How to identify the Cisco switch model

In the network World, Cisco System Inc. Nobody knows, no one does not know. With its IOS (Internet operating System), Cisco is an absolute leader in the multiprotocol router market. Currently, nearly 80% of the routers in the Internet are from Cisco. In fact, in addition to the main product of the router, Cisco also has a full range of network equipment, including hubs, switches, access servers, soft and hard firewalls, network management software and so on. Cisco is very aware of the new technology tracking, through a series of cooperation and mergers, Cisco successfully involved in broadband access, wireless communications and other emerging markets.

This article mainly introduces Cisco's switch product line and main products.

I. Overview

Cisco's switch products are trademarks of "Catalyst" and contain more than 4000 series, including 1900, 2800, 2900, 3500, 5000, 5500, 6000, 8500, 10, etc. In general, these switches can be grouped into two categories:

One is a fixed configuration switch, which includes most models of 3500 and below, for example, 1924 is a 24-port 10M Ethernet switch with two 100M upstream ports. These switches cannot be extended except for limited software upgrades;

The other is a modular switch, mainly refers to 4000 and more models, network designers can according to network requirements, select a number of different models of interface boards, power modules and the corresponding software.

When choosing a device, many people have a headache for a long product model. In fact, Cisco's naming of products is fixed pattern. For Catalyst switches, the product naming format is as follows:

Catalyst NN XX [-c] [-m] [-a/-en]

Where NN is the serial number of the switch, XX for the fixed configuration of the switch is the number of ports, for the modular switch is the number of slots, the C-symbol indicates that with the fiber interface, M-mode,-A and-en respectively refers to the switch software is a standard board or Enterprise Edition.

Second, Product introduction

Currently, the CISCO switches common in network integration projects include the following series, 1900/2900 series, 3500 series, 6500 series. They are used in the low-end, midrange, and high-end of the network, respectively. Here are a few of the products for each series:

1, low-end products

First of all say low-end products, 1900 and 2900 are low-end products typical. In fact, in the low-end switch market, Cisco does not occupy a particular advantage, because the 3Com, DLink and other companies have a better performance price ratio of products.

The 1900 switch is suitable for desktop computer access at the end of the network, and is a typical low-end product. It offers 12 or 24 10M ports and 2 100M ports, where 100M ports support Full-duplex communication and provide up to 200Mbps of port bandwidth. The back plate bandwidth of the machine is 320Mbps.

With enterprise software 1900 also support VLAN and ISL trunking, up to 4 VLANs, but in general, low-end products do not require much of this functionality.

Some models of 1900 with 100BaseFX fibre interface. such as C 1912C, C 1924C with a hundred gigabit Tx port and a hundred gigabit Fx port, c 1924F with two 100BaseFX interface. The main models of the 1900 series are as follows:

C1912:12 Port 10BaseTx, 2 port 100BaseTx, 1 AUI Port

C 1912c:12 Port 10BaseTx, 1 Port 100BaseTx, 1 AUI port, 1 100BaseFx Port

C1924:24 Port 10BaseTx, 2 port 100BaseTx, 1 AUI Port

C 1924c:24 Port 10BaseTx, 1 Port 100BaseTx, 1 AUI port, 1 100BaseFx Port

C 1924f:24 Port 10BaseTx, 1 AUI port, 1 100BaseFx Port