spanning-tree instance per VLAN, enabling Layer 2 load sharing on redundant links. Local Proxy Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) works in conjunction with Private VLAN Edge to minimize broadcasts and maximize available bandwidth. VLAN1 minimization allows VLAN1 to be disabled on any individual VLAN trunk link. VTP pruning limits bandwidth consumption on VTP trunks by flooding broadcast traffic only on trunk links required to reach the destination devices. IGMP Version 3 snooping provides fast client joins and leaves of multicast streams and limits bandwidth-intensive video traffic to only the requestors. [[already said; decide which section you want this in and put it only there; same with other repetitious bullets]] IGMP filtering provides multicast authentication by filtering out no subscribers and limits the number of concurrent multicast streams available per port.
QoS and Control
Advanced QoS	Standard 802.1p CoS field classification is provided. Four egress queues per port enable differentiated management of up to four traffic types. SRR scheduling ensures differential prioritization of packet flows by intelligently servicing the ingress and egress queues. Weighted Tail Drop (WTD) provides congestion avoidance at the ingress and egress queues before a disruption occurs. Strict Priority Queuing guarantees that the highest-priority packets are serviced ahead of all other traffic.
Security
Networkwide security features	IEEE 802.1x allows dynamic, port-based security, providing user authentication. IEEE 802.1x with VLAN assignment allows a dynamic VLAN assignment for a specific user regardless of where the user is connected. IEEE 802.1x with voice VLAN permits an IP phone to access the voice VLAN irrespective of the authorized or unauthorized state of the port. IEEE 802.1x and port security are provided to authenticate the port and manage network access for all MAC addresses, including those of the client. IEEE 802.1x with Guest VLAN allows guests without 802.1x clients to have limited network access on the guest VLAN. MAC Auth Bypass (MAB) for voice allows third-party IP phones without an 802.1x supplicant to get authenticated using their MAC address. Unicast MAC filtering prevents the forwarding of any type of packet with a matching MAC address. Unknown unicast and multicast port blocking allows tight control by filtering packets that the switch has not already learned how to forward. SSHv2 and SNMPv3 provide network security by encrypting administrator traffic during Telnet and SNMP sessions. SSHv2 and the cryptographic version of SNMPv3 require a special cryptographic software image because of U.S. export restrictions. Bidirectional data support on the SPAN port allows the Cisco Secure Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to take action when an intruder is detected. TACACS+ and RADIUS authentication enable centralized control of the switch and restrict unauthorized users from altering the configuration. MAC address notification allows administrators to be notified of users added to or removed from the network. Port security secures the access to an access or trunk port based on MAC address. After a specific timeframe, the aging feature removes the MAC address from the switch to allow another device to connect to the same port. Multilevel security on console access prevents unauthorized users from altering the switch configuration. The user-selectable address-learning mode simplifies configuration and enhances security. BPDU Guard shuts down Spanning Tree Protocol PortFast-enabled interfaces when BPDUs are received to avoid accidental topology loops. Spanning-Tree Root Guard (STRG) prevents edge devices not in the network administrator's control from becoming Spanning Tree Protocol root nodes. Voice VLAN-aware port security and BPDU Guard prevent disruption of voice VLAN traffic when security violations occur. IGMP filtering provides multicast authentication by filtering out no subscribers and limits the number of concurrent multicast streams available per port. Dynamic VLAN assignment is supported through implementation of VLAN Membership Policy Server (VMPS) client functions to provide flexibility in assigning ports to VLANs. Dynamic VLAN helps enable the fast assignment of IP addresses. Cisco Network Assistant software security wizards ease the deployment of security features for restricting user access to a server as well as to a portion of or the entire network.

 

Technical Specifications:

 

Models Comparison:

Learn about the similarities and differences of the models in this product series.

 

Documentation:

Download the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches with LAN Lite Software Datasheet (PDF).